We've got assloads of threads talking about religion, but none of them really address the thing that concerns me most. I truly believe that the only way for us to survive as a species is to shed our religious thinking. I think there are a lot of other things that must happen as well, but this one is the biggest.

I want to discuss where organized religion is going in the United States. I want to discuss where it is going in the world. What are the major trends? Do we have reason to believe that religion is on its way out in civilized countries? Is it becoming less important to political decision making?

Are people losing faith? Are fewer and fewer people converting? As older generations die off, will we see younger generations discard the religious beliefs that were more important to their ancestors?

What about Islam? Can we expect Islam to be around for a long time? How important is it that the middle-eastern nations become secularized? Do those countries need to escape mass poverty and emerge as civilized nations before they cast away their religious tendencies?

What about Catholicism and the strength of the Catholic church? What about the power of the pope?

Do countries like China, with a predominantly non-religious population, have a part to play in all of this? Can we learn something from them?

What does the future hold for christianity in America and other religions across the world?

Well, if you consider that religious people tend to reproduce way more than atheists, I dont think that religion is a menace to the species...

Our ability to breed rapidly enough is far from the most important concern we will face in the near future, I think.

I might pose another question that could probably have its own thread, but I will post it here anyway.

Is it conceivable that, at some point in the near future (say the next 50-100 years), we will face a crisis that will require every nation on earth to work together? If so, I might ask, will this be possible if religious states still exist?

Clearly there are other concerns such as having to work with communism or other opposed political systems. Except that I believe political viewpoints are more easily cast aside in the face of common danger than are religious beliefs. I think history has shown us that religious fervor knows no bounds. Would the Islamic religion crack in order to save the world, or would they hold fast to their beliefs? What about Catholicism and the pope? I dare to say that both of them would probably wager the world on the truth of their beliefs.

so you think the only way for the world to survive, and us as a species to survive is to succumb to your way of thinking

wow, how unreligious a way of thinking you have there

ok

bye

the truth stings like a bitch at times, amirite?

Im atheist, I hate fanatism, but the everyday religion doesnt bother me at all. I would say Islam is one big concern of mine. But remember that the most rabbid nation of the moment is one that is oficially atheist.

i'm not sure religion has the paramount importance/relevance that you seem to assign to it bh. i think basic human flaws like greed and the us and them mentality are more likely to end the human race than religion per se.

while religion has a lot to do with the us vs. them thing, i think it's more of a convenient label than the real motivation behind it. in the end, people will cling to anything to make those distinctions, i'm talking about things like skin colour, geography, history, language, culture, and religion included here.

mismanagement, stupidity, ignorance/apathy from the majority of people and short-sightedness in favour of short-term gains for the few who hold power are more likely to be the culprits for the demise of the human race if/when it happens.

I assume you are talking about North Korea? It's something to think about.

i think buffalohed is speaking the word of god. father i will spread your word, for it is the word of a higher power

Yea, because North Korea is a bastion of reason.

What's that funny quote (i think from the simpsons) explaining that the world comes from a wizard? I can't find it

Unlike human nature, religion isn't necessary. We can never change that people are greedy and power hungry, or that people feel hate. I see religion as the biggest preventable source of strife in on our planet.

I completely disagree with the convenient label vs. real motivation thing you describe. I think that religion gives people an excuse to discriminate and that it directly keeps people from coexisting by instilling in them intolerance. It is my opinion that religion is the greatest direct source of intolerance in the world. That is, it is directly responsible for much of the intolerance between people, not indirectly and not as a scapegoat.

Again I feel like your last paragraph is an indictment of human nature, which I cannot disagree with, but I maintain that those are incurable aspects of the human psyche. Further, I believe that governments and societies can overcome "mismanagement, stupidity, ignorance/apathy" not in the individual, but in the collective.

Obviously I very much doubt that there is any merit to be had in a discussion of how North Korea being an atheist nation reflects atheism as a principle. One can't pretend it isn't true, though.

how on gods green earth, or mother natures green earth or even on the cosmic hiccup that completely and randomly created the earth, can you not see that you yourself are doing the same exact thing that you accuse religious people of doing?

Or it could imply that the religious tendency of a country really has no bearing on said country's craziness.

But hasn't it been proven by scientific study that people behave worse in groups (government). I find the belief in government one that goes against human nature.

My guess is that things keep sliding slowly downhill until we figure out that we're all the same regardless of ideology. That the life of some kid dying in Africa is of the same value as the American that died in a terrorist attack. That a job outsourced is not a job lost.

Participate in the discussion or don't bother posting.

Hint: Repeatedly calling me intolerant is not participation.

This is the last time I'm going to respond to you unless you want to actually debate.

I also like that humanity will never survive with religion. Shucks, who knew the last 4000 years were so meaningless? And then he goes on to list China as an example of a non-religious nation. Yeah man. Great calls in this thread.