Loyal D. Rue (born June 7, 1944) is an American philosopher of religion. He is professor emeritus of religion and philosophy at Luther College of

Decorah, Iowa Decorah is a city in and the county seat of Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,587 at the time of the 2020 census. Decorah is located at the intersection of State Highway 9 and U.S. Route 52, and is the largest commu ...

. He focuses on naturalistic theories of religion and has been awarded two

John Templeton Foundation The John Templeton Foundation (Templeton Foundation) is a philanthropic organization that reflects the ideas of its founder, John Templeton, who became wealthy via a career as a contrarian investor, and wanted to support progress in religious a ...

fellowships. He has been for many years a member and lecturer at the

Institute on Religion in an Age of Science The Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS) is a non-denominational society that promotes and facilitates the ongoing dialectic between religion and science. The Institute has held annual week-long conferences at Star Island in New Hampsh ...

(IRAS).

Views

Rue in his writings and teaching has been a proponent of

religious naturalism Religious naturalism combines a naturalist worldview with ideals, perceptions, traditions, and values that have been traditionally associated with many religions or religious institutions. "Religious naturalism is a perspective that finds religi ...

and environmentalism: In ''Religion Is Not About God'', Rue proposed that at the heart of almost all religions and cultures is a story – a

myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...

. This is due to humans being emotional, narrative beings. Religions use what Rue called "ancillary strategies" to promote and make flourish their doctrines. He named five strategies: intellectual, experiential, ritual, aesthetic, and institutional (pages 128–142). To these may be added participants, practices, teachings, and social behavior. In the Epilogue of ''Everybody's Story'', Rue wrote:

Reception

Edward O. Wilson said of Rue's ''Religion Is Not About God'': "This book is an important step towards the naturalistic, hence truly general

theory of religion Sociological and anthropological theories about religion generally attempt to explain the origin and function of religion. These theories define what they present as universal characteristics of religious belief and practice. History From ...

. It harmonizes contemporary scientific understanding of the origin of human nature with a positive view of the centrality of religious culture." The individual perspectives on religious naturalism of Donald A. Crosby, Jerome A. Stone, Ursula Goodenough and Rue are discussed by Michael Hogue in his 2010 book ''The Promise of Religious Naturalism''.The Promise of Religious Naturalism, Michael Hogue, Rowman & Littlefield, 2010,

Major publications

*'' Nature is Enough: Religious Naturalism and the Meaning of Life'', State University of New York Press, 2012, *''Religion Is Not About God: How Spiritual Traditions Nurture Our Biological Nature And What to Expect When They Fail'', Rutgers University Press, 2006, *''Everybody's Story: Wising Up to the Epic of Evolution'', State University of New York Press, 1999, *''By the Grace of Guile: The Role of Deception in Natural History and Human Affairs'', Oxford University Press, 1994, (A ''New York Times'' Notable Book) *''Amythia: Crisis in the Natural History of Western Culture'', University Alabama Press, 1989, Rue also served as co-editor of the volume ''Contemporary Classics in Philosophy of Religion'', Open Court Pub. Co., 1991,

Views

Reception

Major publications

References

Further reading