DEBATE: Do We Need God?

Hosting a debate about God in 2026 might seem like a strange thing to do.

We’re living in an age of artificial intelligence, gene editing, and research missions to Mars. In the past century, we’ve doubled our lifespans, dramatically reduced violence, and lifted billions of people out of poverty, building some of the most prosperous societies in history, many of them increasingly secular.

Today, nearly a third of Americans claim no religious affiliation, which would have been unimaginable a generation ago.

But the story of religion in the West is much more complicated than simple decline. In the past few years, we’ve entered what feels like a religious revival, or at least a leveling off in the decline of faith. Even as our society becomes more technologically advanced, many people are searching more intensely for meaning, purpose, and moral clarity. In other words, the question of faith hasn’t disappeared. If anything, it is even more urgent.

For years, intellectuals predicted that as religion receded, society would become calmer, more rational, and more scientific. Shed religious superstition, the theory went, and we would inherit a more enlightened public life. Instead, many societies haven’t become less fervent so much as differently fervent—driven by conspiracy, tribalism, and forms of moral conflict that often feel almost cosmic in intensity.

The premise of our Things That Matter debates, sponsored by Bank of America, is simple but essential. We want to revive the tradition that has long made the United States exceptional: our ability to argue openly across deep divides while still remaining part of the same civic community. Disagreement does not have to mean contempt. And since religion is one of the most politically charged topics in public life, it felt fitting to begin here.

Where does morality come from without God? Are our ideas of human dignity, moral obligation, and human rights ultimately grounded in a transcendent reality—or are they products of human reason alone? Are the apparent benefits of religion simply the community and rituals it nurtures, rather than the truth of its claims?

To explore these questions, we brought together two formidable public intellectuals: cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker, author of Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, and New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, author of Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics.

The debate was sharpened by questions from our live audience. Carlos Egaña reflected on growing up in Venezuela, where Catholicism felt imposed—and wondered why religion can feel stifling in deeply religious societies yet oddly liberating in more secular ones. Chloé Valdary asked how Christians should reckon with the cruelty some people experience in God’s name, including rejection over sexuality. Anthony Gross wondered: If our faith is often an accident of birth, how can anyone step outside of their upbringing and evaluate it honestly?

These are not abstract questions. They get to the heart of how we understand ourselves and the civilization we are trying to build together.

We hope you enjoy the debate.

Qualified Health used Anthropic’s Claude to screen 1M+ heart failure patients in Texas. It surfaced lifesaving interventions buried in the data.

The Free Press earns a commission from any purchases made through all book links in this article.