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As we head into a new year, the guardians of traditional religion are ramping up efforts to keep their flocks—or, in crass economic terms, to retain market share. Some Christians have turned to soul searching while others have turned to marketing. Last fall, the LDS church spent millions on billboards, bus banners, and Facebook ads touting “I’m a Mormon.” In Canada, the Catholic Church has launched a “Come Home” marketing campaign. The Southern Baptists Convention voted to rebrand themselves. A hipster mega-church in Seattle combines smart advertising with sales force training for members and a strategy the Catholics have emphasized for centuries: competitive breeding.
In October of 2012 the Pew Research Center announced that for the first time ever Protestant Christians had fallen below 50 percent of the American population. Atheists cheered and evangelicals beat their breasts and lamented the end of the world as we know it. Historian of religion, Molly Worthen, has since offered big picture insights that may dampen the most extreme hopes and fears. Anthropologist Jennifer James, on the other hand, has called fundamentalism the “death rattle” of the Abrahamic traditions.
In all of the frenzy, few seem to give any recognition to the player that I see as the primary hero, or, if you prefer, culprit—and I’m not talking about science popularizer and atheist superstar Neil deGrasse Tyson. Then again, maybe I am talking about Tyson in a sense, because in his various viral guises—as a talk show host and tweeter and as the face on scores of smartass Facebook memes—Tyson is an incarnation of the biggest threat that organized religion has ever faced: the internet.
I always wonder what people mean by "[theism] may not survive the Internet." Almost everywhere I go I see debauchery and faithless activity already rampant. It always has been that way (even b4 the Internet).
I don't think religion is dying out anytime soon. What is happening, however, is that liberal and moderate sects are shrinking as their ultra-orthodox counterparts are expanding. For many people, religion will still retain some level of cultural significance, albeit without the dogma that all-too-often comes along with it.
I can live with that. While I am actually atheist in my view on religion it has been pointed out by christian apologists that what I am actually active if not militant about is anti -religion.
There was a memorable Penn Gilette You-Tube (I must track it down) which made me realize that, not only are agnostics and Deists people in the same camp as atheists (though we may actually argue furiously about the evidence and rationale for a creative Sortagod) but Irreligious theists should also be on our side in getting rid of man made religion, man made religious rites and man -made religious authority.
Their belief in some god or other I can tolerate as it doesn't affect me at all.
I always wonder what people mean by "[theism] may not survive the Internet." Almost everywhere I go I see debauchery and faithless activity already rampant. It always has been that way (even b4 the Internet).
Them why do you go to those places if it bothers you?
The internet has had a huge effect in the battle against religion. Mainly because atheists and anti-theists have taken it upon themselves to attempt to ensure that wherever a religion claim is made... the atheist counter claims and arguments are made beside them.
In the past religion claims were often brought unchallenged to the people. They did not know or hear the counter points. They did not have people undermining the claims by pointing the holes out in them... or explaining the basic fallacies and showing where the theist claims overlapped them.
But now we have that. People like myself argue against the religious on forums like this.... not to change the minds of the people we are arguing against as the Mickels and TWDs on these fora are as entrenched as it gets and are entirely lost causes.... but to ensure that any ELSE reading the threads will see the holes and flaws in the theistic nonsense highlighted for what they are and no theist claim gets made on here without the flaws in it being illuminated from many angels by people with many voices and styles.
Can't rep Nozz,yet, but that is bang on the money. To those frequent posts asking why we talk about what we don't believe in and why don't we just shut up and go away, we (at least I) said that we had to do this; it was necessary and a duty to the public to put the counters to the religious claims and not give them the clear field they had always enjoyed.
Not to convert or prosetylize, as Nozz says, but to enable people to weigh up the arguments and choose - And I flatter atheism that it has the better arguments and that the pressing of them in forums such as this did its bit to help them form the rational, logical and evidentially Better view that even if there is possible somesortagod out there, religion,its claims,Holy books and myths are like a Crock - Man -made.
In the past religion claims were often brought unchallenged to the people. They did not know or hear the counter points. They did not have people undermining the claims by pointing the holes out in them... or explaining the basic fallacies
Various internet websites helped ME see the light (and I don't mean "The Light" they sing about in gospel songs)
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to put the counters to the religious claims and not give them the clear field they had always enjoyed. 
