What is the Future of Religion? Will Religion Ever Disappear?

[Kuzcotopia]

A number of thinkers have prophesied the end of religion as we grow more rational as a society, but here we stand long after Nietzsche said that god is dead, seeing that really it's only Nietzsche who is dead.
In all seriousness though, like @Sunstone said, it's hardwired into us. It'll shift and evolve but religion isn't going anywhere until we do.

Those thinkers are right.

The problem is, we haven't grown more rational at all.

 

[loverofhumanity]

Islam is recording the highest no of conversion from other religions and atheists

So, Islam is not going to disappear, it's growing.

Is it growing through conversion or reproduction?

 

[Kuzcotopia]

I think in the end, it's influence won't end until poverty and ignorance end.

I'm a big believer in Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs. Until we truly fix the problems at the bottom, no one really wants to grow.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

Where I live people have given up on religion, and on Sunday mornings they worship at supermarkets, which are the temples of consumerism.

 

[loverofhumanity]

I think in the end, it's influence won't end until poverty and ignorance end.

I'm a big believer in Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs. Until we truly fix the problems at the bottom, no one really wants to grow.

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Nice diagram. Thanks.

I don't think we can divorce the spiritual needs from the material ones. For instance world peace will release $trillions to address poverty and health, education and employment. How to end wars is to end prejudice of religion, race and nationality so I think we need to work on creating more spiritual people who aren't prejudiced and spiritual education not university education is needed to do that.

We have seen recent food shortages in Syria and when the UN tried to get food supplies in they were bombed so we need goodwill and peace - the food was already on the trucks.

Society needs to function above the level of greed in order to solve things like poverty and greed can't be abolished by material means but by more people of goodwill in the world who don't favour one race, nation or religion but have a commitment to all humanity.

We have the means, the food and resources to solve a lot of problems but not the motive and that will have to come from the hearts of people.

That is why the Baha'is are working on building spiritual communities because otherwise we are like a dog chasing its tail.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Religion isn't going to disappear because the basic brain modules that give us a predilection to at least some forms of religiosity are as hardwired into us as cognitive biases.

I agree that there will probably always something like religion to some degree, but I think it's very possible that - at least in the West - religiosity will drop below a critical mass where belonging to a church no longer conveys societal benefit and influence, which will prompt more people to leave, diminishing the benefits of belonging to the religion, which will prompt even more people to leave, etc.

I could definitely see religions dropping down in size and status to something like, say, Civil War re-enactment groups: they're there and people know about them, but they're not very big, and their appeal is perplexing to a lot of people. Only the people who are truly into it actually participate, and they don't generally try to throw their weight around as a voting bloc.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

A number of thinkers have prophesied the end of religion as we grow more rational as a society, but here we stand long after Nietzsche said that god is dead, seeing that really it's only Nietzsche who is dead.
In all seriousness though, like @Sunstone said, it's hardwired into us. It'll shift and evolve but religion isn't going anywhere until we do.

I think we'll always have some degree of tribalism, and we'll always have people believing things for bad reasons, but I don't see why these things necessarily need to converge in one institution.

I could definitely see a future where people define their group identity along aesthetic or values-based lines (like sports team affiliation or political party membership) rather than basing the group identity on belief in a set of factual claims. At the same time, I can see people's poorly reasoned views generally not affecting their membership in the groups they identify with (e.g. you can still be welcomed as a Yankees fan even if you think that reiki is real).

 

[DawudTalut]

Looking at the statistics, the answer seems to be no. But, many people are abandoning religion. Tell me, what do you think it will look like?

Peace be on you.
According to Ahmadiyya-Muslims' understandings:
1=God perfected the evolution of religion at Prophet of Islam (pbuh) and with the Book he was given. Islam is for all world and all people.

2=The message is to be taken to the whole world by a servant of Prophet of Islam [the Ahmadiyya Promised Messiah, Covenanted Mahdi ] --- as the means to do this service are available and concept of global village has arisen too. ...This ardent devotee prophecied :

"O mankind! hearken, this is the prophecy of God Who made the Heavens and the Earth. He will spread this Movement in all the countries and will give it supremacy over all through reason and arguments. Remember, no one will descend from heaven. All our opponents who are living at present will die and not one of them will see Jesus, son of Mary, descend from the sky and then their children who survive them will also pass away and none of them will see Jesus, son of Mary, coming down from the heaven. Generations of their posterity will also perish and they too will not see the son of Mary descending from heaven. Then God will create restlessness in their hearts; that the day of the glory of the Cross had passed away and the world had taken another turn but Jesus, son of Mary, had still not come down from the sky. Then all the wise people will discard this belief and the third century from today will not have completed when all those who had been waiting for Jesus, both Muslims and Christians will despair of his coming and entertaining misgivings shall give up their belief and there will be only one Faith in the world and one preceptor. I came only to sow the seed. That seed has been sown by my hands. It will now grow and blossom forth and none dare retard its growth."
Ref: https://www.alislam.org/library/future.html

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

Religion will evolve. All things do.

 

[ak.yonathan]

As long as there are those who wish to control others and profit by it, and there are people looking for reassurances and comfort, religion will be around. And the amazing thing is that the product doesn't even have to be coherent or make sense.


