Religion: Decline/Rise/Cyclical?

Question

Ask a question like this and your bound to get 10,000 different answers.

So i've heard from both the religious and non-religious a variety different answers about religion and its continuation. I've heard its on a Rise, on a Decline. I've heard that this is Cyclical, pointing to expectations in the last 70-100 years that Religion (of any sort) would be wiped out. Or expectations that a "Great Awakening" (Just what is that exactly?) is right around the corner.

So i'm asking, does anyone have any HARD evidence (not anecdotal, perhaps something statistical) to support one of the three suppositions above?

Answer 1

Over the past couple of centuries, the power of religion has definately diminished. 500 years ago, religion ruled the world and rulers did not make decisions without first thinking about how the religious leaders would accept the decision.

250 years ago, religion stilled ruled the world, but there were more people questioning it. The consequences of questioning religion were not death either. Religious discrimination still happened, but there were countries that decided that people should have the right to decide what they wanted to believe. The United States of America is a good example of that.

100 years ago, religion was still very prominant in government but it had far less influence than it once did. Also almost all people followed one religion or another and were pretty strict about it. They prayed everyday and went to church every sunday. Many people questioned religion, however, atheists were still pretty rare.

50 years ago, religion was considered by government but religion did not greatly influence governments. People were still religious but many people were religous mostly in name. They did not pray every day and they rarely went to service. These people were the minority in the religious world. Atheism was on the rise. It was not a black mark against a person to be an atheist (not considering McCarthyism). There were still some that would discriminate against them but it was a lot less than the good old days of burning heretics.

Today, religion still has influence on government. Right now, there is a strong religious characteristic about the US government but that is under attack. Many people are upset that religion has been able to gain even a bit of government power. Atheists are more common. About 1 in 50 people are atheist, 2.36% people in the world are atheist. (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/xx.html). There is definately still much discrimination and hate towards atheists, but it is definately a lot better than 50-100 years ago. There are many people who question religion. There are many people who question the bible. We have resources today that allow people to go and do the research and learn about the criticisms about religion. We are recognizing that not all people want religion and laws that promoted religion are being done away with. Religion has a lot less power today than it ever did before.

100 years ago, if someone stood up in a town meeting and starting praising Jesus, everyone in the meeting would join in. Today, if someone did that, the police would escort the person out.