If it is not self-referentially incoherent to make the claim, then one thing in the West today is certain; that doubt is regarded nearly everywhere as a virtue, a sign of modesty, sensitivity and intelligence.
To be certain about almost anything else is a sign of arrogance, of bull-headed ignorance and bigotry. Such is simply not the stuff of a secularised pluralism.
Here is an evangelical example of refusal to express certainty on a pretty straightforward issue. Time magazine recently listed the most important evangelicals in America; among those highlighted was an individual who is, apparently, a significant figure in something called ‘the emerging church’. This is a group which has made the astounding discoveries — wait for it, you may want to sit down before reading this — that, generally speaking, people, especially younger people, do not like going to church, do not like authority structures, and do not wish to commit to any kind of traditional doctrinal position, ecclesiastical structure or established form of worship and piety. Well I never! People don’t want to go to church?! And young people object to authority?! Well, we do live in a day when evangelical prophets are made by pointing out things that are as plain as a pikestaff to most of us.
