Religions future in the world...

[Won2blv]

So I have been thinking a lot about how religion in general does seem to be on a decline. Especially in more modern societies. JW's have always believed and taught that religion in the world will eventually be eradicated by the worlds governments. It would actually be Jehovah that puts the thought in their head. So of course it would be false religion that would be destroyed. I could get into the scriptures but I don't really feel like it. I would more like to hear what your thoughts on it are. It is troubling for me because its just one of those things that I have always considered for signs of the end being near. I am not trying to debate this, just curious what the general thoughts are about what will happen to religion in the future.

Just a side point, I believe strongly that as long as religion is around it will have an immense effect on the world. Even if you taxed religion and cut it out of government, the people will keep voting for the guy/gal that they feel honors their "values"

[CapnAwesome]

Well in the west it is clearly on the decline. Islam is another story. I think that ultimately you are going to have secularism vs Islam in the future and as easy as it is to believe that we are destined to win because we are right and moral, history doesn't always side with the moral or correct people. Christianity will become a quaint relic of the past, it is already barely practiced in the first world (including the United States, which has 20% church attendence) None of that has anything to do with the end of the world though.

[Cato]

Religion would lose all influence in one generation if we all promised not to burden our youth with unsubstantiated bullshit.

[abaris]

Just a side point, I believe strongly that as long as religion is around it will have an immense effect on the world. Even if you taxed religion and cut it out of government, the people will keep voting for the guy/gal that they feel honors their "values"

Define values. I don't quite understand, if you mean religious values or something else.

If so, have a look at Europe. No candidate or party is elected because of propagating religion or faith. On the contrary, the ones doing so have all failed miserably. Noone gives a shit if candidates park their asses at church on sundays.

[Tonus]

I think that religion is a form of tribalism, which comes easily to us as a social species. We find ways to form small communities around simple and even artificial similarities: the color of our skin, our place of birth, the color of our hair, our favorite sports team, our favored political views, and so on. Religion is a form of this, with an added twist: there is a conscious and sentient being of unimaginable power who blesses that particular community and will bestow greater blessings upon it (and horrific punishments upon competing communities).

I think tribalism will be with us for as long as there is an "us." I think religion will remain a common form of tribalism because the twist I mentioned above has many psychological implications that make it attractive to people. I hope it fades over time, but I expect that we'll still be creating and belonging to religious groups long after I've shuffled off this mortal coil.

[Won2blv]

Just a side point, I believe strongly that as long as religion is around it will have an immense effect on the world. Even if you taxed religion and cut it out of government, the people will keep voting for the guy/gal that they feel honors their "values"

Define values. I don't quite understand, if you mean religious values or something else.

If so, have a look at Europe. No candidate or party is elected because of propagating religion or faith. On the contrary, the ones doing so have all failed miserably. Noone gives a shit if candidates park their asses at church on sundays.

Well thats not exactly true. Those parliamentary systems usually have a more spread out mix of parties. If it was a 2 party system I am sure that the wing nuts would have more sway

[Spooky]

I doubt I'll live to see the end of religion, but by then I'll be too dead to care.

I hope it dies quickly, but painlessly. Enough lives have been lost in the name of imaginary friends.

[robvalue]

It looks like it's very slowly rolling towards obscurity in the West at least. It will take its place next to all the other superstitions which hang around but don't affect things too much. Sounds good to me.

[abaris]

Those parliamentary systems usually have a more spread out mix of parties.

While it's true that some have "christian" in their party name, their candidates never talk about religion when giving speeches. It's not important and a turnoff for most people, since they want to know about real politics, not, as I said, if the candidate has a fancy relationship with god. There are a few outspoken real religious parties in Europe, but they are fringe and never made it into the parliaments, as far as I am aware.

[Longhorn]

I'm not that much of an incurable optimist to say religion will be eradicated, not completely. Woo has always been and always will be present, but hopefully it will take on a less harmful form than today's organized religion