Will Religion Survive?

Question

Will organized religion survive the next century? Or will war, scandal, and dissent change the way we view our faith?

Answer 1

"False" religion will not survive, but faith in God and true knowledge of his will and purposes shall remain forever.
Habakkuk 2:14--"For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea." ASV

Answer 2

Not likely. War, scandal, and dissent have been a part of religion pretty much since the dawn of man. Study your history, and you will find centuries and centuries of stories of scandals and warfare... yet religion is still here.

There is a basic fault in the logic of your question that you are forgetting: war, scandal, and dissent are NOT religion-specific. It is human nature, and it is part of all aspects of life. Take away religion from the picture, and people will simply fight and cheat and argue over other things. Religion is not the problem. Greed. Selfishness. Jealousy. Power. Oppression. These are what cause war and scandal and dissent.

Here is an interesting counterpoint to the religion argument: nationalism. Who doesn't think it is a good thing to love and respect your country? There are a few... but very few. Yet nationalism EASILY eclipses religion for causing war deaths in the past 300 years. Political scandals easily eclipse the amount of religious scandals as well. Even most religious wars have social, political, and economic reasons at their heart. Religion, like nationalism or race, is the ideal used to spur the troops, so to speak. It is the misuse of religion, not religion, that is the cause of the problems of the world. But eliminating religion is not going to cure the problem, as one ideal is easily replaced by another so long as humans are greedy and selfish.

Eliminating religion would cause a problem, however, for the majority of the people in the world. For one thing, for most people religion is a very personal thing. It is something that is inside them, and you cannot take it away. That said, people are naturally social creatures, generally speaking. This fact, mixed with the personal aspect of religion, leads to people gathering together to share their religious experiences. In other words, organized religion is a natural phenomenon amongst many people. It isn't going anywhere.

That is not to argue that all people should believe in religion. It is a personal choice, and everyone should be free to decide what they want. The fact is, however, that many people will choose religion. So long as people do, they will form organized groups. Scandal and dissent will not change that, no more than it will eliminate government or education or race or nations or gender. So in answer to your questions: Yes. Religion will easily survive. Yes. Organized religion will survive the next century. Don't forget that literally 6 billion people in the world still believe in God. That said, the answer to your last question is "Yes" as well. Religion, like all things, is constantly changing. The way we view faith will certainly alter over the years, but not likely in the way you are assuming.

Answer 3

"Religions" have come and gone over the years. Faith and belief have always survived. Many churches have dissolved or split because of differences in the church, but the basic faith and belief of the menbers continue to survive. I don't believe war, scandal, dissent or anything else will ever change our faith and belief. It certainly will not affect mine.

Answer 4

If you turn over a rock and expose a bunch of worms, cockroaches, ants and other icky looking insects, do they stay there? No, they run and hide.

Where do they run to? The other side of the rock you just overturned.

No matter how many rocks that science overturns and expose the dark to the light, the cockroach of religion will always find some dark crevice to hide in and live there. There are plenty of ignorant people who willingly living under a rock.


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Answer 5

It has survived this long through war, scandal, and dissent. It should continue.

Answer 6

Religion may not survive, because it is of man. God however, Jesus Christ, will always be. During the time of tribulation not one christian will be left on earth. It is a time without God on this planet when people are left to themselves. Some will say, yes, that's what I've been waiting for. Don't be too sure about the joys of that. Man is inherently selfish and it will show. Without God there will be immense pain and agony for all who are left behing.

Answer 7

Yes, religion will survive...as there are always those whose practical spirituality re-affirms what the religion really means.

~ Eric Putkonen

Answer 8

There is a brilliant South Park episode that covers this...if religion were dead, man would just fight about who believes the least, not the most. Spirituality is a vivid component of the human experience. it won't go away.

Answer 9

Religion and Faith are 2 seperate things... i believe that organized religion will slip to the wayside.... but Faith will remain... if you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything...

Answer 10

it will take much more than a century to rid of religion. it will take a fundamental change in the human species to make people abstain from religion and other superstitious behaviors.