please no militant religious answers...?

Question

Please answer with respect TO the question or you will be flagged... and only intelligent answers please, nothing without distinct reasoning and coherent responses... please do not preach about jesus or whom ever...




Do you believe that religion is fighting an uphill battle to keep faith and followers due to the disproof of religious claims by science and logical means? and if so/not explain why...
Studys have shown that attendance rates at all denomination churches have been steadily declining with the steady development of scientific methods and abilities... which is my premise for asking this question.

after points brought up my choice of wording may have been a little askew ... first using the word believe.. it should be thing, and also I was referring to topics of religion and science that do contradict ... i.e. Evolution, the definition of life.. this type of thing... not trivial topics of is the sun at the center of the universe.. is the calender correct... think deeper people

sorry, one more side note please do not use things like
". God is a little like gravity. We can't see ti, or touch it but we know it is there."

first off...gravity is proven at a constant... and secondly.. when not getting hit when you ran that red light, and having someone go in remission from cancer are constant you let me know.. then god is like gravity.....constant

FYI....
irreducible complexity
2nd law of thermodynamics

can not be used as proof for intelligent design... for 1 IC in NOT A LAW, it is a theory at best, and has too many loop holes for it to be considered as such.. and don't get an engineer started on the 2nd law of thermodynamics... there are an infinitesimal number of reactions that never reach equilibrium.. and that only apply to a closed system... and hello genius our planet isn't a closed system... there is the sun, solar flares, astral wind, polar reversion... too many variables to be a closed system.. thus the 2nd law is thrown out for those of you who decided to assume you where smart enough to bring up something you heard of once but do not fully understand



OWNED!!!

Answer 1

Early age indoctrination is still key. The evangelist movement seems to be growing ever extreme and even labeling themselves as "Warriors" and those who do not share their beliefs, "Terrorists". I think that the lack of education and the growth of the Evangelical movement is actually corollary. What a better way to make citizens content with their lives wasted with busy work and tax payments. Once everyone is conservative, everyone will be docile, ignorant and at the will of the Government.

Answer 2

Do you believe that religion is fighting an uphill battle to keep faith and followers due to the disproof of religious claims by science and logical means? and if so/not explain why.

Yes and no, I will base my answer on Christianity.

Christianity has always had an up hill fight, that is simple history. Now as to your line about,

due to the disproof of religious claims by science and logical means? and if so/not explain why...

Science has not disproved anything. If anything at all, science has shown us what a absolutely incredible universe we live in, and how we fit it to that. I personally think that here in the states number have fallen because we have it far too easy. People need God, when they are in need, not when they can and do provide for their own needs. This does not make God any less relevant, just pushed to the back burner, shame on us, If you look at Asia, the middle east, Africa you will see Christianity blooming, into being in countless places. We got lazy they go serious. That is it.

Answer 3

As an atheist, I'm finding that it's becoming more & more common to find others who don't believe the same way I don't believe. (Or maybe we're just being allowed to voice our opinions / beliefs (or lack thereof) in a more public forum with the advent of the internet)

And while it seems like people are becoming slight more disenchanted with some organized religions ... although I'm seeing more people of "western" cultures looking towards different (non-western) religions like kabala, bhuddism, or even scientology.

I feel that this means people are still seeking that spiritual guidance... some still need to feel that there is more out there than the cold hard scientific "facts" that some hard-liners would profess.

And while it may become more common for people to give up entirely on organized religion - I think it'll still be around for many generations to come.

Is it an uphill battle?? ...probably. But I think it always has been... historically, there has always been religious persecution and wars - battles fought over this faith or that... where one person preaches peace and love for their fellow man - but is willing to kill their neighbor to prove that their kind of peace and love is the right kind.

((shrug))

...I guess that works for them, 'cuz they've been doing it for thousands and years and probably will continue to do so.

Answer 4

Your premise, I believe, is false. What you are suggesting, that the church is steadily declining, is absolutely correct, but I don't think the cause is scientific discoveries. I don't really think that science has "disproved" anything that Christianity claims. The decline in Christianity comes from internal problems not external. In the Bible God told us that in the end times the church would fall away from the faith, and it certainly has. The focus of the church, just in my life time has completely shifted from a very strong thoelogical unit to a very experiential type of Christianity. The church today is held together more by contemporary music than it is by theology and you really don't have to be a Christian to get a high from music. So many have wandered away into the world which produces better music than the church. Of course there is more to it than that, but that is one of the most significant factors and many churches have split and closed over nothing more than the music. Having been in churches all of my life I can assure you that the church does not see any threat from science at all.

Answer 5

I think that organized religion is fighting an uphill battle due to the hypocracy within the church(es). How many times have we seen on television that some upper-echelon member of a church has been arrested for embezzlement, fraud, drug charges, drunk driving, or caught in an extra-marital affair? People don't want leaders (in all walks of life) who tell us "Do as I say, not as I do."

My understanding of religion is that it is supposed to teach us how to be better people and strive to do good. When the leaders of said religions can't follow their own doctrine, why should the masses?

