What is your perception on religion these days, is it growing or disappearing into oblivion?

Question

Are there proportionally more atheists these days, or have they always been there, just hidden in the closet???

Answer 1

Jesus was raised in the Jewish religious tradition, but rejected it (The "8 Woes" Matt23:13 - :29 ) as the religiousity of the religions and religious people work(ed) to conceal the structure of the government of the Kingdom of God and attempted to thwart people in communicating with and attempting to gain a better understanding of God, thwarting them from becoming aware of their own value and birthright and God's true purpose for their lives (simply, be fruitful and multiply, maintain dominion (not domination) over the Earth).

Christians - being the largest religious group, are proving to the world, just like the Jews did why Jesus didn't like religion.

Athiests look at this and laugh at the hypocrisy! Religious people are always trying to beat people over the head with the book that they believe in, and there tends to be minimal logic in their belief argument (besides the fact that they're always proselytizing). There tends to be minimal logic to where they're coming from and most super-religious people don't study the scientific world well enough to ask logical questions about their faith. How many degreed Theologians are working logically on issues in Quantum Physics and M-Theory?
It's probably not that you're finding that people are becoming more and more atheistic, but just less religious as each and every one of the religions begin to contradict the words in the books that they rely upon. The Catholic religion is pretty much the best at confusing their members enough so that they don't desire to read for themselves the words that their religion is founded upon...but notice that there's less Catholics around nowadays too. Information is power over the lies of the religions. More people are able to read the books that they hold so dear and see the truths and lies that their religions have told them.

Answer 2

I live in the Southern U.S., and religion here is more popular than ever. My church always has plenty of converts, and many other churches have even more (the various Fundamentalist denominations, "non-denominational" churches, and Jehovah's Witnesses are experiencing a great deal of growth). The Episcopal Church, although statistically smaller, is also growing here.

As for atheists, they've always been around. However, there was a time when being an open atheist could cost you your job, and much more. And the prejudice hasn't disappeared. I know of an atheist whose political career was all but wrecked when she openly admitted that she was an atheist. Such things don't play well in the Bible Belt. Yes, there are historically many atheists who've dared to speak out in the past, but for every one of them, there were many more who didn't feel like losing their job and getting their house burned down. Now, the stakes aren't quite as high, and people feel more free to speak out about their atheism. There really may be proportionally more atheists these days, simply because it can be more openly discussed now, and more people are learning about atheism as an option.

Answer 3

I just think there are more people willing to admit to being atheists. Also atheism is now a clearly defined thing that one can attest to. Back in the day it was all so surpressed that even if you didn't really believe in God, which most people don't (evidence is in their actions), they wouldn't have known what else to call it.

IMO most American Christians are practically indistinguishable from atheists in their daily living anyway. At least atheists stand up and admit that they believe according to the way they act.

I don't believe the number of people claiming to adhere to religion will change much. The brain doesn't evolve that quickly, and will continue to want to rationalize random or inexplicable events for a long time (what else do you think God is for?).

Answer 4

As a Christian I always hope religion is on the wane. Jesus came to restore our relationship with God not give us another religion. As with some of the other faiths, what God started man turned it around to suit their own ends (usually political). Thus the Christian faith became the Christian religion. Finally, there always have been and always will be atheists. Although I am yet to find a true one. They may not believe in 'God' but most will accept that there is some form of higher energy that guides and governs the world we live in.

Answer 5

Religion is fading, but not fast enough. The process is more advanced in Europe than in the United States, possibly because so many people originally came to the US for religious reasons. As more people realize that there is nothing in it, the process will continue; it is becoming more acceptable than it used to be.

Answer 6

It seems to be growing. I think atheists have always been there either in the closet or just not ever having thought about it until recently.

Answer 7

It seem apparent that the Christian belief is in a downward spiral I mean from the perspective of the true followers of christ, kind of like atheism there are many even here that call themselves atheist but fall short in many areas, sad to say but people should put their hearts/minds into whatever it is they claim to be you know live it don't just preach about it, AMEN!

Answer 8

The bad parts of religion are getting worse. The good parts are not getting much better. The new recruits have different motives and agendas. The evil that is religion is slowly turning oagainst itself and will wipe itself out eventually.

Answer 9

Hidden, yes.... But I have been pleasantly surprised to see the surge of secular society in this country in the last year or so.

The religious right are about to be cast out of our government finally. I guessed 100 years. I'm starting to think it will be much sooner than that.

Answer 10

Religion has been circling the drain since the mid-20th Century. As science explains more and more of our world, the need for gods diminishes. That's the reason religion has been lashing out at those they believe responsible for their decline: gays, liberals, and feminists.