The future of atheism...

[ausnick]

I think it's interesting to note that in the last few 100 years agnostic/atheist populations have dramatically increased... just look at this chart to give you rough idea of just how many atheist/agnostics there are in the world at the moment:

http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_atheist.html

Do you think that over a period of time the majority of the world will continue become less religious and hopefully more accepting of atheists?

I certainly hope so... headlines like "study finds atheists are least trusted" deeply concern me ! Let's hope society can evolve and drop this ludicrous stigma.

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/edgell/home/...%20Values.html

[nemesis1]

I definitley feel that atheism will become the majority in time. Religion is dying out rapidly, especially christianity and catholicism. People are much more well informed these days, and theres plenty of evidence to prove the evolution theory. Most of the mainly atheist countries are generally rich countries with lower murder rates, is that coincidence?
I think there will still be some religion around for a long time, but the numbers will just keep dwindling.

[bwidger85]

Atheism will become the majority given enough time

[joinmartin]

Originally Posted by nemesis1

I definitley feel that atheism will become the majority in time. Religion is dying out rapidly, especially christianity and catholicism. People are much more well informed these days, and theres plenty of evidence to prove the evolution theory. Most of the mainly atheist countries are generally rich countries with lower murder rates, is that coincidence?
I think there will still be some religion around for a long time, but the numbers will just keep dwindling.

I really would not say that religion is dying out rapidly. Also, religion in terms of organised religion and believe in God or some form of divinity is not the same thing. Various religions have adapted throughout the centuries and I see no reason to think they won't adapt again if the need arises.

Being well informed is not automatically the same as having no belief in God or being an atheist. You do get uninformed atheists just as you get uninformed theists.

Accepting evolution is not a barrier to the acceptance of some sort of divine. The Church of England leadership largely accepts evolution and yet they still believe in God. Accepting evolution does not and will not automatically make someone into an atheist.

I don't think that one has to become less religious or lose their faith in order to accept atheists. I mean, I spent my time when I can debating a fair few atheists and I enjoy doing that but in a way I show how much I respect them by responding to what they write. I am prompted to argue back as best I can and that's a good way to enhance discussion and learning.

Granted, some theists don't like atheists and some atheists don't like theists. There may well be moves that need to be made towards mutual respect there.

Personally, I've read Dawkins, Hitchens and loads of science books. Ironic since I was not too interested or good at science at school. I will admit science got a bit of a helping hand when I discovered that there were female scientists. One of my ex girlfriends is a marine biologist and she taught me a heck of a lot.

Sometimes, when people hear that I'm a theist they snap back with: "that's ok just so long as you don't try to convert me". Some atheists obviously believe that dialogue with theists might involve attempts at conversion. Which, from my perspective at least, would be odd. I hold no monopoly over another person's heart or mind and I'm still exploring my own religious and spiritual path. Forcing it on someone else would be beyond daft.

I hope the future of atheism is that theism and atheism walk and work together. That we can recognise that if someone shoots either one of us, we bleed the same blood.

[Pennywise]

There might be a few splinter religious groups in the future, but Atheism will probably become more common than most religions in time.

[bwidger85]

Originally Posted by joinmartin

I hope the future of atheism is that theism and atheism walk and work together. That we can recognise that if someone shoots either one of us, we bleed the same blood.

I don't hate christians. I just don't agree with them. I get along well with christians because they are people.

[huh]

I'm not as optimistic that atheism will become the norm over time. I think it will increase but eventually level off. The more education people have, the less likely they are to be religious. So access to education will play a part. But I think lots of people just replace one superstitious/unjustified belief with another. The amount of non-religious people that believe in UFOs/Ghosts/etc is a little scary.

[Glacial]

As you alluded to, it has been the continual trend and direction throughout history. I am sure it will continue in that direction.

[Hiccups]

it seems funny to have an organisation to state that you don't believe in something.. would it still exist if theism didn't? I'd like to think that in the future humans will do away with both. I'm sure that sounds irrational lols.

[joinmartin]

Originally Posted by bwidger85

I don't hate christians. I just don't agree with them. I get along well with christians because they are people.

Indeed. And the way forward for all of us is a mutual respect for one another in the way that you describe and obviously already follow.

[joinmartin]

Originally Posted by huh

I'm not as optimistic that atheism will become the norm over time. I think it will increase but eventually level off. The more education people have, the less likely they are to be religious. So access to education will play a part. But I think lots of people just replace one superstitious/unjustified belief with another. The amount of non-religious people that believe in UFOs/Ghosts/etc is a little scary.

It is certainly not the case that the more education a person has the less likely they are to be religious. A theist is not necessarily someone with little education, someone who is uninformed or someone who lacks intellect. Access to education won't automatically cause more atheism because becoming more educated and informed does not automatically make an individual into a non believer.

