Is the internet destroying religion?

[Dystopia]

In terms of access to information, I don't think the internet has given us the great shift that occurred with the moveable type printing press. If people are interested in knowledge then books have been a good source for the last 500 years, and perhaps encouraged a deeper knowledge than the often 'short and shallow' type of knowledge communicated on the internet. I tip my hat to public libraries before the internet.

So, no. If anything the internet just seems to have shortened attention spans and dumbed-down the discussion, present company excluded of course :-) I don't see it as greatly changing people's views, or at least not more than books and libraries used to anyway.

Am I sounding old? :-)

Fair enough, but don't forget the internet also serves the purpose of accessing online books instead of using the physical support, not to mention you can watch pretty much any documentary by a prestigious scientist to increase your knowledge, so no I don't agree that internet knowledge is entirely shallow. By visiting youtube it is very easy to access and interview with prominent anti-theists like Hitchens or Dawkins, and yes it goes both ways (you can access interview with creationists, deists, moderate believers, agnostics, everything is more widespread

And let's not confuse mere information with true knowledge, there is a difference, but the more information you get, the closer you are to increasing your knowledge.

I am not saying the internet is responsible for the increase of irreligiosity, but it certainly helps, even if it doesn't have a positive effect in making people de-convert, it at least helps those who have doubts leaning to the atheistic/agnostic side and it comforts those who have lost faith and are not sure their decision is bright. For example, this forum has given me lots of hope and comfort regarding my atheistic position and I feel better knowing that I am not alone (and there are people who take positions more extreme than mine), it has enhanced the value I placed on my personal decisions regarding belief in deities, and it has incentived me to promote it. If this happens to more atheists, these people will eventually convince others to de-convert, and so a cycle starts... I don't need to explain this any further.


Jenny A - You said something very wise, the internet is contributing to increase political dogma and sometimes even political ignorance, this is not even the topic of my thread but it was worth to mention. In fact, giving the American example, if you google 'Democrats/liberals + stupid' or 'Republicans/conservatives stupid' you'll find lots of images from the opposite party's members made with the purpose of ridiculing and mocking (many times fallaciously) their opponents by twisting their views. For instance, an image made by a republican saying 'Liberal logic - It's ok to kill babies, but not convicts on death row' - These type of populist critics are very dangerous because they can corrupt public opinion