Decline of Christianity and Religion

[DNB]

And Hindus sit between Muslims and atheists on the scale?

All religious people, by definition, are more morally inclined than are atheists.
Religion is a discipline, it is succumbing oneself to a higher and greater power, it is learning to control one's passions and transcend the physical.
Atheists are purely specular. They consider all things of the flesh to be natural and without consequence, provided that the harm is not quantifiable - despite man's character or spirit evidencing otherwise.

 

[danieldemol]

What are you, a flippin' robot?

If I may modify the question to, "am I an intelligent biological automaton?" Then I would say you are in the ball park of the question I'm asking.

Chemistry, neurological synapses, environmental influences, physiology, etc...? What about the heart and compassion of the person, what about the greed and selfishness, the racism and bigotries, or the altruism and charities.

The question I'm asking is do the latter stem from the former?

You've equated all mankind with every single other creature on the planet, asserting that all we are is simply what our material or physical make-up dictates.

I've questioned the possibility rather than asserting it with certainty. Have you had direct experience with the profound character changes brought about in people cured of mental illness through medication?

Have you ever met a racist dog, a greedy cat, an pedantic eagle, or a charitable fish?

Regarding dogs, you may find this article informative;
Can Dogs Be Racist?

Regarding cats I haven't owned them, but I have seen greedy dogs that will consume all the food and not share with other dogs, and it would hardly surprise me if cats are the same.

Regarding fish I dont know if fish have the physical capability to be charitable or not, so it may be a non applicable argument.

Our constitution is unlike any other living being on earth, man is struggling with his demons, fighting against his vices, struggling with the the temptations of good versus evil. Whereas, he makes decisions every minute based on his conscience and not his intrinsic wiring.A cat may kill indiscriminately and never lose any sleep over it, how many humans do you know that can do the same?

People kill for meat or even sport (see recreational fishing and hunting). Cats may kill each other (and humans kill each other too). I don't know if cats lose sleep or have other stress related disorders like humans exposed to warfare, although I would prefer to see a scientific report on that over mere assertion of the religious.

However each animal has its own constitution, as such it wouldn't surprise me if humans were unique to cats in some ways since we are physically different to them after all.

You've reduced man's emotions and desires to quantifiable and predictable outcomes, based on what both his internal and external environment necessitates, leaving no room for personality or character.

I disagree, instead I have questioned whether man's personality or character are dependant on what his internal and external environment necessitates, or whether they are independent of it.

You put the cart before the horse - man's heart can change his constitution, for better or for worse.

A man's heart is simply a pump for moving blood around the body in the literal sense.

In the figurative sense a man's heart is his mind, and mere assertion does not seem to me to provide any valuable scientific input into whether the mind is independent of the internal and external environment or not.

In my opinion.

 

[Callisto]

No, religion is not on the decline, but agnosticism and atheism are on the decline.
Since the year 2000, religion has made resurgence whereas atheism and agnosticism are on the decline.

The growth rates of the Abrahamic religions from 1910-2010 were as follows: Judaism .11%, Christianity 1.32%, Islam 1.97%, and Baha’i Faith 3.54%.

Atheism was growing at a rate of 6.54% from 1910-2010 but dropped to a growth rate of 0.05% from 2000-2010. Agnosticism was growing at a rate of 5.45% from 1910-2010 but dropped to a growth rate of 0.32% from 2000-2010. That demonstrates that both atheism and agnosticism are on the decline but also that there are many more agnostics than atheists.

Statistics from: Growth of religion - Wikipedia

Also per that Wikipedia page:

The American Religious Identification Survey gives Wicca an average annual growth of 143% for the period 1990 to 2001 (from 8,000 to 134,000 – U.S. data / similar for Canada & Australia).[119][120] According to The Statesman Anne Elizabeth Wynn claims "The two most recent American Religious Identification Surveys declare Wicca, one form of paganism, as the fastest growing spiritual identification in America".[465][466]
​

However, while there may be a growth rate in the religion, I think it what is a decline is the percentage of the population that it held previously. E.g., A 2018 report by The Pew Religion and Public Life Center notes:

The share of Americans who identify with Christianity writ large has been declining for some time. In 2009, more than three-quarters of U.S. adults (77%) identified with some kind of Christianity, including 51% who were Protestant, 23% who were Catholic, 2% who were Mormon and 1% who identified with Orthodox Christianity. By 2014, the share of adults identifying with Christianity had slipped to 71%. And today, 67% of Americans describe themselves as Christians, including 45% who are Protestant, 20% who are Catholic, 2% who are Mormon and 1% who identify with Orthodox Christianity.

