Drew Carver

Dr. Codrina Cozma

World Lit

15 April 2009

Religiosity in “The Good Woman of Setzuan”

Religion seems to be on a decline world-wide. The play by Berthold Brecht, entitled “The Good Woman of Setzuan” makes this point, albeit in a humorous manner. Firstly, religious belief has declined in the intellectual part of society in America, and in the general population in European countries. Often, religious people are made objects of derision, under the misconception that only the ignorant or uneducated are religious. As a result of this, unbelief has also become a sort of fad among certain segments of society. As the Second God notes in the play, “People just aren’t religious anymore, let’s face the fact.” Secondly, people in society are less willing to attribute events to the will of a deity than they are to explainable causes, which is also reflected quite ironically in a conversation between Wong and the Second God, wherein Wong is the one blaming Kwan’s floods on the decline in religious belief. The Second God takes up the voice of today’s society in replying with “Rubbish. It’s because they neglected the dam.” The events of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina come to mind. Barring a few religious extremists, these catastrophes were immediately attributed to human decisions and natural causes. Finally, the general population seems less interested in learning about religion than they were centuries ago, preferring agnosticism or a very simple faith while focusing on more immediate, self-oriented issues. Youth in particular seem less interested, with increasing numbers becoming agnostics, or showing outward signs of religion but without a firm grasp on their religion’s principles. The events of day to day life are given more importance. A voice from Mr. Cheng’s in the play puts it quite adequately in the line, “Keep your gods. We have our own troubles!”

Courtesy of www.social-exclusion-housing.com.

Quotes

Courtesy of www.froes.dds.nl.

Professor Richard Dawkins, one of the “Four Horsemen of Atheism” clearly states his belief that all events can be explained naturally when he states in his book The God Delusion, “If there is something that appears to lie beyond the natural world as it is now imperfectly understood, we hope eventually to understand it and embrace it within the natural” (Dawkins 1).

Beaty, Lyon, and Mixon record Notre Dame Professor of History George Marsden in their study as noting that “almost all the most highly regarded schools in America, from Harvard, to Amherst, to Chicago, to Duke, started out as traditionally religious schools, but eventually abandoned their original faith” and pondering if other schools are destined to follow the same path in order to gain greater intellectual recognition (Beaty, Lyon, Mixon 2).

In his article on the future of religion, Jeffrey Victor takes note that society in Europe is turning away from religion at a faster rate than America. He makes a personal observation by saying, “In my wife's country, France, about 40 percent or more of the people are atheists and agnostics, compared with less than 3 percent in the United States” (Victor 2).

Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKOnt0c-ZsE

Annotated Bibliography

Dawkins, Richard. The God Delusion. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006. Oxford Professor Richard Dawkins argues against all forms of supernatural religious belief, favoring instead a scientific, atheistic worldview.

Mixon, Stephanie Litizzette, Larry Lyon, and Michael Beaty. "Secularization and National

Universities." Journal of Higher Education 75.4 (July 2004): 400-419. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. William S. Smith Library, Douglas, GA. 8 Apr. 2009 <http://proxygsu-sgc1.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=13315239&site=ehost-live>. This article reports on the secularization of America’s educational institutions, as well as giving evidence that the need to secularize may not be as necessary as it seems. It also provides insight on religious and non-religious private universities and on academic judging standards.

Victor, Jeffrey S. "Forecasting the Future of Religion." Humanist 56.3 (May 1996): 20-22.

Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. William S. Smith Library, Douglas, GA. 8 Apr. 2009 <http://proxygsu-sgc1.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9605121543&site=ehost-live>. Jeffrey Victor follows religious trends to predict religion’s societal role in the future. He compares and contrasts different forms of religion, as well as the growth and decline among various modes of religious thinking.