I think that science may play a small part in a few people leaving the church, but not much. I work with a man, a scientist, who is one of the most religious people I know. He's position is that there is so much unknown in science, the how-and-whys of the ways things work, that it has enhanced his faith, not lessened it.

Answer 6

Not so in India. If anything, more are flocking to places of worship, whatever the religion. But there is a different kind of tolerance (Or fear or insecurity) building up. There appears to be a more frenzied running around from one place to another even between religions in search of solace.

The number of people of other persuasions, Hidus, Muslims(Yes, Muslims) visiting some of the well known catholic churches is on the rise. Curiously, some catholic churches adopt a variant of Hindu rituals at services.

While the outward trappings of religion are increasing, inner peace is decreasing. Highly commercialized, nicely packaged spiritual practices are the rage. They offer instant Nirvana with very little effort. For a small(?) fee.

Soul has come to the mall.

Answer 7

I don't believe there is an uphill battle. What used to be attributed to god(s) and demon(s) were the unknowns. Now there are explanations for much (most?) of those things. That is why we see far fewer demon possessions and miracles, except in undereducated areas.

However, for many of the christians I know, it's more about their spiritual walk with christ than explanations for the unknown. I don't consort with the rabid fundamentalists, only those who are tolerant of varying opinions. I can't answer for the extremist perspective, although some find any challenge to their faith as a battle. I can only assume they do see an uphill battle, and would see the same regardless of what science proves or disproves.

Answer 8

I do not think that organized religion is going to face extintion any time soon. If we look at the big picture, the age of reason started about 200 years ago, and most religions have maintained their status throught those years.
One thing that it is undeniable is that organized religion has to adapt to the changes. For example the catholic church has lost political influence, and has had to accept some scientific facts in order to keep up with the times.
Spirituality is a part of the human being as much as eating is necesary to live. As long as people have spiritual needs, organized religion will be there. Science is based on facts, religion, since its based on believes, caters to a different aspect of our humanity; thus it will stay arround for a while.

Answer 9

Science and religion co-exist. Reason and faith co-exist - faith is not without reason.

Catholics believe that evolution has validity - read statements by Benedict XVI and John Paul II. One of the pioneers of genetics was an Augustinian Priest, Mendel with his beans. There have been many Jesuit astronomers and mathematicians. Other examples in Catholic history exist.

There is no grand polemic of faith vs science which can be applied to all religious and to all religious people.

Within Yahoo Answers, some posters make this generalization mistake repeatedly: the faith vs reason or faith without reason generalization mistake.

Great question! Keep reading and specifically reading to differentiate the different histories of each religion and each denomination on this topic..

Answer 10

by asking for no militant religious answers, you will get more than you would have otherwise...

I dont think they are fighting an uphill battle of any sort. When you say religion, which do you mean? all?
If christianity, then i absolutely dont think they are. With over 1 billion worldwide they are definitely the majority. Until that number drops substantially, i would say not.

I am not a believer, but I think if they (christians) were fighting an uphill battle, it would be because of the lack of science that christianity imposes, not because of it. "good" will always feel at a battle with "evil" and vice versa...no matter what.

Edit:
i would say that Muslims are fighting an uphill battle. With the war, terrorst attacks, etc. People all over the world are showing a lot of hate towards them, even though the majority arent radical nor do they impose a threat of any sort.

Answer 11

I think the answer is simple: people are just less interested in sitting in churches because of the many other diversions that modern life has to offer. Now that most states no longer have "blue laws" or societal restriction as to what's "appropriate" for Sunday, more people are choosing to do other things than going to church services. They figure life's too short to spend your days doing something you dislike.

Given a choice between doing something you truly enjoy like spending the time at a Sunday brunch with family and friends and being thankful to God privately for providing those sort of blessing in life, and spending every Sunday punishing yourself by going to a cold, impersonal building, sitting in a hard, uncomfortable pew for 1 to 3 hours with people you don't really know or even necessarily like, and wistfully looking at the sun hitting the stained glass windows while getting stuck listening to a long winded man called a minister run down a laundry list of all your "sins" and getting increasingly bored in the process, what would you do?

For many years, this was my experience....nothing to do with science or refuting any religion. I used to go to services every Sunday, and then wonder why I'd go home feeling more depressed than uplifted. I thought there was something wrong with me or I was inherently evil because of it. Yet when I was at home studying the Scriptures or singing a spiritual song I felt a lot better. Well, a few years back when I finally realized that I wasn't getting anything out of going to formal services, I simply stopped going because I figured I was doing myself...and God...a disservice...and I realize I wasn't going to struck by lightening because of it!

Do I feel guilty for not going to church? NO! Why not? Because those who believe God is everywhere also realize that God can't be limited to a physical building. So, to me, religious belief has little to do with regular church attendance. You can be prayerful and spiritual without it.

What more, some of the mega-churches have figured this out and that's why they're jumping through hoops trying to make their churches as less "church-y" as possible? Sure thousands are flocking there, but no one with brains is really being fooled. It's still mutton dressed up as lamb.