View Full Version : Religion may become extinct?
Cobbydaler
22-03-2011, 22:18
In certain countries according to these researchers:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12811197
Interesting stuff...
Frankly what people believe in will just change direction.
People may not believe in religion but there are still plenty who believe in ghosts and supernatural phenomena such as crop circles and little green or grey men.
;)
idi banashapan
22-03-2011, 23:06
if it cannot be explained / proven, it will have a following. it's all about having faith in something - believing in something.
All dinosaurs eventually become extint. ;)
All dinosaurs eventually become extint. ;)
But, who will run this website once you have gone ? :D
But, who will run this website once you have gone ? :D
/reaches for Ban button ... :cool:
It has been extinct in my life since the age of 5/6 due to my parents sending me to a High Church of England school, not with any intent I hasten to add but because it was the local school, I hated everything about it and left a lasting impression of the futility of an enforced religion.
All dinosaurs eventually become extint. ;)
:LOL:
I can see organised religions diminishing in some parts of the world but people will always have spirituality and that can never be removed or legislated against.
papa smurf
23-03-2011, 07:55
its a bit like the Panda's sad story - destined for extinction but a few people trying to keep them going for a few more years -eventually all things outlive their time and are replaced by something more adapted for life .
if things don't evolve they die out ,i wont miss all the crap done in the name of God and religion i quite look forward to the peace and quiet .
the question is what would all the interfering power hungry control freaks do with themselves if there was no religion to base there lives on ? how would they control the rest of us ???
the question is what would all the interfering power hungry control freaks do with themselves if there was no religion to base there lives on ? how would they control the rest of us ???
Put themselves in an authoritative position.
I'd like to see religion wiped out. I just know we'd all get along.
I'm not surprised that there is a model to predict the decline of social organisations as described in the OP link and I'm not surprised that model shows terminal decline of Christianity as a social construct in Western democracies. Those of us on the inside of that construct have been aware for decades that times are changing ;)
What the somewhat hysterical headline on this story has failed to account for is that Christianity has survived for two millennia in plenty of places where you could be executed simply for owning a Bible or meeting the wrong group of people at the wrong time or place. In other words, there is more to the survival of a faith group than its social appeal.
Christianity may well all but vanish as a major aspect of British culture, but extinct? History proves otherwise.
I think a lot of people class themselves as a Christian wrongly. they may say they're a Christian due to the simple fact that they're not a Muslim. they may think they're a Christian because they got married in a church or attended a church. they may have liked the sound of the church choir.
but that doesn't mean you're a Christian. if you were to involve the question of 'do you believe in God' after the 'Christian' question. you'd probably get a lot that don't actually qualify afterall.
You sure people will stop having any faith?
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2011/03/16.jpg
papa smurf
23-03-2011, 10:04
Put themselves in an authoritative position.
I'd like to see religion wiped out. I just know we'd all get along.
what do you mean by wiped out ?
books -buildings- artefacts -destroyed ?
or religion just consigned to history as a mistake never to be repeated ,or something else ?
what do you mean by wiped out ?
books -buildings- artefacts -destroyed ?
or religion just consigned to history as a mistake never to be repeated ,or something else ?
Erased from the minds :)
I don't know really.
Erased from the minds :)
I don't know really.
You don't say.
There's that tolerant atheist attitude we all hear about.
bigsinky
04-04-2011, 08:23
In the distant future there is only war....................
Always look on the bright siiiide of life, de doo, de doo, de doo de doo de doo.......
bigsinky
04-04-2011, 15:19
he's not coming out, he's a very naughty boy
I'm not surprised that there is a model to predict the decline of social organisations as described in the OP link and I'm not surprised that model shows terminal decline of Christianity as a social construct in Western democracies. Those of us on the inside of that construct have been aware for decades that times are changing ;)
What the somewhat hysterical headline on this story has failed to account for is that Christianity has survived for two millennia in plenty of places where you could be executed simply for owning a Bible or meeting the wrong group of people at the wrong time or place. In other words, there is more to the survival of a faith group than its social appeal.
Christianity may well all but vanish as a major aspect of British culture, but extinct? History proves otherwise.
