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When will atheism replace religion?

When?

  • It already has in spirit if not in numbers

    Votes: 5 15.6%
  • In the next 100 years

    Votes: 4 12.5%
  • In the next 1,000 years

    Votes: 2 6.3%
  • In the next 10,000 years

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • In the next 100,000 years

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • In the next 1,000,000+ years

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Never

    Votes: 21 65.6%
  • whenever the singularity occurs

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    32

Aesthete

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I voted for the first option; I don't like it, but it's the truth.
 

RaptorWizard

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Because of our need to create a cosmological map of the universe, which religion can help provide controversially through teaching and revelation, I voted Never.
 

greenfairy

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Oops, I meant to vote for the second one.

Seems like a good explanation. But I see it a little bit differently; spirituality and religion are two different things. They're two different relationships with the divine. Spirituality is an inner individual experience and religion is an external collective practice- very Fi and Fe in nature (though not to be used in typing, mind you). Spirituality can be much more rational than religion, and the best religion is one which can be tailored to individual experience (like Buddhism). I think spirituality can be completely compatible with atheism. So I would say both are replacing religion, and rightly so. We are moving towards intellectual independence.
 

UniqueMixture

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Oops, I meant to vote for the second one.

Seems like a good explanation. But I see it a little bit differently; spirituality and religion are two different things. They're two different relationships with the divine. Spirituality is an inner individual experience and religion is an external collective practice- very Fi and Fe in nature (though not to be used in typing, mind you). Spirituality can be much more rational than religion, and the best religion is one which can be tailored to individual experience (like Buddhism). I think spirituality can be completely compatible with atheism. So I would say both are replacing religion, and rightly so. We are moving towards intellectual independence.

I agree to some extent, but it is possible that there is a biological explanation for the phenomena and if we one day figure out what that is and can control it turning it on or off, then what implications would that have? Perhaps we'll be in the same position we always have, namely faith being necessary for belief, but what does faith mean in a world where we can turn belief on and off?
 

greenfairy

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I agree to some extent, but it is possible that there is a biological explanation for the phenomena and if we one day figure out what that is and can control it turning it on or off, then what implications would that have? Perhaps we'll be in the same position we always have, namely faith being necessary for belief, but what does faith mean in a world where we can turn belief on and off?
We can't turn belief on and off, unless we turn off our conscious thought process. Which would be tragic.
 

KDude

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The first religion was when a prehistoric man buried his buddy (or child or mate). His "fear and uncertainty" was the same fear and uncertainty that exists to this day. No amount of civilization and convenience alleviates it (it can be ignored however.. but not solved). It might've even started before that. Maybe the first religion didn't start with uncertainty, but with wonder (admittedly, science is a great contributor here too).. when he lit a campfire and stared into the stars. That could have been an early spiritual experience. And still can be.

In any case, these are two things that will never escape mortals. It doesn't matter how developed they become. Who gives a shit if Joe gets a shiny new fridge, and Jane can take a shower every day. Woopee. They still might find some need for religion. Religion is an existential issue, even if it was never called that. Some are more explicitly existential. Maybe those would remain, while the merely ritualistic wouldn't. Jesus addressed our relation with the whole and eternity, issues of one's identity with that. Siddhartha became Buddha because he set out on a quest for the same thing. People don't embrace religiousity out of some deficit of basic physical needs. The questions are bigger than that. Maybe the structures and followers surrounding religions have more petty concerns, but that's not how religious thinking itself begins. Even Einstein still wouldn't call himself an atheist (but a Spinozan), because he embraced this side of himself. Carl Sagan was an agnostic, and had the same concerns. He called it humanism, but he addressed similar things.
 

Bamboo

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Atheism is just as certain a thought, based in faith, as theism. Replacing one with the other isn't a significant change in how one thinks.

Agnosticism isn't so much a belief as it is a process.

---

With both theism and atheism, you approach uncertainty by coming up with an answer to believe in.

