Confirmation that religion is dying.

by Phizzy 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Phizzy

  This is from a Site Called "Atheist Republic" :

  " The phenomenon of "nones" — individuals who claim no religious affiliation — is rapidly reshaping America's religious landscape. Recent surveys by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research indicate that 30% of U.S. adults identify as nonreligious. This group, which has seen a steady increase over the past three decades, includes atheists, agnostics, and those who label themselves as "nothing in particular". Interestingly, while atheists and agnostics each make up 7% of U.S. adults, "nothings in particular" constitute about 1 in 6 or roughly 17%. Ryan Burge, a political science professor, underscores the significance of this trend by stating, “the most important story without a shadow of a doubt is the unbelievable rise in the share of Americans who are nonreligious.” Notably, young adults show the highest representation in this category, with nearly 40% of those under 30 identifying as nones. "
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  jhine

  Can l politely point out that America is not actually the only country in the world . Now it may be that the percentages are the same in other countries, but l don't think that you can use the statistics from one country out of many and assume that this represents the world wide picture.

  Jan from Tam
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  LoveUniHateExams

  I echo what Jan said.

  Religion is declining to some degree in the west.

  But it's on the rise elsewhere, including among British Muslims.

  (Islam is the fastest growing religion in the UK.)

  Look at Hamas fighters and supporters - like ISIS nutjobs, they believe that jihad against innocent Israeli citizens is God's work.

  Saudi Arabia and Iran have Sharia incorporated into their laws, too.
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  Phizzy

  Absolutely Jan, but we do see the same thing happening in the U.K and most of Europe too, the rest of the World is a different story, so far.

  But with the spread of proper in-depth education, I do feel more and more people will not feel the need for Organised religion, individual faith will remain, and maybe small house Churches, as we have in our area here in Kent U.K, non-denominational.
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  KalebOutWest

  AP News ran a series on the "nones" in America. According to the series of articles:

  “They are definitely not as turned off to religion as atheists and agnostics are...They practice their own type of spirituality, many of them.”

  In fact, according to the data, only 7% of the "nones" described themeselves as "atheists" and 7% as "agnostics." The "nones" include a larger group of people who, according to AP:

  "embrace a range of spiritual beliefs — from God, prayer and heaven to karma, reincarnation, astrology or energy in crystals"

  These do tend to reject organized religion or feel they have been rejected by the same.

  One might say that the "nones" are reshaping what religion in America means, not necessarily rejecting it outright.

  The data above, however, is from the AP-NORC poll and is different from the Pew Research Center polls which also has collected data on "nones." The Pew Research Center specializes in religious data compared to AP-NORC and while they show very similar results, it is difficult to put a finger on exactly what the "nones" mean when they chose the label for themselves.

  In some interviews I have read some people choose "none" merely because they refuse to be labeled, not because they have no belief or religion. So the data reflects this too, and this needs to be taken into account.
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  Big Dog

  I think many of the nones simply don't think about it most of the time and only when questioned do they have to think about how they identify. Secularism has been on the rise for decades and with the rollback of religious themed activities in the schools and in popular culture it just isn't on most people's screen on a daily basis. Most are thinking about work, kids, bills, vacations, etc and religion or spirituality isn't even an afterthought.

  I was talking to a young boy a couple of houses down and he had no idea what Easter was. I asked if they did anything in school for easter and he said no. His parents don't go to any church but have said they are believers. Religion, at least here in the states, has just largely fallen out of the general consciousness of the populace, especially those under say 30.
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  TonusOH

  I don't get the impression that it's 30%, but as has already been noted, this is not saying that 30% are atheist/agnostic, but that they are not listing their religion (if any). I think we may be in a transition period, where people are dropping away from some of the formal activities of religion but maintaining a spiritual outlook and some kind of belief in the paranormal/supernatural.
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  jhine

  I hesitate to say this but some religious groups in America has become quite toxic .

  Hating gay people, calling for blanket bans on abortion whatever the circumstances for example.

  Maybe Americans are distancing themselves from this kind of religion .

  Jan from Tam.
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  Phizzy

  My comment above about the eventual decline of organised religion, did not mean a decline in Belief, to a huge degree, and was looking probably decades into the future.

  Islam increases its numbers mainly by producing children, not a great number convert, people, just a few ,are leaving Islam here in the U.K, and parts of Europe, but of course, it is a harder thing to do than leaving the J.W's.

  Sadly some may be further entrenched by the events of the recent war.

  But, organised religion is moribund, and that is a good thing, it has far too much influence Politically throughout the World, and religions are the wombs that give birth to most Terrorists.
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  KalebOutWest

  I think you are right in what you stated, Phizzy.

  I was very familiar with the entire series from AP-NORC (and the one it was based on from Pew) as I had read and studied both as they were released. While neither actually talked about religion dying off from the American landscape itself (I can attest to that living here myself), I think you are correct as to organized religion.

  The AP-NORC articles, however, discussed that this group was hard to define and not particularly one thing or another, and that was what I was pointing out--again, despite the fact that I can clearly see that many people just don't do the organized religion thing these days.