I`m with you Chris
I'm not surprised that there is a model to predict the decline of social organisations as described in the OP link and I'm not surprised that model shows terminal decline of Christianity as a social construct in Western democracies. Those of us on the inside of that construct have been aware for decades that times are changing ;)
What the somewhat hysterical headline on this story has failed to account for is that Christianity has survived for two millennia in plenty of places where you could be executed simply for owning a Bible or meeting the wrong group of people at the wrong time or place. In other words, there is more to the survival of a faith group than its social appeal.
Christianity may well all but vanish as a major aspect of British culture, but extinct? History proves otherwise.
And even if Christianity should vanish, I don't for a second believe organised religion will. There are a huge group of people who (for whatever reason) feel the need to believe in something, and to associate with those who are of a like mind. There are also those who will attempt to organise that. Personally, I believe that is just human nature. It may even be instinctual, in much the same was as dogs divide themselves into packs in the wild.
There are a huge group of people who (for whatever reason) feel the need to believe in something
Tell me about it. fairies, ghosts, monsters.. :rolleyes:
Tell me about it. fairies, ghosts, monsters.. :rolleyes:
Atheism..
Atheism..
Is Atheism a belief?
Is Atheism a belief?
Yes.
Yes.
Oh.
Not a lack of belief? a rejection of a belief?
It's a belief in the non-existence of God, in much the same way that a belief in Christianity is the belief in the existence of God.
It's a belief in the non-existence of God, in much the same way that a belief in Christianity is the belief in the existence of God.
But is Christianity a belief before or after?
you believe after the Christianity part of it.
you can't believe in Christianity. just like you can't believe in Islam.
you are a Christian. not that you believe in Christian.
But you can believe in the teachings of Christianity. As you can the teachings of Islam. This is what I (and most of the world) mean when iI (or we) refer to believing in Christianity.
Religion becoming extinct is something I can get behind!
Religion becoming extinct is something I can get behind!
Pray for it - it may come true....:D
roger skillin
05-04-2011, 13:07
Watching that documentary last week with Louie Theroux about his return to America's most hated family is enough to make anybody hate religion
Flowergirl
22-11-2012, 21:02
if anyone has a bible turn to Daniel 2:44 that gives the answer.
My name is Daniel. I don't need a bible.
Religion may become extinct?
We can only pray it will happen :erm:
Oxymoron.....
Anyway this is just what CF needs, someone digging up the dormant religious threads...
Oxymoron.....
Anyway this is just what CF needs, someone digging up the dormant religious threads...
Yay, let's party like it's 2002. This place used to be a riot with endless religious threads.
It's the poor Muslims that have been the subject of most CF ire in the last few years, but I guess the Christians could be in for it again, what with the C of E raising its head above the parapet of late.
Oh crap!
Well they are marginally more interesting than the endless nah,nah Sky is better than VM threads. But only just.:dozey:
TheDaddy
23-11-2012, 06:10
My name is Daniel. I don't need a bible.
To be fair though you don't provide the answers either though...:D
We can only pray it will happen :erm:
Agreed. it's nothing but trouble.
an accepted excuse for fighting.
Danger, low-flying irony ...
You're right - Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Buddha, and Quakers were always getting into scraps....
Anonymouse
23-11-2012, 13:57
I can see organised religions diminishing in some parts of the world but people will always have spirituality and that can never be removed or legislated against.
I might - hell, I will - point out that religion (organised or not) and sprituality aren't the same thing. You can be spiritual without being religious. I define spirituality as, among other things, a respect for life - thus I no longer squish spiders or flies; I shoo flies out of a window and leave spiders alone altogether, knowing they'll soon scuttle off about their business. I don't even kill daddy-long-legs any more, though they still irritate the hell out of me, I laugh evilly whenever one gets caught in a spider's web and I'll never forgive them for the one that once landed smack-dab into the middle of the most perfect and delicious-looking piece of toast I'd ever made. :mad:
As Terry Pratchett pointed out, it is the case with too many organised religions that people start out believing in the faith and end up believing in the structure, mistaking the one for the other (Small Gods, I think it was).
Hmmm, I've just read the article - I'm fascinated that, finally, someone's decided to use nonlinear mathematics to investigate a human social issue. About time! <slightly O/T>Now, if the economists can leave the 18th Century and join the rest of us in the 21st, they might just have a chance of sorting out the current mess...</slightly O/T>
This comment:
I define spirituality as
completely negates this one:
I might - hell, I will - point out that religion (organised or not) and sprituality aren't the same thing. You can be spiritual without being religious.
