The Michael Shermer Show

Shermer Says: Why Secularists Are Turning to Religion, The Substitution Hypothesis, Sleep Paralysis

October 18, 2025

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  • Michael Shermer explores the possibility of a "Fifth Great Awakening" in American history, prompted by a recent influx of books suggesting a religious comeback after years of documented decline in religiosity. 
  • The episode introduces and critiques the "substitution hypothesis," which posits that secular ideologies like critical social justice arise to fill the meaning vacuum left by declining religion, with commentary from Helen Pluckrose arguing against this link based on international data. 
  • Shermer analyzes various arguments for renewed faith, contrasting empirical/objective belief with fideism (pragmatic belief if it 'works for you'), and discusses anomalous experiences like sleep paralysis as potential sources for supernatural worldviews. 

Segments

Historical Great Awakenings Context
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(00:01:12)
  • Key Takeaway: American religious history is historically tracked through four Great Awakenings, beginning in the 1730s/40s with figures like Jonathan Edwards.
  • Summary: The first Great Awakening (mid-18th century) involved evangelical preachers and more active congregations. The second (1790s-1840s) featured camp meetings and fueled social movements like abolition and temperance. The third (mid-19th to early 20th century) saw the rise of the social gospel and volunteerist aid groups like the YMCA. The fourth was the late 1960s/early 1970s Jesus movement, which Shermer personally experienced.
Debate on Religious Revival
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(00:05:56)
  • Key Takeaway: A recent debate questioned whether the West needs a religious revival due to community suffering, loneliness, and a crisis of meaning.
  • Summary: Michael Shermer participated in a debate hosted by Barry Weiss concerning the necessity of a religious revival, facing Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Ross Douthat, who argue for its necessity. Data shows a significant drop in American Christian identification (90% in 1972 to 64% in 2022), coinciding with a rise in the religiously unaffiliated (’nones’). Barry Weiss noted that the hole once filled by religion is now being filled by culture wars and political polarization.
Critique of Substitution Hypothesis
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(00:11:21)
  • Key Takeaway: Helen Pluckrose argues against the substitution hypothesis by noting that highly secular countries have not produced similarly fervent ideologies like critical social justice.
  • Summary: Pluckrose’s article suggests that the rise of critical social justice theories in the highly religious US, rather than in more secular nations like the Netherlands or Czech Republic, undermines the idea that secularism directly causes these ideologies. She advocates that skeptics should address material causes of insecurity rather than promoting religion as a ‘psychological crutch.’ The liberal tradition, valuing evidence and reason, should be rekindled to resolve conflict and reduce polarization.
Belief Types and Empirical Claims
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(00:17:01)
  • Key Takeaway: Religious claims often operate under a different epistemological foundation than empirical, objective, testable claims, making them matters of group identity rather than verifiable fact.
  • Summary: Shermer questions whether religious structure improves society or if belief is merely a pragmatic necessity for individuals (‘belief in belief’). Neil Van Leeuwen’s work categorizes religious beliefs, like the Trinity, as distinct from empirical claims like the existence of a church parking lot, suggesting they rely on tribal acceptance. This distinction is highlighted by the differing Jewish and Christian views on the Messiah, where Judaism rejects the concept of an incorporeal God taking physical form.
Anecdotes and Anomalous Experiences
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(00:26:29)
  • Key Takeaway: Anomalous experiences, such as near-death experiences or sleep paralysis, often lead individuals to construct supernatural worldviews, even when psychological explanations exist.
  • Summary: Sebastian Younger’s near-death experience led him to explore quantum consciousness, while Christopher Beha’s account of an angel pinning him to his bed is identified by Shermer as a classic case of sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis involves waking while paralyzed, often accompanied by a sense of a presence, which is culturally interpreted as demons, angels, or alien abductions. Shermer notes that while these experiences are fascinating, they do not necessitate constructing an entire worldview around them.