Quote:
Originally Posted by RVCA
For a large portion of the last two centuries, people have been predicting the demise of religion and the death of the supernatural. As science and technology slowly chip away at the unknown and explain the unexplained, one might conclude that religion is on its way out; that the future will have no room for dogma and superstition.
What do you believe the future has in store for religion? Personally, I'm tempted to believe that all the doomsayers are simplifying the issue when they say that "science is killing religion". While science can increasingly expound truths that traditionally lay within the realm of religion, I do believe that humans, to an extent, are "hardwired" for the supernatural. I'm no anthropologist, but it seems that all major cultures across the globe, at every time in history, believe(d) in some form of the supernatural, be it theism, spirituality, metaphysics, or anything else not directly observable, testable, and replicable.
That being said, I'm tempted to believe there is some kind of benefit, as a society or a culture, evolutionarily speaking, to holding supernatural beliefs. What this benefit is, I have not yet thought hard enough or conducted enough research to articulate and explain, but I am convinced it exists.
In the end, I do not think religion will vanish, or even become a minority trend, at any time in the near future. I think it will continue to exist throughout my lifespan and well after my death.
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With regard to this, I'd argue that the opposite (to some degree) is the truth. Religious fanaticism is very much alive and well, possibly more so than in past times.
For example, 50 years ago the Creationist movement didn't exist in anything like the present form it takes now in organisations like Answers In Genesis, with its multi-million dollar ministry and Creation Museum. No Tea Party either (although this is a poliitical organisation, much of its membership is made up of conservative middle-class Christians).
Even here in the UK, there seems to be a religious battle of sorts, with many examples. One is the proposed academies system of schooling, where a private company could sponsor a school and help in running it for a say in what is taught. Inevitably, this has led to several fundamentalist religious groups (mostly Christian) proposing their own bids for their own faith-ran schools, which could then teach Creationism. Infact, one school here has been criticized for teaching Creation Science as a 'viable alternative to evolution'. This is something that even 20 years ago would be unthinkable.
(I must admit that the two examples above are both to do with Creationism, but that's not the only issue).
But to answer the OP fully, I can understand the role religion plays in the history of humanity, and I believe that rather than disappearing, it will simply morph into something else which fits in with the society of the time. It may not necessarily be that there is any concept of 'God' in these religions either, just as the ideas behind Buhddism and Shinto have no real concept of God. It may be that the future religion relies more on critical thinking and philosophical thinking that dogma and theology.