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When we run out of fossil fuels, humanity will revert back to the "nasty, brutish, and short" existence of the past. People will revert to their barbaric instincts and fundamentalist religion will rule the world once again, like it did before the Enlightenment.
Rationalism and atheism can only exist in prosperous societies.
If we hope to have a world free of superstition and religious delusion, we'll need a new cheap and abundant energy source. And fast. I'm not so optimistic.
W Muslims are reproducing faster. However that also means Muslims will be disproportionately impoverished and uneducated, suggesting that their main overall contribution to humanity outside the West will continue to be suicide bombings and fatwahs.
I guess you missed the latest MUSLIM run on Europe. Then they will sattle there, get some jobs, and pull their relatives and buddies in. Or, simply do another run. In much larger numbers. There are several million of them waiting in roughly Turkey area.
I think, they would rather impoverish Europe, than get themselves impoverished.
But this is a political and global politics question, not religious.
Yes, Christianity is on decline. Either new religion will be developed out of what we have, or it will mutate into something not quite like what Christianity is.
Atheism is on the decline. Face it. Christianity is on the rise.
Really? Ummmm.....My post was in response to your claims about Islam.
I've never said if atheism is on the rise or decline. It doesn't interest me. If Christianity is on the rise I truly hope it isn't the fundie's version. Fundamentalism is not healthy for children and other living things.
After actually reading the Pew study rather than the religious interpretation of it ( albeit fairly quickly ) , I have a few takes on the OP.
First, the Christian story is at least partially full of crap and it appears even downright lies. Not that this is any surprise.
Second, if anyone bothers to understand the causes, it is readily apparent that the cause of the religious increase is a higher birthrate among Muslims and non European and N American Christians. It is projected that 4 out of 10 Christians will live in sub Saharan Africa. Asia will make up a large number of the remainder. But Islam will surpass them all. But almost none of it is due to an actual rise in the amount of conversions to religion. It is almost solely due to fertility and high birth rates.
Third, the article falsely claims 40 million atheist will convert to Christianity. This is not at all what the study says. It says that 40 million people period, not from any particular segment, will convert to Christianity . The actual study goes goes on to say that 106 million people will deconvert from Christianity in this same time period , most becoming unaffiliated , something the article conveniently fails to mention . ( By the way, it says a lot about the levels to which fundamentalist Christianity has sunk when one is NOT surprised to find untruths within a story written by them or their cohorts . Sad.). So the net change for Christianity from deliberate decisions will be a net LOSS of 66 million people. At the same time the net GAIN from deliberate decisions for atheism will be 61 million , via 97 million becoming atheist while 36 million leave atheism. Does this at all sound like the impression the article gives?
The following are exact quotes from the actual Pew study:
" Over the coming decades, Christians are expected to experience the largest net losses from switching"
" Much of the worldwide growth of Islam and Christianity , for example , is expected to take place in sub Saharan Africa"
So, YEAH! Largely under educated and impoverished Third World people around the world are contributing to the growth of religious numbers for Islam and Christianity via a high birth rate.
But in intelligent and thought out decisions to change ones beliefs, Christianity loses 66 million while atheism gains 61 million. Whats your answer for that?
Last edited by wallflash; 10-07-2015 at 08:53 PM..
That's because there is a direct correlation between developed nations, lower birth rate and the ignorance of that set of people.
Actually, there's a negative correlation between education level and religiosity - both individually and socially. There's also a negative correlation between education level and birthrates.
This is why highly educated societies like Sweden are both highly secular and have low birthrates, while less educated societies like Afghanistan are highly religious, highly fecund and highly impoverished.
So like a compelling argument for secularism to me.
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