Why Atheism Replaces Religion In Developed Countries
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/nigel-barber/why-atheism-to-replace-re_b_903653.html
Europe becomes atheistic - sociological surveys
Figures show a majority of young adults in 12 countries have no faith, with Czechs least religious
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/21/christianity-non-christian-europe-young-people-survey-religion
In Europe, atheism grows faster than Islam
I think people are getting smarter and more educated

The general rule seems to be the more prosperous and peaceful a nation is, the more atheistic it also becomes.

Personally, I think it's just a result of how well-off a nations people are that is the most prominent deciding factor.

I think people are getting more educated, and that's one of the reasons atheism is growing.

I don't think people are getting smarter. And I think that's why religion is still so widespread. There will always be people that however good of an education they've got, still aren't smart enough to stop believing in nonsense.

A fact not lost on the religious, or even on magic books.  People turn to god(s) in distress, and forget them in good times.

Religion gains when society is in ignorance and poverty when that goes away religion goes with it .

Thank google

(April 24, 2018 at 8:25 am)Khemikal Wrote: A fact not lost on the religious, or even on magic books.  People turn to god(s) in distress, and forget them in good times.

I had a feeling JJ and Flo didn't really believe.

(April 24, 2018 at 8:24 am)Hammy Wrote: I think people are getting more educated, and that's one of the reasons atheism is growing.

I don't think people are getting smarter. And I think that's why religion is still so widespread. There will always be people that however good of an education they've got, still aren't smart enough to stop believing in nonsense.

I agree with the first line but I don't think smartness has anything to do with religiosity.
The majority of people in the world are religious.
I think it stands to reason that the majority of smart people are religious also.

(April 24, 2018 at 11:25 pm)Little lunch Wrote:

(April 24, 2018 at 8:24 am)Hammy Wrote: I think people are getting more educated, and that's one of the reasons atheism is growing.

I don't think people are getting smarter. And I think that's why religion is still so widespread. There will always be people that however good of an education they've got, still aren't smart enough to stop believing in nonsense.

I agree with the first line but I don't think smartness has anything to do with religiosity.
The majority of people in the world are religious.
I think it stands to reason that the majority of smart people are religious also.

Most people would be on average, of average intelligence (tautological, I realize), and not all that different, really, from people even in the time of Euclid. Look at what happened with mathematics, even back then. But what happened, IMO, is that society had religious people trying to exert control, and the easiest way to control it is by enforcing superstition and ignorance. As a population gets more free time (with wealth), they have more time to learn. I think that the explosion in information's availability with the internet has accelerated the loss in belief. If information is readily available, people can make up their own minds about things instead of asking some priest or other religious person, since they are more informed elsewhere. So, they don't get Jeebus stuffed down their throats, but get real information on how to deal with their problems- handling it themselves instead of letting a deity (or a person claiming to speak for that alleged deity) deal with it.

(April 24, 2018 at 8:25 am)Khemikal Wrote: A fact not lost on the religious, or even on magic books.  People turn to god(s) in distress, and forget them in good times.

Truer words, etc. This is actually pretty insidious, as religious organisations tend to have a set policy of recruiting from the distressed and disadvantaged.

Boru