The (Literal) Death of Secularism

From USA Today.com, courtesy of both Canterbury Tales and The Shrine of the Holy Whapping:
What's the difference between Seattle and Salt Lake City? There are many differences, of course, but here's one you might not know. In Seattle, there are nearly 45% more dogs than children. In Salt Lake City, there are nearly 19% more kids than dogs.

This curious fact might at first seem trivial, but it reflects a much broader and little-noticed demographic trend that has deep implications for the future of global culture and politics. It's not that people in a progressive city such as Seattle are so much fonder of dogs than are people in a conservative city such as Salt Lake City. It's that progressives are so much less likely to have children...

You really need to read the whole article. Secularism, combined with modern (counter)reproductive technology, is turning out to be an evolutionary dead end. The author doesn’t really look at this in terms of biology, but the childlessness of “progressives” really is an example of (un)natural selection in action. It is one that cannot easily be turned around, either, since the key factors driving the lack of children – unlimited personal autonomy, and the decoupling of sexual pleasure from reproduction - are some of the core factors defining what’s “progressive” in the first place.

Interesting. We usually think of abortion in terms of murder – the intentional and unjust taking of another human life. It seems that we can also view it as a form of delayed suicide.