Accompanying graph: In U.S., declining share identifies as Christian
​

So, there can be little to no decline or even a growth witin the religion but it's not large enough to hold the same percentage of the population it once did.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

possibly people who have more material things, aren't as mentally resilient?

Possibility people who aren't dependent on a church for their material needs aren't as able to be manipulated?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

We might look for a correlation! You can be thirsty and think Coca-cola will satisfy it... but only water is the real thing.

8 hours and 27 minutes. That's how long the average gamer plays each week

It does make sense that Christianity would be finding it difficult to compete with other hobbies.

 

[Kenny]

It does make sense that Christianity would be finding it difficult to compete with other hobbies.

It's human nature and listed in the Bible as one of the hindrances that stops the fruit of God's word in one's life.

 

[Muffled]

Reincarnated as an atheist eh? Maybe something in that...

I believe not. She was simply lied to by the educational system.

 

[Muffled]

Global measures are vastly different to measuring individual countries.
I'd also seriously wonder about global statistics showing a peak in atheism in 1970, as I think China and the USSR alone would skew figures.

Not saying your stats are wrong, by any means. I just don't find them informative, personally.

I believe their is something to that. I once asked a Russian Jew that I worked with whether he observed his religion. He said he was taught in school in Russia to be an atheist.

 

[ChristineM]

I believe not. She was simply lied to by the educational system.

Lied to about what? Lack of evidence? No lies there.

 

[Muffled]

If it helps you to treat others with decency, respect and inclusion, I'd say it doesn't matter what tap it comes out of.

I believe a good source will always give good but a variable source won't. Most of the time our tap water is fine but we are currently on a boil order because of bacteria.

 

[Muffled]

Lied to about what? Lack of evidence? No lies there.

She was told that evolution was proven but it is not. So she started believing the Bible must not be true and therefore there was no God. I talked some sense into her and now she is an agnostic.

 

[ChristineM]

She was told that evolution was proven but it is not. So she started believing the Bible must not be true and therefore there was no God. I talked some sense into her and now she is an agnostic.

Evolution is the best we have, it is shown to be valid. Should it ever be falsified then the theory may need modifying in some little way. Its happened before but the principal has remained the same.

I am not sure you actually mean sense... Perhaps opinion would be more accurate

 

[muhammad_isa]

Evolution is the best we have, it is shown to be valid..

..depends what you mean by evolution.
Its principles can be proved true by real-world examples.

However, many people claim that it is responsible for all that we see,
and is "a god"

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Part of the reason for Christianity's decline is the decline in religion in general. People are more into custom designing their spirituality than being part of a given religious tradition. I do not think this is for the best -- being involved in a religious community is associated with being healthier, happier, longer lived, and having a buffer against anxiety and depression. We will not be as well off with this "spiritual not religious" deal.

Another part of the reason for the decline of Christianity is its exclusivism. The world has gotten smaller. Communities are more religiously diverse, and then there are all the people we know online from all over the world. Everyone knows that Aunt Sue is not a Christian, and we don't want to think of her as going to hell, especially with her being so nice and all. My guess is that Christianity will either survive by adopting a much more inclusive afterlife, or it may simply go by the wayside.

I think both of those factors tie into what I see as the biggest driver: the loss of Christianity's social and political influence.

It's not that long ago that, in large chunks of the Americas and Europe, being anything other than an active, church-going Christian (and specifically a Catholic or Protestant, depending on the location) meant being excluded from things like public office, government jobs, trade union membership, etc., etc.... and all the benefits that came with these things.

