Will religion eventually collapse?

[Globex]

Do you think Religion will survive in the future? From the way I see it, there are so many factors working against religion that it seems likely it will eventually die out:

-Science has debunked many of religion's previously held beliefs and is further debunking them and thus making religion seem more unlikely
-More people are becoming educated and rational (making them somewhat less receptive to the belief of supernatural forces, superstitions, the usefulness of prayers and other elements that make up a religion)
-Technology satisfies many of our day-to-day needs and can help avert disasters and solve problems (people no longer need to turn to prayer for these things)
-Today, many people are already preoccupied with the responsibilities of modern life and in addition, there exists a copious amount of entertainment. These things may make tasks like attending religious ceremonies seem less important.
-Religious tolerance has exposed people to the ideals of other religions (when you know only one religion and consider people of other faiths as heathens, then you firmly believe that your religion is correct while all others are wrong but when you are exposed to multiple religious ideologies, it sort of corrodes your faith in your religion since it makes you think "With so many religions in this world, how do I know mine is the correct one and all others are wrong? Is it possible that the millions of people in other religions are following delusional ideologies?"
-We no longer need religion to explain the origins and workings of the universe. (Not that science has the answers to everything. Its just that a large part of many religions had to do with explaining the birth and mechanics of the world. Science has taken a huge chunk out of that part)
-Our moral standards have improved enormously since religious texts were written which makes some of these texts seem barbaric and horrifying
-Certain individuals use religion to justify their hostility towards certain groups (e.g. homosexuals) and thus possibly driving away potential believers from their faith and making their faith look intolerant in a world where tolerance is expected.
-Governments and countries are becoming increasingly secular.


There are factors that keep religion alive such as the human desire for meaning and fulfillment in life but IMO the effect those factors have is not enough to keep organized religion alive.

Do you think that religion will survive the next century?
Do you think religions will adapt to these problems facing them?
If you think that religions will eventually die out, how long do you think that this decline and eventual collapse will take?

EDIT: I have realized that many of my points are badly worded and misrepresent what I really mean. I have reworded some of them.

Also, this thread isn't meant to discuss the truth of religions or whether they are useful or detrimental to society. It is whether religions will survive or not in face of social forces that are driving away their disciples and believers.

 

[bhsup]

Since God exists, I'd have to say yes.

 

[El_Machinae]

Religion will survive for some time. The current crop of religions will die away eventually.

 

[negZero]

-More people are becoming educated and rational (and thus less likely to believe in supernatural forces)

I want to live in your world so I no longer have to hear (no I don't mean listen) the 9/11 truthers.

 

[kulade]

Most likely, conservative religious traditions will be whittled down until they will be indistinguishable from non-religiousness and while some people drop religion as a whole.

The slippery slope of modernization:
"Okay, we shouldn't follow all the book..."
"Yeah and maybe creation didn't happen that way..."
"And I guess the Big Bang happened..."
"And people of other religions can go to heaven..."
"Maybe God didn't do all those miracles..."
"Yeah and prayer doesn't make statistical signifigance..."
"In fact, maybe God is just like a universal natural force..."
"Okay, yeah, it's all just tradition..."

Most religions will go through the preceding transformation. (kulade's guess)

 

[Fifty]

there are so many ppl who cant stop making logical fallicies so yes there will always be religion at least until everyone with iq under 150 or who doesnt use logic is killed or sterilized... luckily id still be alive and fertile if that happened lol

 

[Bill3000]

The slippery slope of modernization:

Why do you think the Church condemned modernism as the "synthesis of all heresies"?

Most religions will go through the preceding transformation. (kulade's guess)

I dunno, there have been serious reactionary traditions formed in response to religious liberalism and other forms of modernization.

 

[Holycannoli]

After seeing the incredible bias of the first two points, I stopped reading.

 

[BrendanM]

No.

As long as there are poor and destitute people there will always be a need for a high power to help them deal with life.

 

[Globex]

After seeing the incredible bias of the first two points, I stopped reading.