With agnosticism, you approach uncertainty by realizing you don't have an answer. You deal with this by learning to accept not knowing.

From there you may find answers, or you may not.
 

Rasofy

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100 years from now

Most respected scientists start to openly reject the religious premises.
Students worldwide are heavily influenced by that.
The number of open atheist politicians increase.
Elders wonder what went wrong with society, but there's no going back.


150 years from now

Religion starts to be openly associated with a low IQ, making young people much less likely to become religious. US is now 50% atheist.
Extremist muslims are diminished, as the bright young generation rejects the idea of a heaven with 72 virgins as a reward for killing people.


200 years from now

Religious people start to get bullied. This situation is now reversed, and the hardcore atheists, now a pretty strong group, blame religion for every problem in the world.


300 years from now

Religious people only exist in isolated communities, as society no longer takes openly religious people seriously.



400 years from now

Civilized world is entirely atheist.
Current generation doesn't have a theist x atheist dichotomy (it's a no-brainer, as clear as the fact that the world is not plan), and their books portray our society as being a bit less primitive than pre-Columbian civilizations (keep in mind that 400 years of technology advancing at the current pace would make us look pre historical).



500 years from now

No one talks about religion, except in History classes. Current generation doesn't view religion as a taboo, so people don't have an automatic rejection to the idea.

Many people start developing a healthy curiosity about religion.

Then, out of the blue, an eloquent ENFJ starts selling the idea that being religious is the new cool. The speech "Our society is corrupted because people no longer believe in God" sounds innovative, and people buy into it.

And the cycle repeats.
 

highlander

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Never. Atheism is a minority view and if anything, organized religion seems to be gaining momentum.
 

tinker683

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Never. It's face and form may change throughout history but religion will always end up existing in one form or another
 

UniqueMixture

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Atheism is just as certain a thought, based in faith, as theism. Replacing one with the other isn't a significant change in how one thinks.

Agnosticism isn't so much a belief as it is a process.

---

With both theism and atheism, you approach uncertainty by coming up with an answer to believe in.

With agnosticism, you approach uncertainty by realizing you don't have an answer. You deal with this by learning to accept not knowing.

From there you may find answers, or you may not.

I think at some point you get tired of religious people's bs and just say fuck it.
 

The Ü™

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Atheism will not replace religion. It could replace faith, though. Faith could also replace religion.
 

Stumblebum

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I'm certain that we'll blow ourselves up first.

If you simply mean that atheism will be more prevalent than religion, my arbitrary guesstimate is 100 years in the developed world. It's all sort of dependent on the evolution developing nations. A rather large percentage of Europe is already atheistic and the youth of America is steadily becoming more and more godless. Perhaps I'll give the cause a bit of a jolt by engaging my fellow citizens in the joys of not perpetuating nonsense. I would be a kind dictator indeed.
 

Coriolis

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I voted for the first option; I don't like it, but it's the truth.

Atheism is just as certain a thought, based in faith, as theism. Replacing one with the other isn't a significant change in how one thinks.

Agnosticism isn't so much a belief as it is a process.

---

With both theism and atheism, you approach uncertainty by coming up with an answer to believe in.

With agnosticism, you approach uncertainty by realizing you don't have an answer. You deal with this by learning to accept not knowing.

From there you may find answers, or you may not.
I agree with both, and would prefer to see agnosticism take over. It is the only logically defensible position regarding deity.
 

Stephano

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[MENTION=13260]Rasofy[/MENTION]
Good one!

It will happen sooner in industrialized countries. But we are getting more liberal so maybe we start accepting dissidents.

Edit: It already happend in Europe. According to surveys there are actually only 53% believing in some kind of god in Austria, in USA 81%.
 
S

Society

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if the question is in totality, i voted never. i think current religion views are loosing ground, but with time they will morph, and new religions will come to replace them. the desire to comprehend more then we can understand is a self contained relativistic equation that grows the more we can understand, and this will continue to motivate us. the singularity - if it happens - will probably contribute to that process more then it takes away.
 
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