Which influence in the world do you think is the strongest right now, religion or atheism?

Question

And which do you think will be in the future? And why?

Answer 1

Mcdonaldization is spreading around the globe like wildfire. Consumerism is the new world religion. It is a sad time for humanity.

Answer 2

Depends on where you live. Most countries of the western world have been influenced by post-modern thinking (atheism, skepticism, rationalism, etc.). I believe religion will always be a part of mankind because humans are spiritual in nature and the "why" questions of the world will never be answered by science. Why am I here? Why is there evil? What happens after death? etc. Humans also have an intellect and therefore science will always have a place within humanity as well. The two are not at odds. Atheism will most likely continue right along with those who hold relgious beliefs. I feel as though atheism is just as much a "faith" than a religious belief. I personally do believe in God and i'm catholic for what I believe to be very good and reasonable...well reasons.

Answer 3

Religion. Atheism only seems to be another form of religion (otherwise why do they try to convince religious people not to believe in God).

Also, when one looks at the entire world and not just developed countries, there are way more people who believe in God in some form than who don't.

Unfortunately, it seems that we will have to face politicized Islam (not to be confused with regular Islam - Muslims, I'm sure you know what I mean) as a challenge to world peace.

On the other hand, fundamentalism really seems to be an issue in the United States (influencing people either toward religion or away from it, and I'm not necessarily saying that the influence toward it is a positive one in this case.).

The reason I say that religion will be a factor is because people have already seen that science cannot deliver on the promise to answer all the questions of human existence, especially after quantum physics showed us that we really have only begun to understand the nature of the universe, and as we have seen already in the past few decades, there has been an increase in interest in esoteric religions and New Age as well as cults.

I think that the biggest threat will not be the increased secularization that seems to be happening, but the backlash that will happen when the pendulum of history swings in the conservative more traditional direction. Personally, this is why I don't want things to go to far in the secular direction, because I don't want to see that big of a backlash in the future.

Answer 4

I don't consider Atheism as an influence, one way or the other. Atheists do not belong to a group trying to push their non-belief onto others.
I do believe that religion is rapidly loosing its hold on the people. Christianity especially better simplify some of its dogma like the trinity, or it might be in big trouble.
Islam is fifteen hundred years behind the times, so they have a while to hang on. They had the advantage of being able to borrow from the two religions that came before them, so it's like an improved Christianity.
Their big mistake is that they're bogged down behind the times, and refuse to change for the better. Islam is a man's religion. Why women follow it is beyond me. I guess they love to be treated like dirt.

Answer 5

Religions have the most adherents.

With the exception of the U.S., atheism is strong in much of the Western world, and the number of atheists or non-religious persons has steadily increased in the past half century. It is virtually non-existent in countries that mandate religion, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran.

I do not think that religion will ever be fully eclipsed. People believe in gods and religious codes for emotional and psychological reasons, and they have a large social network to support them, so nobody has to be open to criticism or scientific advancement.

I think that eventually atheism or agnosticism may compete with large religions, simply because the later is unproven and the cause of much societal intolerance.

Answer 6

I actually think that although theism has a strong influence, atheism is quickly gaining because people are getting turned off by the propaganda that's being put out by the religious extremists. As one athiest I know has mentioned, they don't need an organized web to dictate their lives.

However, I guess it should be mentioned that many need some higher power to turn to at one point or another in their lives. Because of that, theism won't, and never will, go away.

Answer 7

Right now - religion, by a country mile.

That's not a good thing.

In the future, I think it depends. Nietzsche wrote God's obit 150 years ago; but look at where we are today in America. But this is the way it usually works: all of history has been a continuous see-saw of progress/reaction. The pioneers of the human race take a step forward, and the ignorant troglodytes, usually represented (or at least exploited) by the religious "authorities," knock them back a few centuries.

The incredible surge in religious fundamentalism and radicalism of recent years is probably a reaction against the scientific progress of the last century. The more we discover about the universe, the deeper religion must dig in its heels to defend its Bronze Age world-view. "Bible literalism" is a direct consequence of scientific progress, ironically enough.

Answer 8

right now religion is causing all the major problems in the world (bush, Iraq, Iran, terrorism). or at least all the major problems not caused by money.

but our culture is becoming more atheistic, it's only that the religious sector has become politicized and is now a major political force. (i can only speak for america, however)

religious fundamentalism is a response to atheism, and it is what is causing the problems. atheism is a vaccuum, however, and something needs to be there. i don't know what, but it's not atheism OR religion.

Answer 9

I'm going to go with atheism.

For all the noise people make about their faith and piety, the engine that moves the world is that of science and naturalism. You don't see many "Christians" refusing medical treatments or medicines developed by sciences predicated on the assumption that evolutionary theory is correct, do you? And they don't really ACT like people who believe wholeheartedly that the words of the bible are literally true, do they? I mean, why take that medicine in the first place? Why wear your seat belt, if it's just one little car crash that's keeping you from being with Jesus in heaven? Why aren't they HAPPY when their loved ones die, knowing that those people are now in paradise?

It's only a matter of time until the ceremony and mantras of their religions will fade away to nothing....

Answer 10

athesim, just becuase people dont wanna be told what to do, and have a whole list of rules that they have to follow. as more and more people become more and more independent, and have to worry about fewer things, than i think that religion will subside and become an after thought. think about it, when someone got sick or injured a long time ago, their god or gods were the only ones that could help them, but now, we have doctors who can help us. also, you see more people doing "bad" things on tv, video games, etc. and the normal person will strive to be more like their idols. people want to have fun, and as time goes by, we have more time to have fun, and dont have to spend as much time working, like we used to. so we will have the time in the evenings to watch tv, to drink beer, to have sex, and all the "bad" things that the bible warns about, becuase we are easily bored, i think that we will continue to turn to those things, because we have the time. whereas, 100 years ago, you worked. and that was all you had time for, you worked and went to church on sundays, and sundays were the only down time you had. im sure that people would rather have a bbq with their friends and drink and have a good time, instead of going to church.

Answer 11

82% of americans are Christians
The numbers are higher for other religions in other counrties.

Most Christians believe in science so don't equate Atheism with science. They are not the same.

Religion wins hands down and probably alway will.