mikk, "Maybe then we can get away from the bigotry, homophobia, misogyny, pedophilia, terrorism, oppression and lies that define all religions."

And those things wouldn't exist without religion?

Rhrosty, "White" is a holistic term.
Just like "Black".
Tell a Black American that Black is skin pigmentation alone and see how long it takes your bones to heal.

Albinos are not "White", they are pale.
Tanned Aussies are not "Coloured People".

"White" applies to the entire mental, physical, cultural, social and historical reality of Europeans.
Much more than just skin colour (which is usually pinky-cream).

There are few exceptions to the "White = High HDI" rule.

And those few exceptions defy the author's anti-religious assertions.

Among the exceptions are Israel (specifically created for an ethno-religious group), Saudi Arabia (ever heard of Mecca?), Japan (80% practice its unique religion Shinto) and South Korea (where Christianity has *increased* in popularity in tandem with their economic growth).

Whiteness and religion do not per se help or hinder development.
But White sure doesn't hurt.

Both the authors of this article and the book it reviews cannot be taken seriously because they have no clue what religion is, as they assume that anything connected with Christianity is automatically religious.

No doubt, many unholy attitudes and practices were attached to the Christian Churches over the years like algae to a ship's hull and it would be good to weed those out, but that's no reason to throw away the baby with the bath-water.

Bah! Do away with all religions and the charitable and other good works that many of them perform; let the taxpayer foot the bills.

There is nothing about/in the book that would entice me to pick it up even if it were sitting on the "free" pile, let alone buy it.