Religion: Is it on the way out?

[Urumgard]

I'm pretty sure that most people don't seem to care about religion any more in the UK and I'd say that most people who identify as religious are hardly what you'd call "devout", though I do know people who fall into this category. The census (as has been pointed out) suggests that religion is falling here as well. However, in the Islamic world and in Africa religion shows no signs of diminishing. In fact, there has been a growth particularly of Evangelical Christianity in some parts of Africa, so overall, probably no. If it is declining, then it is only really in the west and even that is debatable.

[Czechanada]

Actually, I'm going to posit that religion will go up.

Sociology has revealed that religiosity goes down when SES goes up. As the economy of the world will further go down the toilet, I'd expect a rise in religiosity.

[Divair]

Actually, I'm going to posit that religion will go up.

Sociology has revealed that religiosity goes down when SES goes up. As the economy of the world will further go down the toilet, I'd expect a rise in religiosity.

Why would the global economy get worse when it has been recovering since 2008?..

[Nationalist State of Knox]

I'm pretty sure that most people don't seem to care about religion any more in the UK and I'd say that most people who identify as religious are hardly what you'd call "devout",

That's pretty accurate.

[Minoriteeburg]

Actually, I'm going to posit that religion will go up.

Sociology has revealed that religiosity goes down when SES goes up. As the economy of the world will further go down the toilet, I'd expect a rise in religiosity.

So religion is economy based. Interesting.

[Ainin]

Atheists in Canada:
1991: 12.6%
2001: 16.5%
2011: 28%

It's definitely on its way out in Canada.
EDIT: Ten more years and we'll beat France in terms of secularism!

[Czechanada]

Actually, I'm going to posit that religion will go up.

Sociology has revealed that religiosity goes down when SES goes up. As the economy of the world will further go down the toilet, I'd expect a rise in religiosity.

Why would the global economy get worse when it has been recovering since 2008?..

Sorry, I meant more in the sense of the rich-poor divide.

[Liberated Counties]

I go to a church school for reasons I know not. But I seems a lot of my friends there are becoming atheists (including me) so I guess that means religion is on the decrease. If not nationwide than definitely within my school. It seems France and Wales are becoming increasingly secular.

I know France is like 35% Non-Religious
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_France

And Wales was praised for being secular, something like 32.1% Non-Religious
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Wales

And Also athiesm seems on the rise, from 1% in 2005 to 5% in 2012. That seems a lot to me.
Source: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyat ... n-america/

Disclaimer: Im open to counter-arguments, don't assume I'm a know-it-all.

[Divair]

Sorry, I meant more in the sense of the rich-poor divide.

A divide is irrelevant if everyone is rising.

[Minoriteeburg]

Why would the global economy get worse when it has been recovering since 2008?..

Sorry, I meant more in the sense of the rich-poor divide.

So basically if you are poor, you are religious?

[Unidox]

The new generation of the time.

And the romans said the cult of Christ wouldn't expand past Judea-Palestine.

I wonder if the cult of Mithras became the dominant religion.

We'd all be wearing strange robes and practicing complex ceremonies from Persia. Unless Dagon, Baal, and Asteroth make a mysterious comeback.

Considering that there are non-Christian (*cough pagan *cough) elements to what we call Christianity today; I doubt the cult-o-christ would have made it so far without adopting certain non-traditional aspects and rituals. Then there is the whole geo-political influence Christians had when Rome fell.

... Though, whispers have it that Mithra is due for a come back, although, he trails Cthulhu.

[The Rebel Alliances]

I live in the Bible Belt, where you see more churches than gas stations....almost. And most have their pews filled every Sunday. So, maybe the rest of the world is losing its faith.

But I am not so worried down here. I even converted a man north of the Mason-Dixon. A man who was athiest all of his life.

But seriously I dont know. Does those sources in the OP, take into account converts?

[Urumgard]

Sorry, I meant more in the sense of the rich-poor divide.

A divide is irrelevant if everyone is rising.

Except that the rich-poor divide has and continues to increase since the 1970s: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16545898

[Divair]

A divide is irrelevant if everyone is rising.

Except that the rich-poor divide has and continues to increase since the 1970s: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16545898

It doesn't matter. Religion isn't a result of the gap between the rich and the poor, it's a result of extreme poverty.

