In respose to "Is Islam the fastest growing religion..."?

Question

Guys, I hate to break it to you, but it is.

"According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the World Christian Database as of 2007 estimated the six fastest growing religions of the world to be Islam (1.84%), the Bahá'í Faith (1.7%), Sikhism (1.62%), Jainism (1.57%), Hinduism (1.52%), and Christianity (1.32%). High birth rates were cited as the reason for the growth.[13]."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claims_to_be_the_fastest_growing_religion

Now I'm an atheist, but 4 people thumbed down when I stated that Islam was the fastest growing religion for some reason. I just wanted to clear this up.

Anyway... question... question... Hmm. What do you think of Quetzalcoatl? Great god or greatest god?

Oh, this was in reference to an earlier question.

Actually, LabGrrl, you are probably too quick to judge because the Wikipedia article, like any encyclopedia should, cites its source too. Notice that [13] next to the statistic? It's not just for show, you know. Check the footnote on the page before you start pointing fingers.

Answer 1

Yes, Phoenix, that was my question... but the answer truly is disputed.

The reason is simple-- (1) it's hard to count the number of muslims converting AWAY from Islam, and (2) Muslims always inflate the number of people converting to Islam.

(1) In Muslim countries where Sharia law is in effect, the punishment for leaving Islam is death. This is absolutely true-- the only way to avoid the death penalty for denouncing Islam is to claim insanity--- see the CNN link below for the case of Abdul Rahman

(2) Islam is a deeply fractured religion with many sects. Muslims who claim that terrorists and fundamentalists are not truly followers of Islam are more than happy to include those people in their count if it boosts their numbers.

*******
I honestly believe that people thumbs downed you because of the dispute over the claim and that people in general realize that Islam is one of the worst religions to be growing quickly... that is to say, if it were a 100% verifiable fact, they would be unhappy that it was true and thumb you down for saying something that we all wish could not be said

Answer 2

The problem, and the wikipedia article USED to cite it, I'm not going to bother with it, is that the claim of fastest growing is based on different ways of calculating it.

Wicca, by conservative estimates, doubles every three years. That's functionally a 33% annual growth rate*, or a 100% growth rate every three years.

See how I played with the numbers, there, dear?

Edit: did you use wikipedia and good encyclopedia in the same sentence? Hahahahahahahaha, that's hillarious.
Anyways, went to the article, and it says there is a problem in definition in the claim....which is what I said.
Wikipedia problems, an intro:
http://pyropus.ca/personal/writings/wikipedia.html

Answer 3

When I hear this statistic, I always think, "But fastest growing where?" In Western countries? In countries part of or bordering the Middle East? I know it's not the fastest growing religion in my country, not by a long shot.

Answer 4

I've heard that one before, as well as Islam being the first feminist religion. People will say whatever to support their position, regardless of whether the evidence is on their side or not.

Answer 5

I think actually nonbelief is growing faster than any other. I found some articles discussing this. I don't remember the publications but I'll try and dig them up.

Answer 6

The only reason it may be "fastest growing" in SOME parts of the world is because it threatens to kill those who don't convert. People who don't know Christ are more concerned with saving their physical lives, so they convert.

Answer 7

I don't have an issue with that statement because it's true, but because a lot of muslims on R&S forget (honest mistake, I'm sure...) that very important part about the birth rates, and imply that people are CONVERTING in droves, which simply is not true.

Thanks for posting.

Answer 8

I think Quetzacoatl was worshipped for the wrong reasons. He certainly didn't need human blood and hearts to keep him alive if he were divine!

Answer 9

You can't really trust statistics, because when Muslims (make up 1/6th of the world) convert to another religion, they're killed immediately, so thats 1/6th of the world that CAN'T convert for fear of being murdered by their families.

Answer 10

Quetzalcoatl is the s#it. I vote we put Allah, Buddha, Shiva, Jehovah, Quetzalcoatl, and Atheia (the god of atheists, duh) all in the same room and let them duke it out.