(September 3, 2014 at 7:16 am)Ben Davis Wrote:(September 2, 2014 at 2:28 am)psychoslice Wrote: If much of religion did fade away, then what will take its place, atheism ?.It shouldn't because atheism isn't a value-system in its own right, it's the word for the absence of the theistic value-system. It's possible that the definition of atheism could change to become a value-system (like in the South park episode) but that would be a misuse which is currently opposed by the majority of atheists (remember the failure of Atheism+?)
Instead we could see uptake in humanistic or pragmatic systems, maybe some new ones will emerge. Assuming tribalistic needs stay as strong as they are at the moment, people might switch to labels based on political ideologies instead of ethical ones. There are many options other than 'religion' but 'atheism' most likely won't be one.
Yes that makes sense, humans seem to need to believe in something beyond themselves, be it football and the gods that play it, and yes I think in time even atheism will become a strong belief system, it could even become a dogma, and hence fundamentalism will sneak in.
