Evangelization & Culture Podcast

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Broken Altars: Secularist Violence in Modern History w/ Thomas Albert Howard

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Nov 25, 2025

Guest

Thomas Albert Howard

Join historian Thomas Albert Howard, a professor at Valparaiso University and author of *Broken Altars*, as he dives deep into the myth that religion is the main source of violence. He uncovers how combative and eliminationist secularism have historically sought to suppress religious faith. Howard discusses influential figures like Voltaire and Marx, the ideological rationalization behind violence, and the global implications of secularist policies. His insights reveal a complex relationship between secularism and religious persecution throughout history.

01:21:42

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INSIGHT

Different Targets: Clergy Vs. Faith

Combative secularism (Voltaire, French Revolution) targets clergy and church power, not always faith itself.
Eliminationist secularism (Marx, Lenin) aims to eradicate religion as an obstacle to revolutionary progress.

insights

INSIGHT

Shared Thread: Secular Separation

Many secular ideologies share a drive to separate religion from political life but differ in hostility levels.
Eliminationists often believe religion is temporary and should be hastened off the historical stage.

insights

INSIGHT

The Arrogance Of Stadial Thinking

Stadial theories (Comte, Marx) present history as inevitable stages and often carry intellectual arrogance.
Howard argues historians should adopt humility because history resists neat predictions.

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Origins of the Religion-versus-Secularism Myth

02:24 • 3min

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Three Types of Secularism Defined

05:33 • 3min

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Philosophical Godfathers of Secularism

08:33 • 3min

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Secularism, Progress, and Historical Hubris

11:45 • 4min

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Exclusive Humanism and Cultural Impact

15:18 • 11min

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Church-State Tensions Through History

26:41 • 40sec

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Passive Secularism: Separation and Coexistence

27:20 • 5min

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Combative Secularism and the French Revolution

31:51 • 6min

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Auguste Comte and Positivist Politics

37:48 • 3min

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Eliminationist Secularism Explained

41:04 • 6min

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Feuerbach, Marx, and Radicalization

Ideology, Justification, and Terror

56:05 • 6min

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Legal Measures Used Against Religion

01:01:59 • 3min

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Global Secularist Onslaughts and Case Studies

01:04:46 • 6min

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Resistance, Collaboration, and Religious Tenacity

01:10:41 • 3min

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Author's Vocation and Research Origins

01:13:27 • 2min

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Personal Changes and Final Insights

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Why do most believe that religion is the root of most modern violence while secularism is our dispassionate protector? In Broken Altars: Secularist Violence in Modern History, we discover that Combative Secularism and Eliminationist Secularism have made brutal and furious attempts to marginalize, weaken, and destroy religious faith. Join Dr. Tod Worner and Professor Thomas Albert Howard on The Evangelization & Culture Podcast as they explore the dark history of political secularism and the ways in which religion, time and again, has been an unwitting victim and not an untrammeled aggressor.

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