This Season Reminds Us of Faith's Liberating Promise

The proximity of Passover, Easter and Ramadan on this year's calendar is a reminder that religion can set loose profoundly liberating human impulses. That all three are celebrated in our country speaks to the fruitful interaction between a tradition of immigration and a commitment to religious freedom. Many who regard theism as a backward-looking social force might usefully consider how each of these holidays contains the seeds of rebellion. Thinking about religion's progressive side is especially important in light of the single most striking development in the American religious landscape over the past two decades: the rise of the "nones," those who decline to associate with any organized religion. A large share of Americans are moving away from faith altogether, because they associate it almost entirely with the political right or far right.