[lolAname]

Science leads the future.

[WalkingDisaster]

If all the atheists left the USA, it would lose 93% of the National Academy of Sciences but less than 1% of the prison population.

[kiirby]

I think it was Hitchens that said "Religion will exist so long as we are afraid of death". Still, I'd bet everything I own that in 100 years atheists and deists will form the vast majority of the world's population.

[huh]

Originally Posted by joinmartin

It is certainly not the case that the more education a person has the less likely they are to be religious.

Actually, Gallup polls and studies seem to say otherwise.There is a negative correlation between religion and education. However, this doesn't mean that it's the only factor or there aren't exceptions. In fact in some cases testing religious beliefs with more education actually reinforces beliefs. Pretty interesting way to resolve the dissonance I suppose.

Originally Posted by joinmartin

A theist is not necessarily someone with little education, someone who is uninformed or someone who lacks intellect.

Agreed, though I never said that in my post People are great at compartmentalizing their beliefs.

Originally Posted by joinmartin

Access to education won't automatically cause more atheism because becoming more educated and informed does not automatically make an individual into a non believer.

I agree, because it's only a single factor.

[idiotboy]

a small group of theists are afraid of the unknown and find comfort in the explanations that religion gives them (and i'm not judging; that's just a fact)...so as long as there is fear will there be religion, even if the truly devout were to stop believing.

[jg43i9jghy0t4555]

Originally Posted by nemesis1

People are much more well informed these days

Hit the nail right on the head. Isolated communities being where religion is strong..

That is the cause for change, along with a culture that acknowledges superstition and living by the fears of the Bible is actually quite harmful. Atheism is much more accepting of technology and so on I guess, it's just generally more level-headed.. well that doesn't make it better, because people aren't afraid of being abusive to others and we have the modern problems of i.e. domestic abuse, child kidnappings.

[jg43i9jghy0t4555]

Originally Posted by kiirby

I think it was Hitchens that said "Religion will exist so long as we are afraid of death".

Mmmm that will become outdated when mankind changes the meaning of death, though.

Originally Posted by joinmartin

The Church of England leadership largely accepts evolution and yet they still believe in God. Accepting evolution does not and will not automatically make someone into an atheist.

Yeah. I grew up going to a Church of England school and it didn't push beliefs onto me but it was a great school in general. The headteacher had connections with e.g. St John's Ambulance and a community care sort of thing, food donations from everyone, and he would read stories every day which had real value and centered around a "moral of the day", as an atheist I would definitely send my kids there if I could.

So, in that sense I guess people should be happy to let Christianity coincide with atheism, as is probably the case for a lot of parents, but with religions the west isn't familiar with, they probably ruin the concept of religion for everyone. Case in point, the extreme treatment of women in some Asian countries.. sickening stuff. For cases like that, the distinctions about religion have to be made. I think people will try to stamp it out because of those cases.. it's hard to imagine people in general saying they accept Christianity but not some other religion.

[joinmartin]

Actually, Gallup polls and studies seem to say otherwise.There is a negative correlation between religion and education. However, this doesn't mean that it's the only factor or there aren't exceptions. In fact in some cases testing religious beliefs with more education actually reinforces beliefs. Pretty interesting way to resolve the dissonance I suppose.

Indeed. The weird thing that I've found is that becoming more informed and open to new ideas seems to strengthen my faith. I read the God Delusion cover to cover and thought to myself: "I enjoyed reading that but it kinda makes me more of a theist" I don't really think or feel that there's an automatic correlation between people being more educated and them choosing to become atheists or agnostics. But that's just my view on this.

A theist is not necessarily someone with little education, someone who is uninformed or someone who lacks intellect.

Wider point made because I have seen one or two posts on here that seem to imply that people with religious beliefs are somehow automatically uninformed or less educated than anyone else.

[MJM58]

I think that the trend will continue, that atheism will become more popular as time goes on. The younger generation seems to be heavily atheist compared to previous generations. I don't know if this is because education is more accessible today, not only through schools but also through the Internet, but I would suggest that this is a possible explanation for it. Then again, atheism seems to be somewhat of a fad among emo/gothic/depressed teenagers (i.e., it's cool not to believe in God!).

I don't think religion will ever die out though. I think Christianity will shrink, because in Western countries, the trend is that atheism is growing while Christian faith is diminishing. I know a lot of Christians-turned-atheists (including myself). But I don't think Christianity will ever die out. And in less developed countries, there will always be tribal/ethnic religions. There's also Islam in the Middle East and Northern Africa, which is growing faster than any other religion currently. Lack of education and access to information, combined with the authoritarianism and emphasis on tradition in these countries, leads to religious faith, in my opinion.