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Religion Is In The Western Culture On The Decline
I have heard, from a few different mediums that religion is on the decline. As an atheist I would not only agree but also be a bit relieved. Would that not be the most ironic form of Evolution?
 cdnatheist  17 Nov 2009 04:12
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It's a winnowing. True believers are remaining as the precious wheat and the windblown chaff is floating away like directionless dust.
 
 tinseldove  18 Nov 2009 01:55
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The signs are good, non-religion is the fastest growing sector and it shows no sign of stopping. More and more people are realizing they don't have to cling to primitive bronze-age myths to be good people, something atheists have known for a long, long time.
 
 Cephus  17 Nov 2009 15:19
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What many atheists don't realize is that there is a substantial amount of religious people who do not consider "popular" religion to be a good thing.

If religion is on the decline in numbers of people partaking in religions...it would be a win-win situation for the atheists who would find comfort in such a thing and for the religious who would be glad for such a thing.

In the long run, I think it would be a better gain for the religious. Atheists who seem to base their arguments against a creator on bad religion would have to face the real issue and the religious wouldn't have to be trying to explain to atheists why humans screw up religion the same as they screw up everything else.
 
 justsumguy  18 Nov 2009 13:37
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I rather think more people are simply willing to publically admit non belief. Polls are just becoming more accurate rather than displaying a huge move away from religion. For most of my life Atheists have been a repressed and secret minority that is forced by shall we say an overenthusiastic religious majority to largely remain silent about their beliefs. At least as a scientist I didn’t have to lie about my beliefs though I was still a minority. Most of the people I knew from my youth who rebelled against the oppressive nature of religion are now involved in some sort of church though generally speaking it seems to be more an aspect of social conformity than any real belief shift. And there is the rub the greatest portion of societies belief systems comes not from a considered examination of their world but from seeking to conform to society’s norms. Religion is the norm in western civilization. If your particular stripe of religion doesn’t suit you there are so many other religions to try before you try anything as gauche as Atheism. But at least we don’t have to lie about being Atheists anymore.
 
 finsch  17 Nov 2009 16:37
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Haven't you heard this claim before? It's cyclical or pathological throughout history. Everytime a new religion or a split-off denomination bursts onto the scene it's with a claim the religions which came before it are wrong or the moral qualities of their practioners are slipping or simply few are practicing religion anymore.

Religion doesn't die, it gets replaced with varied beliefs. As some pointed out below the modern replacements are not necessarily traditional religions, in some ways science fills the void, or even more often it's a general spirituality not anchored to one particular religion. Just look at all the supernatural-themed shows and movies out right now. Clearly people want to believe in something, they just don't subscribe to one of the more traditional belief structures. In fact juding from the deluge of supernatural and spiritual themed entertainment I'd say religion is actually on an upsurge in the USA.
 
 Grenache  17 Nov 2009 10:57
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Ironic it would be. But I highly doubt it's true.
 
 Hizashi  17 Nov 2009 08:08
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Its spreading in a new way. Its called environmentalism and the religion is a temporal thing for atheists. The classic god fearing man has been dying out. Then there are those who think they serve god... But are idiots.
 
 respire  17 Nov 2009 04:40
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 I like the spin on it...but that is what i meant was the god fearing bible thumpers
by  cdnatheist
 17 Nov 2009 04:44
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