Columbia Journalism School Professor Ari Goldman ended the first day of the Senior Symposium yesterday by stressing the importance of religion as something that "binds us back, ties us back."
"Religion is the force that connects us to something larger and more permanent than ourselves," he said in a speech to about 50 students in 105 Dartmouth Hall. His speech was titled "All the Religion that is Fit to Print."
Goldman, an orthodox Jew who wrote "The Search for God at Harvard," called on the audience to share their faith with others, and incorporate these new and different religious experiences into their own to have a more fulfilling religious life.
"What is wonderful about religion is that it is in our hands and added onto and enhanced as we grow," he said. "The more you use it and share it the stronger it becomes. Religion is a resource in our lives that can never be depleted, but keeps growing."
Goldman, who is the Religion Editor of the New York Times, noted how religion has flourished in America, even without the existence of an established church, as more of a "free market religion."
Goldman said recent surveys show 90 percent of Americans identify with a certain religious group and more than 40 percent of Americans attend church weekly.
At the same time, 76 percent of Americans pray daily, and 96 percent of Americans have prayed before, although eight percent of Americans claim to be atheists, he said.
Despite these statistics, Americans' religious experiences remain largely private because most Americans feel uncomfortable highlighting their differences in customs and beliefs, Goldman said.
Religion has become taboo, he said, especially among liberals and intellectuals. But Goldman said he believes we need religion back in our society because it is too precious a heritage to abandon.
The Senior Symposium is an intellectual gift to the College by the graduating class. This year's symposium is titled, "Lest the Old Traditions Fail: An Examination of Tradition in America." It ends Saturday.
