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Organized religion on the verge of extinction?

The Armageddon posts will start...wait for it...wait for it...
 
More room for me in heaven :mrgreen:
 
"They've gone from 0.04% unaffiliated in 1961 to 4.2% in 2006, our most recent data point"

my God religion is in freefall won't last the year at this rate
 
ChuckBerry said:
"They've gone from 0.04% unaffiliated in 1961 to 4.2% in 2006, our most recent data point"

my God religion is in freefall won't last the year at this rate
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I think that's a pretty quick pace when you're talking about religion. I wonder if a new religion(s) will pop up in the future.
 
sbrettt said:
I think that's a pretty quick pace when you're talking about religion. I wonder if a new religion(s) will pop up in the future.
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We've had a good record with some of these religions of ours. It won't be in my lifetime or my kid's lifetime that a religion will spring up, but I won't conceive of anything after that. I don't think that we will have a post-religious future, unless the secular world wants to up the ante in becoming more meaningful, which liberal countries would not comfortably do. To me, religion serves two purposes: spiritual fulfillment and social cohesion.
 
Fiddytree said:
We've had a good record with some of these religions of ours. It won't be in my lifetime or my kid's lifetime that a religion will spring up, but I won't conceive of anything after that. I don't think that we will have a post-religious future.
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Me neither. There will always have to be something, but I think eventually it will be something new.
 
8FD8964722FEF992B309B3_Large.jpg


So. It begins.
 
Religion will not die out, but atheism will be the dominant "belief system" in upcoming generations. Religion wanes as information becomes more accessible.
 
Amadeus said:
Religion will not die out, but atheism will be the dominant "belief system" in upcoming generations. Religion wanes as information becomes more accessible.
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How linear of you.
 
sbrettt said:
Organized religion 'will be driven toward extinction' in 9 countries, experts predict – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs
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It says:

Organized religion will all but vanish eventually from nine Western-style democracies, a team of mathematicians predict in a new paper based on census data stretching back 100 years.
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The article is talking about western-style democratic countries. And they're talking about "organized religion." Christianity will still be around even if organized religion becomes extinct.

I can only relate to Christianity....but we're really getting a lot of converts from other countries that are not under democratic rule. It's like the early church under the Roman empire when Christians meet in secret.

The Christian mission is not to convert. The mission is to spread the good news.
 
sbrettt said:
I think that's a pretty quick pace when you're talking about religion. I wonder if a new religion(s) will pop up in the future.
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How we think has changed tremendously through a more accurate understanding of the universe, education, communication, psychology, history of religion and human societies. This is the basis of the decline in traditional understanding of religion arouond the world. But this is not a change in the human need to see how things fit together, the need to see a purpose in life and the need to have a common set of values on which to base society. Without these, you don't have a society. So if old religions lose their appeal and are no longer seen as relevant to present day conditions and realities, they'll fade away and be replaced by a new form or forms of religion. Every society, no matter how small, has had religion. Communist states have tried to create atheistic societies, but look at them now! Every major world religion was a new religion in the beginning of its history. Each succeeded in attracting followers because it dealt with real human needs of that time and period. The interesting thing about today's world is the availability of knowledge about every religion and the ability of almosts everyone to connect with like-minded folks who share the same beliefs. Kings and priests no longer have the power to isolate people with the "true" understanding and facts. We can all think and act independently. Wow!
 
Harlan said:
You're right on! Materialism is probably the closest thing to an American religion today.
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Yes. And materialism is all for the gratification of SELF....which makes Self the god being worshipped today.
 
tosca1 said:
Yes. And materialism is all for the gratification of SELF....which makes Self the god being worshipped today.
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Funny. Explain to me then about the wealth of the Catholic Church?

Roman Catholic Church’s wealth impossible to calculate | World | News | National Post

There is no doubt, however, that between the church’s priceless art, land, gold and investments across the globe, it is one of the wealthiest institutions on Earth.
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Chew on that for a little bit.
 
This is what happens when you let mathematicians do sociology. :)
 
Dragonfly said:
Funny. Explain to me then about the wealth of the Catholic Church?

Roman Catholic Church’s wealth impossible to calculate | World | News | National Post



Chew on that for a little bit.
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The Catholic Church is a very old, worldwide institution...of course it holds a large store of wealth simply by the virtue of its age and wide scope. I would argue that its land holdings are very valuable because they established churches in places where land was once cheap, and now has become very valuable real estate. So too with religious art, as these million dollar masterworks were not so when they were painted and then came into possession of the church.

Is mere possession of valuable things materialism? No.
 
ChuckBerry said:
The Catholic Church is a very old, worldwide institution...of course it holds a large store of wealth simply by the virtue of its age and wide scope. I would argue that its land holdings are very valuable because they established churches in places where land was once cheap, and now has become very valuable real estate. So too with religious art, as these million dollar masterworks were not so when they were painted and then came into possession of the church.

Is mere possession of valuable things materialism? No.
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I'm never really shocked anymore when I see religious people find some way to justify hypocrisy.

So it's fine for the church to be one of the wealthiest entities on the planet - but for a "regular human" money is something that leads to evil?
 
Dragonfly said:
So it's fine for the church to be one of the wealthiest entities on the planet - but for a "regular human" money is something that leads to evil?
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It can. Materialism isn't the possession of things, it's using things as a substitute for fulfillment in God. No one individual owns the Catholic church, so no one in the church is enriching themselves. No doubt there are many in the church that have succumbed to materialism, it's like any other sin.
 
Dragonfly said:
I'm never really shocked anymore when I see religious people find some way to justify hypocrisy.

So it's fine for the church to be one of the wealthiest entities on the planet - but for a "regular human" money is something that leads to evil?
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No, money is just a medium of exchange. There is nothing evil about it.

There is nothing hypocritical about a Church owning a building and grounds, or artwork for the world to admire and appreciate.

You're confused about the teaching of the "love" of money being evil.
 
sbrettt said:
Organized religion 'will be driven toward extinction' in 9 countries, experts predict – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs
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In the West? Perhaps.

However, in terms of overall global relevance and cultural influence, the Western world is in all but full on decline right now, so I wouldn't say that this fact is particularly meaningful on a global scale. The vast majority of the human race is still extremely religious in the more traditional sense of the word.

I don't see this fact changing any time soon.

Dragonfly said:
I'm never really shocked anymore when I see religious people find some way to justify hypocrisy.

So it's fine for the church to be one of the wealthiest entities on the planet - but for a "regular human" money is something that leads to evil?
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Nonsense. The Church isn't anywhere near as wealthy as you seem to believe, and the vast majority of its income goes towards charitable causes like education and healthcare anyway.

The Economist

Furthermore, while 170 billion dollars might seem like a lot, it should be noted that the Church isn't even worth half as much as Walmart.

Walmart Networth

A two thousand year old institution with global outreach has money? Stop the presses! :roll:
 
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