Given our conversations about the sociology of religion, I’m wondering what some of you think about this article. Clearly it will be a while before religious institutions make their final exit from our social fabric across the planet. However, if socioeconomic development continues along its current trajectory toward modernization as we know it, then one certainly could make a less informed prediction than thinking that we’re headed in that direction. This is not to say that “God” will be tossed aside, mind you, as this article is speaking of the forms of public recognition of a being that humans consider to be a creator.
Article: Organized religion ‘will be driven toward extinction’ in 9 countries, experts predict
The interesting trend that is told is that religion is beginning to falter. I can completely see this trend even in my own life. My mother, my aunt, and my uncle were all raised by catholic parents who believed in a catholic education and they did the whole thing, went to catholic school, went to church weekly, and did all of the things that were "required" religiously. However today, nearly 30 years later, not one of them is religious anymore. So, what exactly happened?
I really believe that the foundation of religion is beginning to crumble. Religion truly had a purpose at one point, and that point is becoming not part of the future but actually part of the past. The revolution of self worth and economic gain that we have seen for many years in westernized society is making religion lose its purpose. Historically speaking, religion was often a medium in which people learned and developed morally, as well as socially. Yet today, all of those things can now be done within the confines of school and family. Nothing is left for religion to do, and so when religion does not change with the times, it begins to fail. That's exactly what we are seeing today. Another interesting point is the fact that we as citizens and as a society have become much more socially aware. The advent of technology and knowledge has really shown religion to be a false representation. Many scientific beliefs contradict the facts and ideas imposed by religions. And also, people don’t really need religion as a medium to become spiritually aware anymore. I know as a child I had a yearning for knowledge and I could just open a book or ask my parents to find the answers to my questions. Religion used to be that answer. The clergymen knew all about the world. Religion used to have a special purpose in that, it helped people understand or try to understand the eventual death that overcomes all of us. While this curiosity still exists in westernized society today, it is being answered by different means. I feel as if people are just coming to terms with the fact that they have one life, and they need to live it to the fullest. So in effect, religion just doesn’t provide all of the answers like it has in the past. We can thank technology for that, whether it is good or bad is your decision.
I’ve always found religion to be a strange idea for me to wrap my head around. When I was younger I mostly found myself disliking anyone was really religious. I through my phrase very young where I experimented with religions to find what was right for me. I thought a religion was something you picked when you were young kind of like a category. But I soon realized that none of these categories were for me and I had not attached instilled in me by my family in any direction in particular. I had family members that were Christian but none that pushed me in any way to be. My household was very opened minded to any ideas on religion and I think because of that I ended up choosing not to have one and I didn’t understand how people came to the conclusion to be one religion when there was clearly contradiction to most of them. More and more I hear people, especially at Penn State, say that they’re not religious and even if they say they are one religion they also say that they’re not really “religious”. I think that people take not being religious in a different way then I imagine though. it’s not that I don’t particularly believe in a creator or that I think that people we believe in God or any other deity is wrong. I just think of when we strip it all down that most religions are at their core the same and that the rituals of religion are less about god and more about culture now. In the future I don’t see the disappearance of religion ever truly happening however I do see that many religious ideology will disappear but another we always take it’s place. However I don’t ever in any realm of conciseness I can see that the idea of god or the creator will ever disappear. We we always wonder how we came to be. I think many people who hear me say I don’t have a religion think I’m devaluing the idea of god but all I feel is that humans as they are can never really know god and that for me personally it’s not as important to find out the meaning of my existence in religious context.