That's the main reason why the Knights of Columbus exists: Catholics (and non-Christians) were excluded from union membership, which meant that they couldn't get the life insurance the unions provided. Families were ending up destitute if the breadwinner was killed on the job, so the K of C was set up to fill that gap... at least for Catholics.

Over the 20th Century, many countries have progressed to the point where meeting basic needs isn't contingent on membership in a particular religion any more... and a large part of this is due to increased societal diversity. It's harder to exclude non-Protestants from a union when non-Protestants make up a significant part of the workforce. It's harder to exclude non-Catholics from office when there are enough non-Catholics that they have political clout.

... and once people aren't dependent on their religious affiliation for opportunity, or political power, or social assistance, anyone who was only - or mainly - in their religion because of these things will leave.

 

[ChristineM]

..depends what you mean by evolution.
Its principles can be proved true by real-world examples.

However, many people claim that it is responsible for all that we see,
and is "a god"

Evolution is certainly observed to be how life develops.

People are welcome to believe whatever makes them comfortable.

 

[blü 2]

I believe a good source will always give good but a variable source won't. Most of the time our tap water is fine but we are currently on a boil order because of bacteria.

I'd have said 'always' rather than 'currently', but otherwise, yes.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

I believe their is something to that. I once asked a Russian Jew that I worked with whether he observed his religion. He said he was taught in school in Russia to be an atheist.

Yep...religion was at the very least strongly discouraged.

 

[DNB]

If I may modify the question to, "am I an intelligent biological automaton?" Then I would say you are in the ball park of the question I'm asking.


The question I'm asking is do the latter stem from the former?



I've questioned the possibility rather than asserting it with certainty. Have you had direct experience with the profound character changes brought about in people cured of mental illness through medication?


Regarding dogs, you may find this article informative;
Can Dogs Be Racist?

Regarding cats I haven't owned them, but I have seen greedy dogs that will consume all the food and not share with other dogs, and it would hardly surprise me if cats are the same.

Regarding fish I dont know if fish have the physical capability to be charitable or not, so it may be a non applicable argument.


People kill for meat or even sport (see recreational fishing and hunting). Cats may kill each other (and humans kill each other too). I don't know if cats lose sleep or have other stress related disorders like humans exposed to warfare, although I would prefer to see a scientific report on that over mere assertion of the religious.

However each animal has its own constitution, as such it wouldn't surprise me if humans were unique to cats in some ways since we are physically different to them after all.


I disagree, instead I have questioned whether man's personality or character are dependant on what his internal and external environment necessitates, or whether they are independent of it.


A man's heart is simply a pump for moving blood around the body in the literal sense.

In the figurative sense a man's heart is his mind, and mere assertion does not seem to me to provide any valuable scientific input into whether the mind is independent of the internal and external environment or not.

In my opinion.

Daniel, you have somewhat of a calculated and restrained approach to dialectics, but there comes a point when you have to be able to draw conclusions from your own experiences and insights. Continuously appealing to academia for a solution, is not that commendable as it may seem. For example: you don't know if cats feel remorse over killing another living creature, the way that man does in the case of his own species, or even lesser? You haven't a clue if fish are charitable or not?
If you don't know, then allow me to tell you, the answer is an unequivocal no - and no, I didn't need to look this conclusion up anywhere.

Man's heart is independent of his environment, you see this clearly in the case of the disparity in character that exists between siblings, and neighbourhood peers. i.e. all exposed to relatively the same environment, and yet the difference in character surpasses each one's unique experiences.

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

We might look for a correlation! You can be thirsty and think Coca-cola will satisfy it... but only water is the real thing.

8 hours and 27 minutes. That's how long the average gamer plays each week

I’m more of a Gatorade zero gal

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

I’d say Christianity is in decline because, according to biblical prophecy, we are in the last days when rebellion against the Creator increases and apostasy is rampant.

Will there be a great apostasy / falling away during the end times? | GotQuestions.org

The Bible confuses rebelling against corruption in religion with rebelling against God. Jesus was persecuted for that very reason.