A heartfelt attempt to bring reason to the world

Christer Sturmark is a Swedish musician, mathematician, computer entrepreneur, and publisher. Douglas Hofstadter is an American scholar of cogitative science, physics, and comparative literature; his 1979 book Gödel. Escher, Bach won both the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction and a National Book Award. The two are friends, and the title page credits Hofstadter for contributions and a forward to the book, which is subtitled Clear Thinking for the Twenty-First Century.

To Light the Flame of Reason is an argument for secular humanism, a science-based tolerance of people of all races, lifestyles, cultures, and belief systems, a belief in benevolence toward all humans, not for religious reasons but out of a belief in the power of tolerance and clear thinking, and also out of a sense of our collective fragility on earth. It is an argument for atheism, which means that in some countries the author could be killed for publicly promoting such views.

Sturmark argues that never has scientific progress been as impressive as today nor has it been so easy to find information and knowledge. Never has it been so difficult for totalitarian regimes to keep their populations ignorant. (Consider that the Russian who wants to about the conflict in Ukraine can, apparently, get a good idea even as the government tries to control the news.) “Never,” he writes, “has it been so simple to make oneself be seen, heard, or read by a global audience.”

Yet, “On a daily basis, homosexual people are being killed or imprisoned, thanks to certain people’s interpretations of God’s will. Women are dying because they have been denied abortions. People are being stoned to death, or are having their hands chopped off, because of the way they happen to conceive of divine laws. Religious fundamentalists post videos of beheadings on the internet, urging viewers to join them in their holy war. People are hoodwinked into thinking that God can cure deadly diseases through miracles.”

True, all too true. 

Part I of the book is titled “The Art of Thinking Clearly,” and describes the author’s own efforts to understand reality and to avoid the traps in thinking. It asks basic questions: What is knowledge? Is what seems to be real really real? What is truth? Is belief in science a kind of faith? 

He points out that one may believe something is true because you have good reasons to think it is so. “When I say that I ‘know’ that the earth is round or that Paris is in France,” he writes, “all I mean is that I believe it, am convinced of it, have faith in it, and have lots of very good grounds for believing it.” One may still be mistaken in your belief, but the more you know about yourself, other people and cultures, and the quality of evidence on which you base your beliefs, the less likely you are to question them.

Faith however means “I accept this as true without any proof or evidence.” If one believes in something merely because you want to believe in it—because it makes you feel good or because it gives you hope for the future—this is not sufficient reason to call your belief knowledge. What are the grounds for your belief? A holy book? A spectacular sunset? A mysterious creak? A charismatic speaker? A suspicion of all authority? Do these grounds carry the same weight as the grounds you have for believing the earth is round or that Paris is in France?

Sturmark has an interesting discussion about agnosticism (withholding belief) and atheism (not believing in a god). He asks whether atheists can be moral, which leads to an entire chapter about being good without needing God. Spoiler alert: Atheists can be moral actors.

Part II of the book, “The Pathway to a New Enlightenment,” has chapters on religion, evolution, and the roots of secular enlightenment. For example, what is religious freedom? Should people be allowed to do anything they please in the name of their religion? Adult Jehovah’s Witnesses, should be able refuse to accept a blood transfusion for themselves, but should they be able to prevent their children from receiving life-saving blood transfusions? Moreover, what is a religion? I once attended a wedding officiated by a minister (priest?) of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

To Light the Flame of Reason is a thoughtful and heartful attempt to do just what the title says. Until I reached the last chapter in which Sturmark discusses changes Swedish education in more detail than I care to learn, I found myself nodding and approving one page after another. This is a book written of me. It describes clearly so many things I have thought, believe, and wondered about, and it discusses them far better than I am able.

Unfortunately, I believe Sturmark and Hofstadter are—you will excuse the religious metaphor—preaching to the choir. The readers who believe they should meet the world with an open mind and question what they know and how they know it probably don’t need this book unless they want to be reassured they have the right attitude.

I suspect that those readers who believe in God or Allah, in ghosts and spirits, in astrology and homeopathy are not interested in a book that might cause them to question what they know. Most of the time, of course, that’s harmless. Sometimes, it’s not, as the dying Covid-19 patient begged for an earlier-rejected and now useless vaccine shot learned. What you believe can kill you just as what you don’t believe can, in some societies, get you killed. If only the flame of reason were enough to liberate the world. I would like to hope that Sturmark’s candle makes a positive contribution, but, I’m sorry, I’m skeptical.