6 Reasons Religion is Dying

[stromboli]

http://philanthropy2012.hubpages.com/hu ... s-A-Sadist

Declining Religion In the Modern World

Religion in developed countries is declining - but why so fast? It is estimated that soon 9 countries will be comprised entirely of non-believers.

In most other developed countries there has been recent significant decline. The UK for example took just 10 years to make a full u-turn and tilt the balance from being a country comprised mainly of religious believers to a country predominantly of non-believers.

The decline is even seen in the USA, a country known for being very religious. In the years 1990-2008, the percentage of Christians in the population fell from 86.2% to 76%.

As our societies change and develop, so too must our understanding of them. So why is it that our developed countries are seeing such a dramatic fall in religious adherence?

1. Choice

Upbringing- Today, with more rights and more freedom, it is more present in cultures to give children the choice to believe in a religion or not. There is no one right way of behaving anymore. It used to be that parents would teach their children to be of a particular religion from a young age. This was because everyone else in the community was too, and it would be good for the child to fit in with the community. There was simply no alternative. People did not want their child to be looked upon as an outsider because they failed to teach their children the views that everybody else had taken.
Multiculturalism- With the relatively new acceptance of new peoples and their cultures and views, people see that there are in fact alternatives to what they were taught as children and so understand that perhaps their way was not the best one. Thus, parents now have the choice of teaching many different views and morals, and children have the choice to choose them - all as a result of the new knowledge of the different ways that people live.

2. Education

Schools
Linking back to the idea that there are more choices and rights; the modern schooling system accelerates the effects of of new choices by allowing for an unbiased teaching of different cultures and ideas. In many countries, it is mandatory for all school children to go through religious studies and understand the basic views of different religions. This then goes back to the idea that each religion is given less weight because children are no longer taught that only their parents' religions are correct and all of the others are ludicrous. They now see that religions have very large similarities and that one religion is not worth anymore than another. Many choose then to believe that all religions are worthless since they cannot choose the right one.

3. Bad Press

In recent times, the media has featured news relating to crimes that religious leaders and authorities have committed. Stories of catholic priests committing crimes of pedophilia and the pope opposing homosexual relationships make some people wonder whether religion really helps create morality and whether the beliefs are at all valuable. Ideas such as female circumcision and inequality of women in particular religious societies also throw up questions of whether being religious is at all valuable to a person or society.

4. It's Unnecessary/Counterproductive

Many people view religion as a burden on society or themselves. Ideas such as having to take time out to go to church every sunday, praying regularly, not eating pork, sexual abstinence, fasting, circumcision, being against homosexual relationships and abortions etc. can seem like a waste of time or immoral to some people. Therefore, many people simply decide that since they do not know which religion and set of rules they should follow (and which one would mean they wouldn't be punished eternally for not following is the right one), religion is simply irrelevant to their lives.
Also, some people find religious people and organisations who try to convert them such as jehova's witnesses and religious programs irritating and think that religion is too forceful, making them reluctant to associate themselves with these religions.

5. Controlling Method & Wars

Many people find that since so many wars have been waged because of religious reasons, the world would be better without them.
Others see religion as a method of controlling the masses and cite politicians who use religion as a method of getting voters such as George W. Bush who despite committing many sins (criminal drunkenness etc.) still claims he is a Christian.
6. Free Thought and Logic

With the introduction of new rights and the encouragement to think freely and rationally, many people see religion today as something that is fundamentally irrational. In a literal sense, turning wine into water or healing people's ailments through touch may be seen as contradictory to modern science which can be said to have more proof.

Also, large problems arise with the very concept of God. The Abrahamic God is defined to having Omnipotence, Omniscience and Benevolence which many people argue is logically impossible.

Good article. Recommended reading.

[gussy]

Nice find.  I would add the internet to this list.  I grew up in a irreligious family.  My grandfather hated it and could be very cruel to religious people.  Still, we never really discussed it at all.  I spent most of my life being an atheist and not knowing that there were millions of others that shared this sentiment.  If I was ever asked about my religious beliefs, I could never give a strait answer because I had difficulty putting my opinion on it into words.  I would never tell people that I was an atheist because I didn't even know what it really meant to be one.  Discovering the internet and sites like this helped me to understand my thoughts and feelings on religion.  Now, I can tell anyone that I am an atheist and can defend my position on the subject.  My guess is that a lot of people are like me and are now able to express themselves because we have a platform to exchange ideas.

[Solitary]

I think another reason is that the younger generation sees how the older Christian generation use religion to justify their prejudices, bigotries, and hatreds using the BuyBull. And also how Islam breeds terrorist because of the Koran saying jihad against all infidels. It doesn't take a whole lot of brain power to see how hypocritical religious people are. And the younger generation are getting smarter and see how ridiculous superstition and magical thinking is in this age of science and technology that actually work.  Bill

[leo]

Islam should die .

[kilodelta]

[Colanth]

http://philanthropy2012.hubpages.com/hub/God-Is-A-Sadist

Declining Religion In the Modern World
...
The decline is even seen in the USA, a country known for being very religious. In the years 1990-2008, the percentage of Christians in the population fell from 86.2% to 76%.

Those years also saw an influx of Muslims, so a lot of that change wasn't due to more people not being religious, just more religious people who weren't Christian.  I think the author is conflating "religious" and "Christian".

[Hydra009]

The decline is even seen in the USA, a country known for being very religious. In the years 1990-2008, the percentage of Christians in the population fell from 86.2% to 76%.

Those years also saw an influx of Muslims, so a lot of that change wasn't due to more people not being religious, just more religious people who weren't Christian.

Considering that Muslims make up someone around .8% of the American public (according to Pew Research center in 2010), I highly doubt that the change is from one religious group being displaced by another.  Deconverts from Christianity have abounded in recent years and that's still the big reason why Christianity is declining in the States.

[Sal1981]

BTW, it's water into wine, not the other way around.

[PickelledEggs]

This post =

[kilodelta]

BTW, it's water into wine, not the other way around.

I turn wine into urine.

[PickelledEggs]

These women turned urine into electricity

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Not to worry.. Religion will find a new pitch man with lots of charisma then dump their untold gazillions into selling his message of 'joy' to you and the pols will jump right on his bandwagon..Remember.. God hates you for [_insert various reasons here_] :)

[WitchSabrina]

Excellent list.  Good article find, Strom.

[stromboli]

Thanks Bri. But I would be the first to point out it is just six items and far from inclusive.

[Roger5462]

Discovery Channel opens people's eyes to the natural world and how everything came into existence naturally.  Then God isn't needed as much anymore.