Originally posted by cococryspies
I of course realize there will always be people who reject science for religion, I'm talking about the majority of people.
In some cases that could be rational.
Conspiracies exist, humans are not perfect.
If humans have made a mistake, conspiracies are abound or supernatural forces are at work which are the ones who are going to notice it first?
The one's who succumb to "known" scientific knowledge or the ones who are highly critical of science due to their religion?
The unknown should never be an ignored option, despite how little the chances appear to be.
Originally posted by siriuswriter
Further, the "majority" of people [if you think of the whole world], are absolutely immersed in religion/rituals/belief systems, etc. There is no scientific proof whatever that proves that there is an afterlife, for example, and even if there were, Christians would still believe in heaven/hell, Hindus would still believe in reincarnation... etc.Whether right or wrong, people will cling to their beliefs. Religion is not about fact; religion is about faith.
On another note, that's what makes me so angry about people who try to prove that their religion is the right one - because people aren't supposed to be able to prove their religions... otherwise there would be no point in faith.
That's one of the most logical things I've ever read in this forum.
The one's who succumb to "known" scientific knowledge or the ones who are highly critical of science due to their religion?
You are ignoring the fact that scientists (in general) are all watching each other and waiting for a chance to prove someone wrong or catch a mistake- Scientists thrive on dissent(sp?).
It's hard for me to get involved with topics of religion, I myself being agnostic see it as just a breath of fresh air for certain people... I know religion will never die out.. it might calm down a bit.. but never go away.. I see a lot of people use God(s) as a scapegoat and solution to their problems... almost like alcohol to some people... when people ask "why is God doing this to me?" then they reply to themselves "He's not doing it, he's giving me the strength to get through it" and so forth... I myself just can't get myself to do that.. even my Aunt who turned Christian still swears, doesn't go to church n the such, but she listens to Christian rock and the likes, reads the bible.. is in love with frogs, so on and so on... everyone needs something to "help them get through the hard times"... whether it be God(s), drugs, sex, what have you.. if it makes them happy, let em be happy... I'm content with how my life is.. does it suck sometimes? Of course, who's doesn't? But I just keep pluckin away at it.. *shrugs* I dunno...
fact of the matter is.. I don't think religion is "dying out" it's just eased up a bit.. with all that's going on.. all the people in the world now.. no one can keep up... there will always be believers, non-believers, and people who want to believe but just, can't....
as the world turns......
My ten pence worth.
I feel from my own perspective that man as a species is learning to rely on itself and not rest all its hopes on the magic beardy man living in the clouds. Wide spread education, advances of science and medicine and breaking free of the Earths surface have taught Man that he can achieve greatness on his own.
Also I think its more correct to say that the dominant Western organised religions are losing out because people are starting to work out that the church (or controlling authority) don't have all the answers, don't move with the times and were solely there to generate money (look at the tax haven known as Vatican City) and keep it.
Look at Christianity. They are holding on so hard to stop women and gay members of their faith from advancing and holding equal place. This is the year 2009 not 1009. People are not under the fear of being struck down where they stand for disobeying the faith.
Religion will never die out. People will always want to believe in something bigger than themselves. Faiths of today will not 'die out' as such but will become fringe groups.
Originally posted by MilitantDog
My ten pence worth.I feel from my own perspective that man as a species is learning to rely on itself and not rest all its hopes on the magic beardy man living in the clouds. Wide spread education, advances of science and medicine and breaking free of the Earths surface have taught Man that he can achieve greatness on his own.
Also I think its more correct to say that the dominant Western organised religions are losing out because people are starting to work out that the church (or controlling authority) don't have all the answers, don't move with the times and were solely there to generate money (look at the tax haven known as Vatican City) and keep it.
Look at Christianity. They are holding on so hard to stop women and gay members of their faith from advancing and holding equal place. This is the year 2009 not 1009. People are not under the fear of being struck down where they stand for disobeying the faith.
Religion will never die out. People will always want to believe in something bigger than themselves. Faiths of today will not 'die out' as such but will become fringe groups.
Wow, I'd give you have a cent for your ten cents worth.
Originally posted by Prabhodh
In Australia, people who called themselves Christians declined from 96% in 1901 to about 63% in 2006.
Also, the people who subscribe to no religion increased from 2% to 30%...
So, religion is slowly going down here, but we will have to wait and see if any new religions come into prominence.
I don't know if stats really matter in these type of things. Spirituality or religion are personal experiences and ideas before they become communal or institutionalized. Essentially, I'm saying you can't be sure about where religion is just by looking at stats.
I think I was on here earlier refuting the titular argument. But now I'm not sure. If we redefine "slowly" to look at the movement of human civilization since we've had civilized society, it really has been a strong trend toward non-religion in a hurry. 1900, for example, in most parts of the Western world, wasn't much less religious than, say, the Middle Ages. But in the century or so since that, a sharp decline. Information is powerful.
I feel like the onset of massive technological advances means that we can't accurately predict much of anything even as close as maybe 50 years into the future. So speculation would be idle. But the hypothesis that religion is dying out, and perhaps not slowly but quickly by history's standards, isn't an outlandish one.
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A different perspective, perhaps:
If we look at most social or biological models, there exists an equilibrium for certain characteristics. Take population totals for a herd of animals in a given area. Overpopulate, not enough food. Death. So it swings the other way until there's an overabundance of food and population totals rise again. Somewhere in there exists the equilibrium. Sometimes it is never maintained, other times systems regulate themselves more strictly and don't experience such fluctuations. Nature is rife with examples, as any biologist will attest to. Gender totals are a good example. We've learned that biology slightly favors females, so the equilibrium is roughly 51/49, for reasons we don't quite know right now.
Social and economic fluctuations aren't revolutionary ideas either. Fluctuating markets, societal trends, opinions, etc. So why not religion? There likely exists a theistic/non-theistic equilibrium for the planet. Depending on the planet's conditions (the humans on its, their motivations, education, technology, etc.) that equilibrium will shift over time, but it exists. And we've never seen a sharp turn upward in religion as a species...we've never "bottomed out" our population totals, to match the earlier example. So we're likely above the equilibrium line in sheer number of theists (in percentages, not totals, obviously).
So religion dying out entirely is about as silly as secularism dying out entirely. Neither will ever happen. But it will certainly fluctuate, and we seem to be in the middle of a sharp downturn, which makes me believe that theists are a bigger percentage currently than what will make a "stable" ratio for the planet. But theists won't decline without end, and eventually the ratio will either fluctuate back up or stabilize at a ratio we can't hope to predict.
We've learned that biology slightly favors females, so the equilibrium is roughly 51/49, for reasons we don't quite know right now.
So evolution is wrong.
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I don't see religion "dying out" either, but for reasons other than the ones you suggest. Religious faith is a deep rooted tradition in (almost) every culture on the planet. People will find a way to reconcile (or ignore, I suppose) scientific facts with their historic beliefs. That a black family attends a 'sons of the confederacy' convention in order to honor an ancestor that fought for the south illustrates this. People will learn to cope with their most treasured contradictions and preserve a traditional way of life.