Is religion almost finished?

[Logisch]

Even if it is on a downward trend, I don't think it'll be going anywhere soon enough IMO. It does seem to be on a downward trend generation by generation, but is it almost finished? Not likely. Still lots of places in the world in 3rd world countries where it has a strong foothold. Until societies progress and adapt and "mature" it may take a while. Hopefully we don't snuff ourselves out by then.

[MJ the Skeptical]

Religion is not anywhere close enough to dead, look no further than the middle east and Africa. Perhaps in our lifetimes it will lose majority influence if I'm being optimistic.

[Rampant.A.I.]

Religion is an angst ridden teenager. Religion is a lot like countries. Historically, Jews are a relaxed ethnocultural group. We don't see what very early Judaism was like, but the crusades and the inquisition speak to what early Christianity was like. And they were fighting Muslims, who as a young world tradition are part of a relatively recent surge toward radical Islam.

America gets a lot of shit for being "imperialistic,"
yet the historical nature of colonial England as a dominant world power is largely lost on contemporary critics.

Religion, I'm sad to say, is far from over. Religious people don't understand why the secular movement exists, let alone why it's important.

They seem to think people are turning their backs on age old traditions, but they don't really seem to understand why.

The propensity of "how can you be moral without god?" And "god is the source of all morals" seem to miss the point completely.

Hebrews 6:1
Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God.

It's time to move beyond Gods, and examine that within ourselves that we have worshipped as God, to stop attributing it to some ethereal force beyond us.

[Nadeem Rathoor]

obviously the religion has finished almost centuries ago but today religion has been used as tool ...whether it is islam , christianity or Buddahism and other religions... I see many ways of using of religion islam in our area.. such as blasphemy laws ... which are most stupidest and funny laws... thing which mula does is right the same as other an ordinary man does is wrong.......
Nothing is wrong but the wrong is only in religion.....

[Mr Greene]

In the UK christianity is effectively dead. The average age of the churchgoers is within 7 years of life expectancy and the gap is shrinking exponentially. Essentially the church stopped receiving new recruits in the 1940s and we're just waiting for the last of them to pop their clogs.
You should be able to tell how much life there is in any country's church by working out the average age of the people in the pews. If it's over 40 there isn't any fresh generation and the church is ultimately doomed.
The decline in the West seems to trace back to something called the 'Evangelical Revival' in the early 20th century, the effects of which have resulted in the population as a whole turning away from religion.

[Confused Ape]

Unfortunately it is, in many Western nations, being replaced by New Age weirdness and cults.

NeroPagan religions are also gaining ground. Some of my real life friends are pagans and they're into things like conservation, animal welfare and renewable energy.

[Elskidor]

Religion won't fully die out, but perhaps it will finally be treated as it should be...personal spirituality practiced away from public.

[RobbyPants]

I don't see religion being finished any time in the near future, but I wouldn't be surprise to see fundamentalism almost universally seen as a lunatic fringe in the next century. Fundamentalism is beginning to lose hard in many areas in America and has already lost a lot in Europe, and the fundies are getting loud about it.

Christianity is gaining new footholds, but these are often places which are often starved of necessary things for large numbers of people. Donations to Christian charities are funds used by the church to buy the souls of the desperate and the hungry.

Yeah, my understanding is world wide Christianity (or perhaps theism in general) is on the rise, but it's declining in developed countries.

[archangle]

Even in Victorian times, Christianity was judged by evangalists to have failed. They could not get the urban working class to attend church en masse.
Islam has been in the doldrums for a couple of hundred years. Every country that has tried to base it's laws and politics on Islam is a failure.
That's why the fundies all over the world are rising up. Because they are afraid.
I think these next few years will be the last gasp for religion. This century will be about all the resources running out. When the oil runs out and we suddenly realise it's too late to find ways to share wealth and feed everybody nobody will give a shit about the bible thumper or the imam shouting in the corner. That's my opinion.

thats cuause they have hope .... That others will force the working class to pay for them .... Lets cut the money and see what happens.

[Godscreated]

Christianity is on the decline just as the scriptures predict it would close to the end times. It will never die out, we are here to stay, you'll have to learn to deal with that.

GC