sir drinks-a-lot

Hello everyone,

I was wondering what any of you would car to speculate on the future of religion. Not just christianity, but other religions, and religion in general.

In the next 10 years, and in the next 50 years. Do you think christianity will rise or decline in popularity? What about religions in general? Or do you think it depends alot on other conditions like war, poverty, etc?

Does anyone know of any statistics on thins kind of thing?

Personally, I think there may be a rise in atheism. I feel that I am not really too qualified to make an accurate assessment, but think it is a very interesting topic.

Comments, anyone?

I ate Pascal's Wafer

Hello SDAL. I don't think religion is going anywhere. It may be declining in the educated areas like the U.S. and Europe, but worldwide theism is still strong. There will always be those who believe in some kind of deity.

Well, Christianity seems to be declining, but last I heard Islam is on the rise. I don't think Christianity is going anywhere for the time being, but I don't think they will have as big of an impact as they once had. It's tough to admit this after a few months on these boards, but the fundamentalist Christians are in the minority and many liberal Christians view them as nutty kooks as well.

It's possible that the liberals will come to discard their religion in the future. Perhaps their children will be even more liberal Christians, or disbelievers. It's entirely possible that in the next 50 or 100 years a good number of people in this nation are Atheists. I can't predict the future, but it wouldn't surprise me if it did.

I think there may be a rise in Atheism as well. I don't see us becoming a majority any time soon, at least not in the U.S. I do think Atheism will be more widespread in coming years, and I hope people will have more tolerance for us as well.

-Nick

Shake

Well, there have been some encouraging reports from some European countries where there are growing numbers of at least "not religious," which is closer to atheism than many are now. I feel the more science progresses, the more of a decline we'll see in religion in general. Of course, it will take quite a while for any real big changes, though.

Perchance

I find some hope (at least, in the sense that people are becoming more tolerant) in the number of "splinter" religions that crop up, and in the creation of some totally new ones in the twentieth century (such as Wicca). People are becoming more willing to "try new things" and "experiment," at least in the West. We can hope that such curiosity and experimentation spreads to Muslim countries and others still in the grip of fanaticism of one sort or the other.

And, in the end, if religion becomes a "lifestyle choice," it's likely that most people will stop thinking of it as the ultimate truth of the universe and see it just as an art, or an aspect of someone's personality- which I could quite easily live with. In that kind of world, an agnostic or atheist would just be a person who wasn't a particular kind of artist, or a person who had a different kind of personality than someone else.

-Perchance.

abe smith

Recent data I found somewhere a coupl'days ago (How imprecise can you get....) : about a survey in the UK, of Anglican CLERICS. [Never believe nor base judgements on any statistics.] The "reported" responses seem to indicate that CofE clergy ( as distinguished, perhaps, from the few laics-believers remaining in the pews) -- the clerics, I say, are abandoning belief/assertion of some long-during Christian dogmata; including the Virgin Birth of their Lord & Saviour; and the Resurrection. perhaps it's easier to continue to believe in airy fictions like the Trinity, and um, the Redemption....wh/ don't come up against reality quite so conspicuously. It seems [this poll's data allege.] that CofE *female* clerics are more-likely than the males to reject such traditional beliefs. --- It wd be interesting, but highly-difficult no-doubt, to inquire how many = male, nominally-celebate RC clerics, worldwide , REALLY believe in the Creed-sentences of Catholicism. Sorry to be so imprecise; I did print-out the report but don't have that here. OH! I found it bei the INFIDELS "Newswire". Bad thing is, that such "heretical" clerics do not come-out to their credulous sheep. Of course doing-that wd imperil their goodies & perks.

Morgan

Religion is on the decline. I think its days are numbered. Of course, that doesn't mean its going anywhere fast; I predict a good three or four hundred years for it.

However, this isn't necessarily a good thing. For years, religion provided two essential things; fear and morality.

Religion provided a moral code. While some parts of it were questionable, it was a good code. It also backed this up with punishment, "you will go to Hell if you do not follow" type thing.

While not the most desirable system, it prevented a great deal of crime and our society benefited.

Now, we must look somewhere else for morality. And we haven't found it. As a result, crime is on the rise. We must find a new moral code, and soon.

Autonemesis

How can you say "crime is on the rise", without comparing the behavior of criminals against some moral code, and then lament that it is rising because of the lack of a moral code? You've refuted your own assertion.

Edwin

Organised religion may be declining, but disorganised religion (new-age, healing crystals, etc) seems to be increasing.

Morgan

I did not make myself clear: Christians, and member of other faiths, still have their moral code. Criminals, by and large, are not of a faith.

Of course, I'm not saying that if you're not religious that you can't have a moral code, far from it (I myself am an atheist).

Joel

Do you have any data to back up this assertion? Considering the majority of the population is religious, I find it hard to believe that most of the criminals out there are not.

Another point on this - where do you get morality from religion? The bible recounts and encourages more atrocities and acts that I consider immoral than any other book I've read.