I think this article is an interesting one given that religion as played a crucial role in almost any country in the world through out history. One major example of this would be the country we live in right now, the United States of America. One of the reasons this country was started was because the people of Europe were being forced to follow the same religion as the king and they just were not having that and next thing you know here we are present day, in one of the most religiously diverse country. We have all kinds of religious groups, Catholics, Christians, Muslims, Buddists, Scientologists, Atheists, and many many more. I think this article is interesting because these experts are predicting that organized religion will be driven toward extinction in 9 countries, which seems at first to be not that big of a deal. However, if we look at how religion has affected our past then it seems to me that in a world where the most popular religion is no religion, it will be somewhat different than what we are used to now. There is no way of knowing whether it will have a profound effect on the world but it very well could just as being highly religious has had an effect on the way our world has been shaped. A world in which there majority of the people are not religious my be a more peaceful time as you would not have religious conflicts between different groups of people. Such as is happening and has happened in the past. Just recently a pastor burned the Quran and taped himself doing it and put it online. This video sparked a very strong response in Afghanistan where some of the people were so outraged that they took it upon themselves to surround the UN building there and ten people ended up dying as a result. This leads to the question if the world was less religious would things like this still happen? I think the answer would be yes situations like these would still exist but they would possibly happen less frequently than they do now.
I found this article to be very interesting because I can see this shift in my own extended family. The older family members are all very religious and the younger family members become less and less interested in religion. Although the statistics do show this decline in religion, I do not think that religion will ever completely disappear. It has been around for such a long time and although the number of people who do not have religious beliefs is growing, they are still fairly low and nowhere near disappearing.
I think that the impacts of society are very strong in this case because I feel that some people do not feel that religious activities are necessary because they know people that do not take part in them. If none of your friends attend church you are most likely not going to feel guilty about not going to church because they didn’t either. I think that this is one of the main reasons for the change in statistics. The trend of not being interested in religion is almost contagious if you ask me. It starts with you not going to church because your friends don’t go and then when you have kids you don’t make them go because you never had to go and so on. I think that religion has a very important role in society and that is to unite the people and give them a purpose. There have always been people who did not feel that they needed that purpose, but I think there will always be people who do need it to guide their lives.
Another main reason that I think there has been this shift in religion is that people have much fuller lives now. We live in such a fast-paced society that many people have their entire day planned with working, running kids to activities, cooking, and much more. In this lifestyle I think that something eventually has to go to make room for everything and I think that it is easy to eliminate church and religion because it may not seem beneficial at the time. Although this is probably going to be an ongoing change in the belief in religion, I do not think that religion will ever be extinct.
I would say that religion belongs in the world, and that arguments surrounding it definitely contribute to many problems we face today in society. I have been attending church for my entire life, and although I disagree with institutions and religions that force members to donate and do things for the greater good of the group, I think religion is an important aspect in life. Although science has made its impact on religion and creationism versus evolution, there has been no definitive answer to the biggest unanswered question.
As far as the article goes, I think it is interesting to note that countries such as Ireland, where religion is the most critical part of the culture, religion is slowly fading out. This could be for many reasons, but I think one of them is that the world is being faced with many complicated problems, and people are letting religion take a backseat to what they want and how much time they put into issues that they feel warrant more attention than something that isn't as direct like religion is. I think it is a bad thing in a way, because many people look to religion to find themselves or for help in a time of need, and if it really does become extinct, it will not have a positive impact on the world.
I think that this article seems to rely on statistical data alone to make its point. As Barry Kosmin noted, religious fervor comes and goes. Who is to say that we aren't merely experiencing a blip in the record? There might be a sudden surge of rebirth in the year 2050 that we cannot predict. Also, I am sure no one predicted Buddha, Jesus, or Mohammed starting sects and stirring up religious forces. These surges occurred at a time when religion was in a decline. Who is to say that we will not have a new face claim to be our Messiah and create a new sect that ultimately might even become a new religion? As a deeply religious Hindu, I cannot help but think that religion is timeless and endless. As long as there are people on Earth and no clear answer to our origin, religion will continue to play an important role in society. I do agree that atheism might grow, as more and more people start believing in evolution and new scientific theories to satisfy their curiosity about the universe. Abrams, Wiener, and Yaple are being hasty in jumping to conclusions about the future of religion. What we are experiencing is a polarization. This does not mean that necessarily religion is dying. What it means is that people are moving from being moderately religious to either deeply religious or atheistic and agnostic. So yes, more people are beginning to identify with atheism. But this does not mean that the number of people who identify with a religion will dwindle and die out. Religious groups do not get “bored” by what their religion offers them. They may cease to believe in the values that are being taught to them and have different ideas on the origins of the universe and ethics. Also, I don't think the utility effect plays as large of a role as the article suggests. There are many ways to benefit from being a member of an organized religion. Churches are often willing to donate time, money, and effort to the more needy of their members. A Muslim neighborhood might connect and bond over their shared religion. I know I myself make friends with other Hindus easily, as I find common ground with them through religion.
