Do you think atheism will become more prevalent in the next few decades?

Question

I really think as a society, the US is moving further away from religion and belief in god to encompass more free thinkers, or at least more people who just dont care about having religion in their every day lives. I think especially in the younger generations we are seeing more people reject religion. This was the trend in Europe and the UK and I think we will slowly adopt to this too. What do you think?

Answer 1

The pendulum swings both ways. There will always be a mass of people on the sidelines ready to encourage religious belief (now present in Europe), and as has been shown recently, an equally vehement contingent ready to debunk those same beliefs.

People think emotionally. When they're scared, they will often lean on superstition, simply because it comforts them. Even though the attacks on September 11, 2001 were largely religion based, we saw an increase rather than a decrease in religious observance in the US.

Atheism is simply a lack of belief in God. There have to be other values and explanations available to people, and supported in community, to encourage a different way of soothing our ills when they come. Humanism, Secular Buddhism, Taoism, and the Freethought movement have some of these, but they have a long way to go before they can achieve the prominence of God-based superstitions.

^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^

Answer 2

The only way primitive religion exists today is through the child abuse of forcing it into very, very young children but thanks to better education and growing intellects so many teens are able to discover the truth, throw off the indoctrination and step into the real world! The word Chrsitian used to signify someone who believed in a loving god and acted like it but sadly it now appears to symbolize someone who practices intolerance and persecution towards others! Those two things has reduced Chrsitianity by ten percent in less than a decade and the loss contiues to increase with thurches closing their doors for good every week!

Answer 3

It depends, if there are some great calamities, people will turn to religion as they always have. If free information exchange and prosperity are the rule, then organized religion will eventually fall by the wayside.

Edit: Free information exchange is crucial because it allows everyone to analyze everyone else's belief and prevents insulation from outside information sources. If your only source of other religions is what your own religion says about them, you're much less likely to think highly of them (because of the bias of the source). If you can go directly to that religion's homepage, you'll be able to freely read what they're all about, and ultimately, this will lead you to believe that no one religion is right for everyone.

Answer 4

No, because I think we will go through a series of rough periods, when we will be forced to develop a more updated and modern version of spirituality and God. We are in a period where science and technology is quite a bit more advanced than religion. Our religions tend to be stuck in the past, as well as our predominant picture of God. In the future religions will be more open to that which is new, like science is, and into accepting the best in newest in spiritual ideas, and training techniques. Then it will be more attractive than it is now. Also technology will get in trouble, until we can develop a higher moral level and a better spiritual connection, so as to direct technology in the right direction for the good of humanity. Only with the spiritual, and with a uniting spiritual force being recognized, will we master our desires and emotions, so as to act morally under extreme pressure, or under conditions that require lots of precision. Technology exaggerates the consequences of immoral action.

Answer 5

You will do but you won't do it with the politicians you have today,the UK is very liberal sometimes too much but that iss another matter,most people don't go to church,they mostly used to get baptised out of tradition and nowadays most are never christened same for my kids and theirs too.
Europe is another issue catholic countries still seem to cater for worshippers but alot of the young are rejecting religion,the biggest danger the USA faces is one of becoming an even more fundemental christian right wing country than it is now....

Answer 6

Great question! I believe the U.S., as a nation, has fallen away from the TRUTH a long time ago, that is, if it ever had it on straight. It's not necessarily about religion. Most religion is man-made and man-corrupt. What a joke. Who needs that. Rule on rule, do on do! Ugh!! The deep under-lying issue is free will and the unwillingness to take the TRUTH for what it is and applying it to life.

People want to do things their way. "Have it your way!" "Buy now, pay later!" "Live together for a year, then decide if marriage is an option." Thirty years ago (in one generation) that was hardly acceptable. Now it's the norm. Kids having kids. Parents that are too lazy or cowardly to discipline their children or even TEACH them. And free thinkers?!? It's all about me, me, me! Like they're God or something! This is how it starts.

Believe it or not, most of the people in this country are pretty much atheist. They may think they know God, but if people truly BELIEVED that God is who the TRUTH says he is, then people would do what the TRUTH says. But, as it is, most people are their own gods and they make up their own rules.

It's not our way, it's God's way, that is, if you want to go to heaven. For those who don't believe in heaven or don't concern themselves with such "trivial" matters then keep on doing what you're doing. For those of the remnant, the time is now to prepare for what's coming.

Just a note: Satan's greatest sceme of all time is to make people think that they are right with God, and secondly, that people don't need Him because they have every thing they need in themselves and can make up their own "lies", I mean, "lives."

Answer 7

There is a difference between rejecting religion and doing what your peers say.

This difference is not very apparent in younger generations, i've noticed.

Let's not forget that more than a few teenagers ascribe to being 'b0mb-w13ld1|\|g 4|\|4rch15+5, with an obligatory L|\/|f40!'.

edti; i forgot to add 3|33+ before the b0mb bit.

As they say "Monkey see, Monkey do".

*revels in notoriety among the 'younger generation'*

Answer 8

Well, there's some data to suggest that younger people are less likely to believe in God, but that's always been the case, so it could just be that as people become older, they become more religious.

I don't think there's any way of knowing what'll happen. The only thing I'm sure of is that the Evangelicals are getting increasingly militant.

Answer 9

The whole of the western world is slowly moving away from christian type religions.
Some just no longer believing in god and some are going back to the old pagan religions..!!

Answer 10

True religion is an irritant in the way of materialism which I without doubt for see will be the new religion of the masses in time to come. We cant help but be slaves to something.