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Will today's religions one day die?


PeeMarc
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Theres been endless debate on these forums about religion. But i wonder...will there be a time, somewhere in the future, when all the main religions (christianity, catholicism, islam, judaism etc) fade into antiquity?

Or will humans always need Gods or be obsessed with worshipping Gods?

Why?

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Theres been endless debate on these forums about religion. But i wonder...will there be a time, somewhere in the future, when all the main religions (christianity, catholicism, islam, judaism etc) fade into antiquity?

Or will humans always need Gods or be obsessed with worshipping Gods?

Why?

To be honest, think there will always be diehards who will maintain the religions we have today. Although the major ones may not have the influence they have now far in the future, don't think they will ever fade altogether.

From a hypothetical, slightly science fiction based perspective, what will happen if or when mankind reaches beyond our solar system?

If no other life, or at least intelligent life, is found, will that give the religions of today more power? On the premise that if we are alone, then God/Allah/Jehovah must exist?

If there is other life out there (just waiting for the GermanUSA post saying that we already know there is!) will we embrace theire religions or beliefs?

Will we construct new quantum based religions to explain the unknown? Or revere some strange phenomenon as having Godhood?

Much as the earliest religions were bear cults and revered what were viewed as the most powerful creatures around?

Whatever the outcome, I think there will still be idiots in 1000 years who kill and hate in the name of their particular god or goddess...

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Theres been endless debate on these forums about religion. But i wonder...will there be a time, somewhere in the future, when all the main religions (christianity, catholicism, islam, judaism etc) fade into antiquity?

Or will humans always need Gods or be obsessed with worshipping Gods?

Why?

It's my assertion (belief, if you will), that religion is closely associated with low levels of education and economic hardship. Granted, there are exceptions - there are examples of well educated people that still believe in sky-gods, fairies, and being reincarnated as a goat, but I don't believe these exceptions disprove the assertion.

If one accepts my assertion, then, I perceive that, inherent in your question is the premise that mankind will continually improve its lot, that people will generally become increasingly educated and well to-do over time.

Were that true, then I believe that yes, people would become increasingly less religious.

I don't, however, believe that people will ever stop forming into separate groups (us and them) and trying to kill, or at least gain advantage over 'them.' It's our nature to distinguish between the two. One's religious identification has historically been used as one such method of distinction.

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I think it would be AWESOME (in the real sense of the word) or earth shattering amazing

that all religions end, (happily and agreeing ly)

and then humans stand as ONE race, and maybe explore whats deep in the earths ocean depths, or crust and focus more on populating other planets and assuring space travel and cement the human race existence

and a big part of me believe it "could" happen, if all major leaders and cultures excepted it and made it seem to be the "right" thing to do.

I kinda think humans (imagine? create or make up, perhaps dream) up religions as answers for lifes biggest and most puzzling questions or mysteries.

I don't believe in any major religions but respect them and have read up on many and thoroughly.

I believe ones with deep history have valid "story's" and real events but......

I think the answers to most things are on this earth not in books written by man

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...maybe explore whats deep in the earths ocean depths, or crust and focus more on populating other planets and assuring space travel and cement the human race existence

are you suggesting religion stands in the way of these things happening, or did you just take a big toke on your spliff Mr Kumbaya?
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Theres been endless debate on these forums about religion. But i wonder...will there be a time, somewhere in the future, when all the main religions (christianity, catholicism, islam, judaism etc) fade into antiquity?

Or will humans always need Gods or be obsessed with worshipping Gods?

Why?

It's my assertion (belief, if you will), that religion is closely associated with low levels of education and economic hardship. Granted, there are exceptions - there are examples of well educated people that still believe in sky-gods, fairies, and being reincarnated as a goat, but I don't believe these exceptions disprove the assertion.

If one accepts my assertion, then, I perceive that, inherent in your question is the premise that mankind will continually improve its lot, that people will generally become increasingly educated and well to-do over time.

Were that true, then I believe that yes, people would become increasingly less religious.

I don't, however, believe that people will ever stop forming into separate groups (us and them) and trying to kill, or at least gain advantage over 'them.' It's our nature to distinguish between the two. One's religious identification has historically been used as one such method of distinction.

I completely agree. I think we will see that as education spreads, religion will become less and less important.

