Atheism is unstoppable.

[EgoDeath]

Yes and they've concluded the number will still be rising... atheists and "unaffiliated" will be a smaller percentage because of the growth of other religions not because there will be less atheists than before. Islam will see the most growth and that is no surprise since it is the fastest growing religion right now. The problem seems to be with how you're interpreting the information. As we've seen in other studies, atheism is on the rise in a big way in many places. 

We have to consider how much these religions will be "growing" simply because of a rise in population of those respective countries. We also have to consider what they mean by "Muslims" or "Christians." Does that include people who simply self-identify as Muslims or Christians? Certainly there are plenty of people who call themselves Christians due to peer pressure and a bunch of other factors who are truly nothing of the sort. I would argue that Christians of the 1800s would look at today's Christians as devil-worshippers and heretics. So what is a Christian anymore? Arguably, the word has lost it's definition.

The fact that you are arguing about why atheism isn't catching on and the quality of self-identified Christians shows that your entire OP and this whole thread is just wishful nonsense.

Not really. There will be more atheists in the world in 2050 than there are now according to the study you seem to hold so dear. A rising population in a Muslim country, thereby giving the world more Muslims, hardly means that people more and more people are reading into Islam and going, "Wow, this makes perfect sense, I'm a Muslim now," in fact, it more likely means that more children are simply being indoctrinated into the Muslim faith, nothing more, or maybe that children who were already indoctrinated into the Muslim faith are turning 18, depending on whether or not they're only considering adults for the surveys. Also, the quality of self-identified religious individuals ABSOLUTELY matters. I'm sure there are even people in your life you consider to be "good Christians" and ones who maybe need to learn a little more about faith and the Bible. The quality of self-identified Christians certainly seems to matter to the god you pray to. Are you a good Christian? I'm sure you ask yourself this question once in a while. So yes, it matters. Today's Christians would be considered immoral sinners even in the early 1900s. You trying to act like there isn't a difference there is alarming.

Your wishful thinking, however, seems to be apparent. You would rather not attempt to interpret the statistics, but rather take them at face value, because at face value they could seem to support your narrative, depending on who you ask. However, almost all, if not ALL, statistics need to be interpreted in some way, shape or form and questions have to be asked about statistics.

Even still, if all of what I'm saying is totally off base, there will be MORE atheists in the world in 2050 than there are now.... which supports what I'm saying, atheism is unstoppable.

[Mystic]

I'll stop it if no one else does

[Dr H]

I'll stop it if no one else does

Why?

[unfogged]

I'll stop it if no one else does

[bennyboy]

I doubt that very much to be honest. There's a human instinct for worship that is unlikely to be weeded out. For now, it's just replaced by idolization of pop stars, athletes and so on.

What probably WILL die are literalist interpretations of reality. A flat Earth or one that's only a few thousand years old are pretty hard sells at this point. And anyone who's ever been with ONE virgin can tell you that 72 virgins waiting for you when you die would probably be better proof of Dante's Inferno than of a paradise worth sacrificing for.

But there's PLENTY of room for god-in-the-gaps, and this will eventually lead to new religious movements. We literally have no idea (like none at all) how a material universe can include subjective experience rather than not.

Also, we are likely to see artificial godlike entities soon enough. When google knows enough about you that it can start predicting your behavior, or manipulating the behavior of masses by directing media, it won't be long before we realize that we're no longer the top of the intellectual food chain-- not even close.

[Jehanne]

I doubt that very much to be honest.  There's a human instinct for worship that is unlikely to be weeded out.  For now, it's just replaced by idolization of pop stars, athletes and so on.

What probably WILL die are literalist interpretations of reality.  A flat Earth or one that's only a few thousand years old are pretty hard sells at this point.  And anyone who's ever been with ONE virgin can tell you that 72 virgins waiting for you when you die would probably be better proof of Dante's Inferno than of a paradise worth sacrificing for.

But there's PLENTY of room for god-in-the-gaps, and this will eventually lead to new religious movements.  We literally have no idea (like none at all) how a material universe can include subjective experience rather than not.

