The RR: can religion survive in an age of information technology?

Question

It seems parquliar how people remain so blinkered in a world where so much information is available, All religion can do is insist that you follow it blindly. which for most people is unaceptable. Does religion relly on poorly educated people to bring in the bucks?
How can it continue in a world that has moved on?
Are the religious aware of this fact and as a result getting increasingly bigoted and intelerant as witnessed here?

I know I can't spell get over yourself, coz I don't care.
If you say you can't understand me coz spelling is important you are dissproving your own sentance! so lets think more before posting such rubbish!

Answer 1

Paganism actual works with modern technology and even evolution...

- 16 yo Pagan

Answer 2

There is room for religion and technology. It's a misconception that religious people follow it blindly, and not all Christians are uneducated. It is based on facts, and just because you can't back all of it up with proof, is no reason to throw it all out. Information technology has opened up new worlds that we never would have imagined years ago. We can now communicate with strangers all over the world that we never would have been able to years ago . We can use that for good or bad. In that way, Christians can even use that technology to educate other people we never could have reached before about what we believe and why. At the same time though, that technology can also put pornographic material into the homes of those same people, and even children who wouldn't have otherwise seen it. It can educate people to make a better life for themselves, but it can also provide information about how to make bombs to blow up buildings and kill innocent people. It can be used to spread love, and it can be used to spread hate. The world will move on, but religion will live on, and maybe become stronger because of that same technology, but we can still fight bigotry and intolerance by accepting people for who they are, even if we disagree with what they believe.

Answer 3

I enjoyed your question (until you became defensive before any attacks in your second paragraph). I'm not trying to demean you, but I think that you sort of answered your own question here.

The information age has helped others expand their horizons and search further for information but only at a quicker pace. The only real advantage is the interaction with people in areas of the globe that would normally not be available. Libraries have always been around for information seekers. The age of information has only expanded on ideas already posed by others.

Most people beginning to turn away from religion is due to the defensive attitude that many take. Every one wants to be right and they don't give someone a chance to speak before they attack that person on a presumption of what that person might say or do.

There are many new cults and sects springing up on a regular basis but that only shows that people are changing their way of believing and thinking and are still doing today what they did prior to the information age - looking for other like-minded people to coexist with.

Religion will never truly die because there are so many people that want to believe in something - it will only change, as it has so many times over the centuries.

Answer 4

This is a deep and complex set of issues you are raising and it would take pages and pages to address everything you have brought up --so I can't do your questions justice, but I will offer some points for you to consider.

I guess the first point I would address is the issue of money, which is always a good one to look at, and which you correctly identify as a major key to the survivability of religion. However, to your question does religion rely on poorly educated people for it's major funding stream, I would point to the powerful, wealthy religious conservative, fundamentalist Right Wing in America and say that no, this does not seem the case.

Does religion require blind followers? No, I don't think that this is necessarily true, although some have believed that slavish adherence is required. However, I don't believe Jesus sets this example for us, just looking at this from a Christian perspective. But have people followed leaders blindly in the past --yes, indeed, this has happened and it is a tendency that we would do well to watch out for!

As to whether religion will survive, I think that it is here to stay no matter what. Many believe that religion is hard-wired into the human brain -- that it is simply a part of being human that we can not eradicate.

Is religion incompatible with information/technological society? I don't think they necessarily preclude one another and can co-exist with each other. I'm quoting below from an excellent essay by V.V. Raman that addresses this issue:

Why then should the two come into conflict? There are, as I see it, three sets of reasons for this: foundational assumptions, historical factors and confusion of roles.

Science assumes that the external matter and energy aspect of the world — from which the human brain is formed and of which consciousness is an emergent attribute — is primary. From the scientific perspective, we are inconsequential glitches in the stretch of cosmic history. We emerged through random processes and we will disappear through astral fading, if not through colossal blunders of our own.

From the religious perspective, consciousness is primary, because all the light and color, beauty and magnificence of the world are only in human heads. The symmetry and fragrance, sweetness and melody are part of the universe only because of us. Without consciousness there can be no poetry or mathematics, no art or science. We are the ones who light up the universe and detect or infuse meaning and majesty in the world. Without us, planets and stars, waves and vibrations would be cast in one dark, dismal abyss, unnoticed and unsung for all of eternity.

Science tells us that we share a common ancestor with apes. Religions remind us that we are also descended from prophets and philosophers. Science tells us that the matter in our bodies was formed in the core of supernovae. Religion tells us that our consciousness is likewise related to the cosmic whole.

Hurts and atrocities have been perpetrated in the name of practically all religions, as those virulently against religions often remind us. But then, scientific knowledge, the Internet, television and other worthy institutions have also been misused. This is no argument for eradicating them.

Religion's function is not to account for natural phenomena. No religion can coherently tell us how the first palpitations of life arose. Nor should religions intrude into the affairs of the state or insinuate themselves into science classrooms. Likewise, it is not the function of science to show us the difference between right and wrong, or to console us in bereavement. Science cannot explain why mindless matter persists for eons in a cold and callous universe, and why consciousness arose.

Science is the finite mind trying to grasp infinite complexity. Religion is the finite mind contemplating infinite complexity.

Answer 5

1st, someone saying they can't understand you because spelling is important in no way disproves their own sentence.

2nd, I agree spelling is largely over-rated and isn't completely neccesary to put together a coherent thought. In fact studies say that as long as the first and last letter are in place and all letters are present, most people can understand grossly mis-spelled words.

3rd, You'll notice many deeply religious people are also very smart. This is because religion isn't meant to appeal to your logic, it appeals to your emotions. Any time you see a smart person doing something that doesn't make sense, there's usually an emotional response behind it. Religion is attractive because it makes you feel part of something bigger than your self. It is also hope for life after death. And afterall death is something we all want to elude, no matter how smart we are. I think the final reason may be the most simple. It's nearly impossible to prove a religion wrong, as theres evidence of some kind of god all around us. Its tough believing that the earth is just some freak accident. As of now we humans have no way to explain the natural world, and so we look for a creator that isn't bound by our rules. I don't abide by any specific religion, but at the same time I lean closer toward the possibillity that there is a god than the possibillity that there isn't.

Answer 6

thats really well thought. i think religion will always survive due to peoples need for a will to live. Religion gives morals and something to look forward to after death. Its a kind of hope it gives people. But i do think it is more acceptable in an uneducated culture then it is in a highly educated culture. If you look at the differences between now and 3000 yrs ago, now and 1000 yrs ago, you can see how religion has been changing.

Answer 7

Yes, because religion is all about self-righteousness and the techno age is all about self-righteousness; therefore, they are perfect marriage partners. The Antichrist will set up a worldwide religion based upon technology and idol worship, with him as the idol to be worshiped around the world through technology. At that time the true church of Jesus Christ will not be on earth because Jesus will have come at the rapture and will have removed it and taken it to heaven. True Christianity is not religion, but is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that does not require an hierarchical priesthood. Jesus loves you.

Answer 8

ironically (for you, perhaps), I think we're going to see more or greater religious adherence the more we see information technology develop.

information technology is alienating people like never before - making them feel confused and alone with no one to turn to. i would not be surprised if people started turning (or turning back) to organized religion to find a place where they can connect with other people and find a higher purpose in a life that seems to be increasingly busy and disconnected.

Answer 9

My religion does not tell me to follow it blindly - maybe that's your problem - you think that religions require people to follow them blindly and don't realize that most religions recognize free will and know that its members will question.

Answer 10

There is a difference between religion and knowing God. Be careful not to confuse the two.

Knowing God and trusting him can survive anything.