Also, with science comes new proof and evidence about questions about life that previously were answered by religion. With these new answers, and less stringent social requirements, people move away from religion as answers are being found by science, and they do not have to be religious to conform anymore. I know my neighbor was forced to go to church every Sunday, and eventually just stopped because he didn’t believe in it. In older times, that would have been unacceptable, but now, it is ok to have your own views and beliefs.
I do not believe it would make a difference to me if religion disappears because I am not involved in one right now. I am technically Presbyterian, but I have lost my faith a long time ago. This class has really taught me what exactly my view on religion is. Sam has taught me that it is okay if you do not believe in a higher power and that you’re not alone. I believe that there is a place for religion in our society because it keeps some sort of order between people by connecting them through similar beliefs. I have learned at my time here at Penn State that the more people learn with education, the more the decline of religion is increasing. I know learning things about the Earth’s formation through scientist’s research, has helped me to stop believing. Basically education is the rival of the existence of religion. The more people learn about life itself, I believe they will see that there is something else happening outside of there religious beliefs. As a child I was always questionable about the stories they would tell us, like Noah’s Arc and Adam and Eve. I thought that I was wrong by double guessing it and not being like everyone else in my bible classes that believe in God. Now I see that religion is a way to form relations with different people. I have many friends that are atheist and also many friends that are extremely religious, and they are all still friends. Seeing the relationship now between people with different beliefs are much less hostile and actually not problems. This is why I believe that religion will eventually decline to a point where its not dominant in society to believe in a higher being. Now, I think that there is always going to be a part in society for people to study and worship because for some people it really serves a purpose to live. The current society compared to the individuals that are part of like the baby boomers era example, is a world of a difference. In their time there really was not a place for people to think differently than to believe in God. Our current era is filled with different ideas and beliefs, and as an agnostic person myself I support the idea to question the belief of a higher being.
It seems crazy to me that the thought of religion dying out is even possible. Like my fellow classmates before me I totally agree with the article. I think that our society has become more “up to date” with science and the evidence that supports the theory of evolution. Now believe me I am not saying that the idea of there being a God will vanish, I am just saying that people wont necessarily have different opinions of how things are.
In the article the author included 9 countries where "religion will be driven toward extinction" including Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Switzerland and the Netherlands, they say.
There are two sociological trends that are seen
1.It is more appealing to join the majority, than it is to be part of the minority, and right now in some countries, the majority is leaning towards not being a part of a religion.
2.With social networking becoming so accessible and popular, people are able to view each others twitters Facebooks, etc. In the article Abrams explains, "Just a few connections to people who are (religiously) unaffiliated is enough to drive the effect." Just by looking to see if your friends on facebook are religious will eventually change religion as a whole.
Now these sociological trends are occurring because the invisible string that are attached to everyone in our society, that make us now believe that we don’t need to follow a religion to believe in a God. I guess it really is a matter of choice and what you choose to believe.
Now I do believe that there is something that is bigger and more powerful out like a God but I don’t really practice any religion. In my opinion, almost all of the wars and problems in the world today are stemmed off religion. Like the fact that Israel keeps getting bombed or 9/11. If religion dies out I don’t necessary think it would be a bad thing.
But as the article said, which I have heard as well, "The Jewish tradition that says prophecy is for fools and children is probably wise,"