Plebe

<a href="http://main.faithfreedom.org/Articles/sina/Persians_are_ready.htm" target="_blank">http://main.faithfreedom.org/Articles/sina/Persians_are_ready.htm</a>

I recently found this site which is linked to <a href="http://www.golshan.com" target="_blank">http://www.golshan.com</a>
This article poses an interesting question and I think shows that as with any part of the world in the face of progress beliefs change and it is the youth who embrace it first. I question though if Iranian youth will not abandon Islam in exchange for more superstition in the form of other religious faiths which will only delay much needed progress or if with more education the majority will favor philosophies while outwardly simply paying lipservice to the 'motions' of their religious heritage to allow for "rites of passage" in the form of ceremonies to mark stages of life as the vast majority of those unbelievers who attend church only for the occasions of a birth, a marriage or a death.

Pierre

Hi Plebe

Although I do not want to agree with you, I have to. Most people who lose their faith in one religion will only substitute it with another. At some stage all Greeks lost their faith in Zeus et al – and most then substituted that for Christianity. One would hope that when they finally realized that their Gods were a lot of hogwash, the lesson would be carried through… When believing for thousands of years in something and then finally realizing that it is not true would surely make one and all skeptical of religion – right?

Wrong. If for some or other bizarre reason the Greeks now lose their faith in Christianity, (or the Iranians in the Muslim religion) you can bet your last dollar that they will go for a substitute that 99% of people on these forums will also reject.

There is however a glimmer of hope – science…

Even in a very conservative (Christian) community like my own, the results of scientific studies (like the gnome(?) project) are well represented in the newspapers. Our letter pages are now full of readers rejecting or accepting evolution…these debates are often started by a recent scientific study or discovery that were reported in a newspaper or on TV. Twenty years ago these debates would have been almost unimaginable.

People starts to think and question things more and more - but I think it is much to early to hope for a world wide skeptic rush for answers to religious dogmas.

Let’s not get our hopes up to early.

Regards from the dark continent.

Pierre

Plebe

Yes, let us not get our hopes up too early Pierre and note the potentials involved in the maintenance of ignorance among the poor and uneducated especially which is responsible for the continuance of the stagnation of progress throughout the world.

As mankind advances through science [which is one of the best things we have to offer humanity in the way of progress] we will need to create some form of rituals for those 'rites of passage' that I mention which religions largely provide 'markers' for as we lose the need for religions. There are what is known as 'Secular Celebrants'http://www.secularhumanism.org who provide secular weddings, birth and funeral services and it will be a matter of [long]time before humanity exchanges the type of attendance at those rites in churches, mosques and synagogues for secular services so you are right about 'not getting our hopes up about a world-wide skeptic rush for answers to religious dogmas.' It's not too difficult to see that in largely Catholic countries for example that many who are secret unbelievers just 'go through the motions' attending church mostly during major life events and largely hang on to the label of 'Catholic' because of things such as social acceptance and community and that Muslim countries will likely see similar things in the years ahead which may take a few centuries more since their religion is among the newer organized religions.

Paste this into your browser, long couple of
articles, keep scrolling. Not too difficult to see that as long as ignorance is rampant we will not be free of superstitions and the emotionalism that cause large populations to cling like lemmings to the irrational. As my great grandmother said so well "Religion is to keep 'the little people'in line for political and power/money purposes" and she was an old Sicilian/Italian born and raised there up to her pre-teens back in the 1930's! <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/interviews/int2002-09-12.htm" target="_blank">http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/interviews/int2002-09-12.htm</a> .."I sometimes say that God has a very grim sense of humor, because so many of the areas on these religious fault-lines are also the key oil-producing regions. So religious politics are oil politics. I'm not sure how much we've taken that fact aboard. Let's imagine another situation, which is not too hard to contemplate, in which you had a full-scale war break out in Nigeria between Christians and Muslims, with the prospect of millions being killed. The potential there for drawing in regional powers, or powers concerned about oil wealth, is enormous." MORE LINKS and there are more links to great articles within once you
get to each article!

<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/96aug/nxtchrch/nxtchrch.htm" target="_blank">http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/96aug/nxtchrch/nxtchrch.htm</a>
<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/02/lester.htm" target="_blank">http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/02/lester.htm</a>
<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/10/wolfe.htm" target="_blank">http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/10/wolfe.htm</a>