Also, we are likely to see artificial godlike entities soon enough.  When google knows enough about you that it can start predicting your behavior, or manipulating the behavior of masses by directing media, it won't be long before we realize that we're no longer the top of the intellectual food chain-- not even close.

How many major religions (say, with more than 10 million adherents) have arisen in the last 40 years?

[EgoDeath]

I doubt that very much to be honest.  There's a human instinct for worship that is unlikely to be weeded out.  For now, it's just replaced by idolization of pop stars, athletes and so on.

What probably WILL die are literalist interpretations of reality.  A flat Earth or one that's only a few thousand years old are pretty hard sells at this point.  And anyone who's ever been with ONE virgin can tell you that 72 virgins waiting for you when you die would probably be better proof of Dante's Inferno than of a paradise worth sacrificing for.

But there's PLENTY of room for god-in-the-gaps, and this will eventually lead to new religious movements.  We literally have no idea (like none at all) how a material universe can include subjective experience rather than not.

Also, we are likely to see artificial godlike entities soon enough.  When google knows enough about you that it can start predicting your behavior, or manipulating the behavior of masses by directing media, it won't be long before we realize that we're no longer the top of the intellectual food chain-- not even close.

How many major religions (say, with more than 10 million adherents) have arisen in the last 40 years?

And even if they have risen, how much of that rise can be attributed to an increase in population of those countries. To me, it's no surprise that a lot of the places voted Happiest place to live in the world are secular, non-religious countries where less and less people believe in god every year. It simply becomes a non-issue at some point and you start living life instead of worrying about pleasing some imaginary deity.

[SteveII]

People are not getting the memo:

Just out of curiosity, Steve, do you see the rest of the world becoming more like the U.S. over time, less like the U.S. over time, or remaining about the same as they are now?

I honestly don't know. I do know that religion is here to stay. I think countries will wax and wain in their religiosity. For example, I think there will be a Christian revival in Europe in the next 2 generations because I think that humans, by-in-large, need religion to answer questions they can't live without (I'm talking about society on a macro level). Eventually you get a generation that sees the nihilistic philosophy of their parents (however far that needs to go and whatever manifestations it has--I don't know) is untenable and go looking for answers. In my opinion, Christianity is the most coherent alternative if you want to reject atheism.

[Nay_Sayer]

I honestly don't know. I do know that religion is here to stay. I think countries will wax and wain in their religiosity. For example, I think there will be a Pastafarian revival in Europe in the next 2 generations because I think that humans, by-in-large, need religion to answer questions they can't live without (I'm talking about society on a macro level). Eventually, you get a generation that sees the Christian philosophy of their parents (however far that needs to go and whatever manifestations it has--I don't know) is untenable and go looking for answers. In my opinion, Pastafarianism is the most coherent alternative if you want to reject all the other false theologies.


RAmen

[EgoDeath]

Just out of curiosity, Steve, do you see the rest of the world becoming more like the U.S. over time, less like the U.S. over time, or remaining about the same as they are now?

I honestly don't know. I do know that religion is here to stay. I think countries will wax and wain in their religiosity. For example, I think there will be a Christian revival in Europe in the next 2 generations because I think that humans, by-in-large, need religion to answer questions they can't live without (I'm talking about society on a macro level). Eventually you get a generation that sees the nihilistic philosophy of their parents (however far that needs to go and whatever manifestations it has--I don't know) is untenable and go looking for answers. In my opinion, Christianity is the most coherent alternative if you want to reject atheism.

And while statements like "religion is here to stay" can sound very ominous and final, they're not.

Things change, people evolve, ideas grow and die. In medieval times, people probably said things like, "Torturing non-believers is here to stay," and while those things may still occur in some places of the world, societies by and large have let that kind of thinking die off. So while you may see religion as a "cornerstone" of what it means to be human, I see it as another useless tradition that will eventually die off. So we can agree to disagree and that's okay. And, that last part of your post is laughable.

In my opinion, Islam is the most coherent alternative if you want to reject atheism.

In my opinion, Taoism is the most coherent alternative if you want to reject atheism.

In my opinion, Judaism is the most coherent alternative if you want to reject atheism.

In my opinion, Buddhism is the most coherent alternative if you want to reject atheism.

So on

And so on.