Science does debunk many of religion's previously held beliefs (the belief that the earth is the center of the universe for example). And there are studies that have shown that the more educated you are, the less likely you are to be religious. I admit that my points come off as extremely biased but that doesn't mean that they are untrue.

 

[kulade]

I dunno, there have been serious reactionary traditions formed in response to religious liberalism and other forms of modernization.

Still, the largest institutionalized churches have become far more open to everything from to scientific ideas to homosexuals. Obviously there will be reactionary groups, but in a world or easy access information and a slowly secularizing norm, reactionaries are on the waning side. I'm sure we could all agree that, say, the Catholic church has secularized significantly in the pass 1000 years.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

So long as people continue to think that science contradicts the existence of God, religion will fade, and the non-religious will despise the rest for it.

 

[Margim]

Do you think Religion will survive in the future? From the way I see it, there are so many factors working against religion that it seems likely it will eventually die out:

-Science is making religion seem increasingly ridiculous
-More people are becoming educated and rational (and thus less likely to believe in supernatural forces)
-Technology satisfies many of our day-to-day needs and can help avert disasters and solve problems (people no longer need to turn to prayer for these things)
-Why spend dull, boring hours at church/temple/mosque/synagogue when there is so much technology to entertain you and so many responsibilities to fulfill?
-Religious tolerance has exposed people to the ideals of other religions (when you know only one religion and consider people of other faiths as heathens, then you firmly believe that your religion is correct while all others are wrong but when you are exposed to multiple religious ideologies, it sort of corrodes your faith in your religion since it makes you think "With so many religions in this world, how do I know mine is the correct one and all others are wrong? Is it possible that the millions of people in other religions are following delusional ideologies?"
-We no longer need religion to explain the origins and workings of the universe.
-Our moral standards have improved enormously since religious texts were written which makes some of these texts seem barbaric and horrifying
-Certain religions are hostile to certain groups of people (e.g. homosexuals)
-Governments and countries are becoming increasingly secular.

Do you think that religion will survive the next century?
Do you think religions will adapt to these problems facing them?
If you think that religions will eventually die out, how long do you think that this decline and eventual collapse will take?

Will religion collapse? No.

I don't see many of your arguments as all that convincing to be honest. There are plenty of scientific, rational people out there who concede there is at least the possibility of the unscientific existing.

You are writing from the same old ignorant viewpoint that you are accusing religious people of having - namely, that there is some sort of polarity between religion and science.

Step away from false dichotomies and generalisms for a moment... your treatment of the concepts is unbalanced and unfair. One could equally list off the evils that science has wrought and the answers that science hasn't yet discovered, except that would be a dishonest discussion technique, when science has contributed so positiviely to our development as people in so many other ways.

 

[holy king]

not religion. just instituted religion. (as everyone will cherry pick his personal belief)

and i'm not to unhappy about that...

 

[kulade]

I don't see many of your arguments as all that convincing to be honest. There are plenty of scientific, rational people out there who concede there is at least the possibility of the unscientific existing.

Of course "unscientific" things could exist, but if they are in any way relevant, as God would be, we would expect them to have ramifications the material side of the universe, no? If they have any effects on the physical world, they can be discovered and measured, so where are they? But if they do not have any effects on the physical world, how are they important?

 

[Bigfoot3814]

Do you think Religion will survive in the future?

Yes I do. So I'll take a look at the things you listed here.

-Science is making religion seem increasingly ridiculous

I disagree. I truly believe religion and science can go together.

-More people are becoming educated and rational (and thus less likely to believe in supernatural forces)

Belief in supernatural forces is hardly at the heart of most religions.

-Technology satisfies many of our day-to-day needs and can help avert disasters and solve problems (people no longer need to turn to prayer for these things)

I'm sorry, but I think this is a poor example. To some people, thier day-to-day needs include that of the spiritual nature. No ammount of technology can solve one's personal emotional, spiritual issues. I also think you're not quite sure what prayer is. It's not a begging session. It's personal thought and meditation through which you hope to better yourself. To put it one way, nobody ever prayed their way to success.