[Minoriteeburg]

(Image)

I live in the Bible Belt, where you see more churches than gas stations....almost. And most have their pews filled every Sunday. So, maybe the rest of the world is losing its faith.

But I am not so worried down here. I even converted a man north of the Mason-Dixon. A man who was athiest all of his life.

But seriously I dont know. Does those sources in the OP, take into account converts?

My sources see to nmot count them, although I can look for one that does.

Good point there.

[Soberkistan]

Religion will never die out fully, but as people become more educated and science become less ignorable the numbers are going to drop severely. It will not die in my lifetime, but I hope to be around long enough to see atheism as the majority.

[Minoriteeburg]

Religion will never die out fully, but as people become more educated and science become less ignorable the numbers are going to drop severely. It will not die in my lifetime, but I hope to be around long enough to see atheism as the majority.

I doubt that Atheism will be the majority in our lifetime.

[The Holy Swedish Empire]

I have a somewhat unorthodox but perhaps way to common belief.

My belief is that all religions come down to the same point, with the same guidelines, with a few exceptions.

Here are some.

Ancestral worship (Families, saints etc. We all rever our past forefathers, and closer families that have left the world)
Some form of encouragement towards selflessness and helping others.
A higher being or several that guides us through with subtle means, much like a guardian in the dark,or like a parent watching over a child at a playground, steering him away from bullies, dangerous insects and animals, hindering from eating sand, etc.
Answers to existensial questions.
A sort of community, not only for worship, but protection of poor, the lesser peoples so to speech.

I could list more. These guidelines exist in all religions I have researched, and I have researched a few. Even Atheist have answers to most of these questions.

For example, and atheist sees evolution and the instincts of a parent, or the grouping of man as a steering through life, they may not see ancestral worship as a greater cause, still they bury the dead, and pay homage to them. They instead of a higher being worship reason or science, which do not exactly according to my beliefs close out the way that a god may exist. He may have concealed himself with false information in science.

He might have given us the gift of free will as a test to see how we develop from there, think of it as turning on an old watch, you turn it on once, then you just watch it from time to time, to know what it is. You don't touch it again.

I believe a lot have changed traditional religion towards a more secular atheism due to the bombardment of science and logical reasoning we meet everyday, and these do not nearly hold the answer to everything.

The middle east, and some parts of africa and asia, they have not met this as much.

And again, my point is, we have changed our beliefs in gods, for a belief in what we see. Since we don't see a heaven, there is no heaven. That doesn't mean that a tree don't exist since we can't see a tree.

[Soberkistan]

Religion will never die out fully, but as people become more educated and science become less ignorable the numbers are going to drop severely. It will not die in my lifetime, but I hope to be around long enough to see atheism as the majority.

I doubt that Atheism will be the majority in our lifetime.

I do too, but I hope it does.

[The Rebel Alliances]

(Image)

I live in the Bible Belt, where you see more churches than gas stations....almost. And most have their pews filled every Sunday. So, maybe the rest of the world is losing its faith.

But I am not so worried down here. I even converted a man north of the Mason-Dixon. A man who was athiest all of his life.

But seriously I dont know. Does those sources in the OP, take into account converts?

My sources see to nmot count them, although I can look for one that does.

Good point there.

We must look at both sides friend.

For God has a strong appeal to many.

[Genivaria]

Mainstream, politicized, and organized religion certainly.

[Divair]

Religion will never die out fully, but as people become more educated and science become less ignorable the numbers are going to drop severely. It will not die in my lifetime, but I hope to be around long enough to see atheism as the majority.

I doubt that Atheism will be the majority in our lifetime.

I'm willing to dispute that, but I suppose that depends on how old you are.

[Minoriteeburg]

I doubt that Atheism will be the majority in our lifetime.

I do too, but I hope it does.

I just hope that people choose Atheism because they believe in it, not because everyone else is doing it.

[Central European Commonwealth]

I sure as hell hope so.

At least me and my fiancee will contribute to it as much as possible. If we have children they will not be allowed to follow any religion or go to any church until they're old enough to make the decision for themselves. (Which would be about 14-16 or so). So, yeah - there will be absolutely no god in our house, we feel that as both parents are scientifically educated in our case, we don't need fairytales to explain their questions about life.

[Ceni]

Well, this is just my opinion. No, I don't think it's fading because people always need something to believe in in times of crisis, and they'll believe in religion.