It is one of your most basic rights to have an opinion however dressing it up as fact is bad form. Whereas you disagree, many other people would agree that religion and spirituality are the same. It's subjective.
dilli-theclaw
23-11-2012, 14:11
Well I have seen the congregation diminishing at church - but I don't think religion is in danger (at the moment anyway) of becoming extinct.
Now that I'm much more sorted with my faith than I have ever been I am trying to do my bit to help with the church and the community which is why I joined the local ministry team...
What I do think is that fewer people will be religious than has been the historical case mainly down to factual explanations of previously unexplained phenomina that were attributed to a deity or deities.
The view I've always taken is despite the best efforts of Dawkins and co we will never eradicate religion per se - which obviously I will think is a good thing. But it seems people have differing ideas of what 'religion' is.
To some people making the weekly pilgrim to the Liberty Stadium in all weathers to follow the Swans (and even to The Vetch during our crappy days) could be seen as a religion. Other people think that if someone proclaims themselves to be Christian/Muslim/Hindu/whatever then they are religious. I don't think there is one universally-accepted view of what a 'religion' or to be 'religious' is. My view is that a religion is a denomination with set rules/ideals that must be adhered to in order to remain a member. Similar in fact to a Workingmen's Club.
I am a Christian, I've never hidden that. I don't claim to be better than anyone. Whereas it could be argued that this is an oxymoron, I don't consider myself to be a particularly good Christian (or rather, not very good at being one) and should anyone want a good idea of a Christian lifestyle then I certainly would not put my own life forward as a good model. But I digress. I go along to a local church. Not because if I don't go they'll kick me out - they don't do that. I go along for answers, advice, fellowship and the like.
I don't belong to a denomination in the way that it defines me. My church is Elim Pentecostal purely because I like the way it is run and they apply the Word of God to the world. But I could just as easily attend any other kind of 'happy clappy' church that interests me. Nobody there tells me what to do or believe. Obviously there are expectations but that's about it.
As such I do not consider myself to subscribe to a religion or be 'religious'.
For almost 3 years I was with a woman who was a Hindu. That never caused any sort of conflict of interest. I consider myself to be 'free' of religious dogma in that respect.
So if we're talking in terms of organised religion there may well be a decline in that. Any such powerful belief system requires leadership and accountability, I'll never disagree with that but religions run as 'organisations' or 'businesses' *cough* Catholicism *cough* could end up impacted if more people developed a similar liberal approach to how they go about expressing their faith. There's a growing movement for it.
However if we mean religion as believing in (a) God etc then no, I cannot see that ever being eradicated or becoming extinct. You cannot legislate or control a person's sincere belief system. Many people have a natural desire to want to believe in some form of higher power. I take an irresponsible pleasure in knowing how much that would annoy Dawkins and his gang.
What I do think is that fewer people will be religious than has been the historical case mainly down to factual explanations of previously unexplained phenomina that were attributed to a deity or deities.
Where there are people who 'need' a deity in order to account for 'the gaps', then you're right, there will be less religion. That sort of religion tends to have no depth of faith behind it - it's an insurance scheme of sorts, or a comfort blanket. That characterises primitive polytheistic religions the world over - religions which have fallen and died almost everywhere they have encountered the Abrahamic religions that are derived from the Hebrew Bible, what we know as the Old Testament.
The Bible never sets out to explain the natural world in terms of God. The Bible's purpose is to establish the nature of God's relationship with human kind, how that relationship is broken and what he has done to fix it. Christian 'religion', such as it is, is a response to that message of love and forgiveness, not an attempt to insure onesself against an angry god in the afterlife.
I don't have any figures to back up anything, but I think that there is an acceptance that there is less church going etc in the Western World.
But I agree with Russ, even if there is less people going to church, that doesn't necessarily mean that there is less belief out there.
You don't have to go to church to be religious.
It wont die out, it will certainly change over time as all things do, it might even "evolve" into something else!!!
I'm not religious, and I doubt very much that religion will become extinct, some fanatics will keep it alive.
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