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What makes you think that religion is around to control and profit from, and also to get reassurances and comfort? Just because some people do that doesn't mean that's it's its true purpose. Also, why the assumption that religion isn't coherent? (I know it doesn't make sense, but the concept of God itself is something illogical.)

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

The apostles were denounced by Jesus as being morons who didn't understand the way. They demanded Jesus tell ministers not in the group to stop preaching even though the guy wasn't preaching anything negative about Jesus. Until the poll numbers were so dismal they couldn't avoid it, they went to the gentiles after berating them for being faithless inhuman monsters.

 

[sun rise]

For me the poetry of Kabir says it all. Kabir was very critical about organised religion. His religion was life itself.
When he was asked "What is your religion?", he said "My religion is the religion that existed before there was any religion".

An excellent read that covers his poetry and his alleged history is
Kabir: The Weaver's Song (Penguin Classics)

Enjoy(if you do read it). Jedster

Kabir is on my favorites list. His writings and the writings of Rumi, St. Francis, Ramakrishna, Sri Aurobindo and others point to a future where religion is lived on the inside not practiced externally:

Kabir:
Does Khuda live in the mosque?
Then who who lives everywhere?
Is Ram in idols and holy ground?
Have you looked and found him there?
Hari in the East, Allah in the West -
So you like to dream.
Search in the heart, in the heart alone:
There live Ram and Karim.

Rumi:
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened.

Don't open the door to the study and begin reading.
Take down a musical instrument;
Let the beauty we love be what we do.

There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground."

 

[viole]

Looking at the statistics, the answer seems to be no. But, many people are abandoning religion. Tell me, what do you think it will look like?

What future?

Ciao

- viole

 

[Limo]

Is it growing through conversion or reproduction?

Growtg is from both

 

[viole]

Growtg is from both

Amazing. It seems to grow at the same rate as the greek gods grew during the roman empire.
Not to speak of the growth of Chistianity later.

Ciao

- viole

 

[Skwim]

What makes you think that religion is around to control and profit from, and also to get reassurances and comfort?

Because control and profit are driving forces, and reassurance and comfort are huge needs.

Just because some people do that doesn't mean that's it's its true purpose.

This is all in the context of "disappearing soon." LuisDantas' conjecture. If by "true purpose" you mean getting people in touch with god in order to achieve salvation, then certainly much of the clergy and all congregants have this in mind; however, I believe too many of clergy are motivated by less than admirable goals. And, that all people who go to church go because of need. A need for reassurance about what happens after they die, and much of the daily comfort many religious organizations offer.

Also, why the assumption that religion isn't coherent? (I know it doesn't make sense, but the concept of God itself is something illogical.)

And that's one of the incoherent items within religion (I'm primarily addressing the Christian religion because it's the one I'm most familiar with.) Just take the assertion that god is good. Well that would be fine if it wasn't for the fact that many of his actions described in the Bible are far from being good. (And no, I don't entertain the argument that what we would call bad is actually good when god does it). Then there's the claim of his omniscience, which doesn't square at all with a lot of is said about god. In all, much of the core of the Christian religion is incoherent. It's confused, contradictory, and incomprehensible. One is required to cherry pick those passages that conform to one's belief and needs and purposely ignore those that don't.


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[rusra02]

Looking at the statistics, the answer seems to be no. But, many people are abandoning religion. Tell me, what do you think it will look like?

I believe the one true religion will continue to grow, and that all false religions will soon be destroyed, according to Bible prophecy.

 

[loverofhumanity]

I believe the one true religion will continue to grow, and that all false religions will soon be destroyed, according to Bible prophecy.

According to Bible prophecy Christ has already come with a new name and billions of Christians who were told to watch and pray did not do so and so have betrayed Jesus by not accepting His Second coming.

According to Christ Himself, those who rejected the second Coming are considered non believers. Baha'u'llah has come yet Christians close the door in His Face, the Face of Christ Himself.


Like 12:45-46

45 But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; 46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

 

[Brickjectivity]

The future is unforeseeable.

 

[meghanwaterlillies]

This is a question asked of Baha'u'llah, Founder of the Baha'i Faith, by one of His followers.

"Once Varqá asked Bahá'u'lláh, 'How will the Cause of God be universally adopted by mankind?' Bahá'u'lláh said that first, the nations of the world would arm themselves with infernal engines of war, and when fully armed would attack each other like bloodthirsty beasts. As a result, there would be enormous bloodshed throughout the world. Then the wise from all nations would gather together to investigate the cause of such bloodshed. They would come to the conclusion that prejudices were the cause, a major form being religious prejudice. They would therefore try to eliminate religion so as to eliminate prejudice. Later they would realize that man cannot live without religion. Then they would study the teachings of all religions to see which of the religions conformed to the prevailing conditions of the time. It is then that the Cause of God would become universal."

That is just sick twisted logic.

I think in the end, it's influence won't end until poverty and ignorance end.

I'm a big believer in Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs. Until we truly fix the problems at the bottom, no one really wants to grow.

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I could take that logic apart rip it apart with my two bare....ummm ends lol. In the end they will still call you monkeys.