Religious struggles fan confusion.

• Position: Worldview - Brief article

In the global struggle for political harmony, economic viability, and cultural happiness, religion has become the weapon of choice. However, if the pursuit of happiness and prosperity is the goal, then using religion as a means to achieve that ideal will do anything but, says James W. Peterson, author of God and the Philosophy of Explanation. Nonetheless, that is exactly the road societies are traveling as our economic and political difficulties deepen.

Noting the fundamentalist tone taken as the U.S. moves toward the 2012 elections and secular nations continue to clash with religious extremists, Peterson advises that adhering to any religious ideology only will bring more of the problems nations are trying to overcome. "The more we use religion and its supernatural interpretation of the punitive power of God as an emotional wedge to secure His future, the less likely we'll reach the real world solutions we are seeking.

"If we want to return to the Founding Fathers' original ideals--life, liberty...