To answer the question, however, I don't believe that religion will ever completely die out since poverty and low levels of education will always exist. It falls along the same lines as believing in ghosts. When people aren't able to explain things simply because they don't know why something is, it's easy to take the simple solution and roll with it.

Boo!

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in all seriousness though, there will come a time when everyone on the planet will have even basic internet (or whatever it will be) connection in their hand, just as i do right now. And with that must come streams of knowledge and discussion. It wont be so easy for religions to prey on the 'great unwashed' and demand blind faith.

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in all seriousness though, there will come a time when everyone on the planet will have even basic internet (or whatever it will be) connection in their hand, just as i do right now. And with that must come streams of knowledge and discussion. It wont be so easy for religions to prey on the 'great unwashed' and demand blind faith.

You're assuming that all religions are untrue.

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in all seriousness though, there will come a time when everyone on the planet will have even basic internet (or whatever it will be) connection in their hand, just as i do right now. And with that must come streams of knowledge and discussion. It wont be so easy for religions to prey on the 'great unwashed' and demand blind faith.

You're assuming that all religions are untrue.

They better not be, or I'm screwed!

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in all seriousness though, there will come a time when everyone on the planet will have even basic internet (or whatever it will be) connection in their hand, just as i do right now. And with that must come streams of knowledge and discussion. It wont be so easy for religions to prey on the 'great unwashed' and demand blind faith.

You're assuming that all religions are untrue.

no, im not saying that here. But, for a god-based religion to thrive it requires its followers to have faith and it is far easier to get unaware people to take great leaps of faith than people who can have answers and info at their fingertips.
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...maybe explore whats deep in the earths ocean depths, or crust and focus more on populating other planets and assuring space travel and cement the human race existence

are you suggesting religion stands in the way of these things happening, or did you just take a big toke on your spliff Mr Kumbaya?

actually as hard as it may be to believe

im drug free (( for a many years now )) 4yrs!

but not alcohol free

and i was "trying" to be realistic saying that it would be fascinating to see humans become a type 2 or type 3 civilization instead of being stuck in our type 1 civilization.

Just thoughts of mine sort of agreeing with -

Theoretical physicist and 2057 host Michio Kaku

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in all seriousness though, there will come a time when everyone on the planet will have even basic internet (or whatever it will be) connection in their hand, just as i do right now. And with that must come streams of knowledge and discussion. It wont be so easy for religions to prey on the 'great unwashed' and demand blind faith.

You're assuming that all religions are untrue.

no, im not saying that here. But, for a god-based religion to thrive it requires its followers to have faith and it is far easier to get unaware people to take great leaps of faith than people who can have answers and info at their fingertips.

So if it turns out that our universe is actually running on a vast higher dimensional computer, that answer might actually support the existence of a higher being.

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in all seriousness though, there will come a time when everyone on the planet will have even basic internet (or whatever it will be) connection in their hand, just as i do right now. And with that must come streams of knowledge and discussion. It wont be so easy for religions to prey on the 'great unwashed' and demand blind faith.

I think that's a huge assertion Marc, especially in the foreseeable future; given the population growth vs resources battle, I think poverty will, if anything, slow the flow of technology to some areas, as populations battle for basic survival levels.

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Its my guess that no matter how aware we become or how much we discover in the future, god based religion will still be around, in some form.

Perhaps this is our human insecurity that we just cannot bring ourselves to believe the WE are responsible for ALL of this or even responsible for our own pathetic lives. And somehow science, while continuing to find answers, also continues to raise even more questions (doubts?) and leaves our spirits cold and our souls unnourished. But most of us (en mass) dont even want to think or be conscious. Religion and faith in god helps us live without questioning or thinking too much - yes, the opiate of the masses.

Even Carl Jung, whom i believe one of the greatest thinkers of our time, lamented that man needs spiritual wellness as well as mental well being. Science alone just cannot do the former, and often struggles with the latter. Religion tends to fill this void.

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in all seriousness though, there will come a time when everyone on the planet will have even basic internet (or whatever it will be) connection in their hand, just as i do right now. And with that must come streams of knowledge and discussion. It wont be so easy for religions to prey on the 'great unwashed' and demand blind faith.

