Do you think in the next 100 years, the percentage of people that are atheists will go up or down, or do you think it will stay about the same?
Please note that I'm talking about what you think will happen and not what you would like to happen.
Thank you for your answers.
2007-03-25 23:03:19 · 16 answers · asked by Steve A 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Considering the predominance of science and people's abilities to self-think I believe that atheism will become far more prevalent.
2007-03-25 23:07:44 · answer #1 · answered by Jenn 2 · 4⤊ 0⤋
I think it will go up. Religious support is dwindling as people are now exposed to more reasoning. You no longer get executed for not being a Christian. Then there is the whole science argument. When God was invented, man did not understand most things, so they had to say there was an omnipotent force. Now that science can explain most things, the need for an all-powerful being is not required.Lastly, the church makes believing such a time-consuming thing. It is the age of velocity. Everything is fast, and never ending. People just don't have time to give adequate worship to guarantee a place in heaven. So why bother. If you are going to Hell, then best have a good time before you get there.
2007-03-26 06:15:30 · answer #2 · answered by Sarcasma 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The percentage in the United States seems to be rising right now, though it'll take time for that to qualify as a trend.
"The latest values survey, conducted Dec. 12, 2006-Jan. 9, 2007, finds a reversal of increased religiosity observed in the mid-1990s. While most Americans remain religious in both belief and practice, the percentage expressing strong religious beliefs has edged down since the 1990s. And the survey finds an increase in the relatively small percentage of the public that can be categorized as secular. In Pew surveys since the beginning of 2006, 12% identified themselves as unaffiliated with a religious tradition. That compares with 8% in the Pew values survey in 1987. This change appears to be generational in nature, with each new generation displaying lower levels of religious commitment than the preceding one".
2007-03-26 06:29:25 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
i am going to take the unpopular view that there will be less.
let me explain: Atheists are most prevalent among people at a particular stage of intellectual development. There are stages both before and after that tend to have some sense of god.
In developmental psychology there is generally seen to be about 6 or 7 stages. Each stage is characterised by a greater depth of perception and insight, and more grasp of the complexities of the world.
Traditional religions are found at about stage 2. Atheism at stage 3 or 4. Stage 5, 6 and 7 are characterised by more experiential spirituality where people explore meditations etc and find there own sense of what is there. They don't tend to talk about believing in god, but they do tend to talk about "some kind of divine being".
There has been a big growth in atheism because of more influence of people in stages 3 and 4 (through science), and probably through more people reaching those stages. In the natural course of things we can expect people to continue moving into higher stages of development, and so moving beyond atheism into personal spirituality.
2007-03-26 06:32:03 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
I think that in a hundred years time the numbers of religious people in general will be tiny. They will live in small communities that isolate themselves from the world as cults do today.
The atheists will dominate and the world will be at peace.
2007-03-26 06:12:30 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
What I believe will happen is that most people will regard religion as something like tradition. Not necessarily atheist but rather impartial.
Only a few will be actually religious but they will be very hard-core...
2007-03-26 06:08:57 · answer #6 · answered by Kimon 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
all religion was made up at sometime by some one/persons. i hate how any religion developed say in the last 100 yrs is considered a cult. 5 yrs ago 500 or 5000, i dont care- they r ALL CULTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i thinks its great that people r helped by some by giving them faith, but the second they try to push it on you, or demean another religion over theirs, then that just sucks. religous people - keep it to yourselves!
2007-03-26 06:45:52 · answer #7 · answered by shoegal 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Unless something is done to stop the rampant immorality among religious leaders, they will drive people away, many to atheism.
2007-03-26 06:09:18 · answer #8 · answered by novangelis 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I hope it will go up. That is hard to say though. If the education systems fail, if energy sources fail, we could end up in the new dark ages, again.
2007-03-26 06:08:30 · answer #9 · answered by U-98 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
I think religions will continue to decline, and the numbers of agnostics and atheists will increase.
2007-03-26 06:11:05 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