-Why spend dull, boring hours at church/temple/mosque/synagogue when there is so much technology to entertain you and so many responsibilities to fulfill?

I'm Catholic, so I'm farmiliar with the sensation of a dull and boring church service. But I go because I learn something when I do, as well as because it's one of the ways my family spends time together, and for the sense of community there is among the parishoners. Believe me, there were plenty fun things to do outside church long before this century, and it hasn't stopped.

-Religious tolerance has exposed people to the ideals of other religions (when you know only one religion and consider people of other faiths as heathens, then you firmly believe that your religion is correct while all others are wrong but when you are exposed to multiple religious ideologies, it sort of corrodes your faith in your religion since it makes you think "With so many religions in this world, how do I know mine is the correct one and all others are wrong? Is it possible that the millions of people in other religions are following delusional ideologies?"

I don't think people draw that conclusion. I think it's a very good thing that people of different faiths are coming to understand one another. I personally believe that as long as another man's religion is about peace and love, I have no right or reason to tell him it's wrong. After all, God loves everyone, and so must I.

-We no longer need religion to explain the origins and workings of the universe.

As I hope I've made clear, there is a lot more to religion than what makes up the origins and the workings of the universe.

-Our moral standards have improved enormously since religious texts were written which makes some of these texts seem barbaric and horrifying

I don't think that takes away from what they can teach us.

-Certain religions are hostile to certain groups of people (e.g. homosexuals)

You also have to remember that some people are just nuts.

-Governments and countries are becoming increasingly secular.

That's fine by me. I think faith should be a personal thing, and nobody should tell you how to or make anybody who doesn't want to.

Do you think religions will adapt to these problems facing them?

Religions have always changed with the times. People in the Rennaissance period probably had this very same discussion about the Dark Ages era church.

So that's that.

 

[Bill3000]

Still, the largest institutionalized churches have become far more open to everything from to scientific ideas to homosexuals. Obviously there will be reactionary groups, but in a world or easy access information and a slowly secularizing norm, reactionaries are on the waning side. I'm sure we could all agree that, say, the Catholic church has secularized significantly in the pass 1000 years.

Yes, but religion need not be institutionalized. The fastest growing form of christianity, for example, is Pentecostalism in Africa. And that's a highly activity based (based on actions as opposed to mere faith) form of Christianity. Granted it's popular because it's easy to syncrenize with shamanistic traditions, but as long as you're going to have Christianity in Africa, you're going to have a massive populace with conservative to reactionary beliefs for as long as the continent is in massive poverty, which probably will be forever at this rate.

 

[woody60707]

I think your to narrowly defining what religion is. The way religion is practice today is a goner, but so was the way religion was practice 2000yrs ago.

I think religion and science are going to become closely knotted. There is a Sci fi book by John Ringo called In the looking glass which there is a alien race (Adar) what view science and religion as the same. To have a better understanding of the universe and your self is to better understand god. Being that (it's) the one that made up all the rules.

But yea, the bible and all that stuff, gone.

 

[AngryZealot]

God made me an atheist. Who are you to question his wisdom?

 

[kulade]

Yes, but religion need not be institutionalized. The fastest growing form of christianity, for example, is Pentecostalism in Africa. And that's a highly activity based (based on actions as opposed to mere faith) form of Christianity. Granted it's popular because it's easy to syncrenize with shamanistic traditions, but as long as you're going to have Christianity in Africa, you're going to have a massive populace with conservative to reactionary beliefs for as long as the continent is in massive poverty, which probably will be forever at this rate.

Well I wouldn't say that they would remain reactionary so long as they are in poverty, but the growing Christian churches in Africa and East Asia as well are indeed very hard-line. I don't think you can say much about Africa that can't be said of dark age Europe, sure it's a crap hole, but it won't be forever. I hate to say something so baseless, but all societies, after accepting new religions, are at their most conservative state; it can only slow down.

Industrialized nations are the most secular, and when Africa industrializes (and I am confident that it will) it will "awaken for its dogmatic slumber" and embrace a more liberalized form of their previous faiths.