I think that's a huge assertion Marc, especially in the foreseeable future; given the population growth vs resources battle, I think poverty will, if anything, slow the flow of technology to some areas, as populations battle for basic survival levels.

i dont think so mate. Take television for example or radio. Ive been into some of the poorest gettos on earth and someone has a tv and or radio. Satellites, in our lifetime alone, changed so much. Is it so far fetched to think mobile, wireless handheld internet is going to be with most within say 50yrs?
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PeeMarc:.

pardon my french, BUT - Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer - Voltaire

(If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him)

Even Carl Jung, whom i believe one of the greatest thinkers of our time, lamented that man needs spiritual wellness as well as mental well being.

let me respectfully disagree with you. Jung was as shrink by trade and education. Good one, but shrink. As such he as much thinker and philosopher as my good old dr. Shapiro.. thats IMHO only..

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in all seriousness though, there will come a time when everyone on the planet will have even basic internet (or whatever it will be) connection in their hand, just as i do right now. And with that must come streams of knowledge and discussion. It wont be so easy for religions to prey on the 'great unwashed' and demand blind faith.

I think that's a huge assertion Marc, especially in the foreseeable future; given the population growth vs resources battle, I think poverty will, if anything, slow the flow of technology to some areas, as populations battle for basic survival levels.

i dont think so mate. Take television for example or radio. Ive been into some of the poorest gettos on earth and someone has a tv and or radio. Satellites, in our lifetime alone, changed so much. Is it so far fetched to think mobile, wireless handheld internet is going to be with most within say 50yrs?

Perhaps 50 - 100 years is not that far fetched. I suppose now there are clockwork radios available throughout African countries so the technology itself may not be that far off for basic computers.

My worry is more that the distributiion of that technology may be low priority to nations facing mass starvation, economic drought and other problems such as power cuts and infrastructure problems.

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in all seriousness though, there will come a time when everyone on the planet will have even basic internet (or whatever it will be) connection in their hand, just as i do right now. And with that must come streams of knowledge and discussion. It wont be so easy for religions to prey on the 'great unwashed' and demand blind faith.

I think that's a huge assertion Marc, especially in the foreseeable future; given the population growth vs resources battle, I think poverty will, if anything, slow the flow of technology to some areas, as populations battle for basic survival levels.

i dont think so mate. Take television for example or radio. Ive been into some of the poorest gettos on earth and someone has a tv and or radio. Satellites, in our lifetime alone, changed so much. Is it so far fetched to think mobile, wireless handheld internet is going to be with most within say 50yrs?

This would also require that each user be literate enough to use the internet (or whatever it will be at that point). Counter argument would be that every thing would be voice activated...but I hope literacy is seen as more important.

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i humble refer you to the Kan't Categorical imperative rather then das Kapital as reasonable foundation for subject of the thread... There is nothing wrong with das Kapital per se, except 20M dead in the name of it, but it may be not old man fault, who knows...

would say that the original wording of the communist manifesto written by Marx and Engels was more of the basis for the regimes that came later than Das Kapital itself.

And, as with many 'philosophies'. the problem was with the corruption of the original ideals rather than the ideal themself.

And indeed, Marx did not say or describe what form Communism would take in the manifesto, concentrating more on an examination of class struggle and the problems of capitalism.

Doubt if the deaths caused by Soviet Russia could be in any way apportioned to Das Kapital, since it is primarily an examination of methods of a capitalist system and the problems that system would cause between the classes.

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(If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him)

That is religion IMO. Carl Jung wrote an excellent book call Symbol and Psyche which I think does a good job explaining the human psyche. Highly recommend it.

I did read this book as well as work of his older brother Herr Sigmund Freud, however as any professionally train philosopher can attest, it can act as tool to solve some simple psychiatric problems, its a bit to shallow to use as foundation for discourse into function of Supernatural Been (if such exist).

P.S. My quote is not religion. Its philosophy in its best form.. Voltaire is father of modern thinking (even das Kapital dude happy to agree on this)

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And, as with many 'philosophies'. the problem was with the corruption of the original ideals rather than the ideal themself.

Iain_D - first of all i can't be impartial to the old man or to his ideas, as my family been forced out from my country and send to concentration camps based on the old man ideas or "corruption of original ideas" (if you will)... So pardon my view...

Second, i did not see anyone killed or tortured based on Kant writings or works by Plato... IMHO opinion its present clear case that there is something wrong with ideas itself. Its not scientific, but it works for me. Cheers

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