#SUNBURST: Will Religion Ever End?

More people are moving away from religion and declaring for atheism. For instance, 91% of the population of the United States were Christians as at 1976.

This figure plummeted to 64% in 2022. If losing over a quarter of Christian population in just 46 years isn’t worrisome enough, then it’s going to get worse because, only 35% to 46% of Americans would remain Christians by 2070 going by the current trend.

Modern resentment against especially organized religion is not a Christianity problem but also other faiths’ as more people logically question religious beliefs and their usefulness in modern world. In conclusion, they arrived that life definitely ends on earth – no afterlife, no divine plan and no God. Now, many think it is a growing trend that could lead to the end of religion.

ORIGIN OF RELIGION 

Religion may be as old as humans but hypothetically they were born out of human’s poor knowledge of himself and his environment. Powerless and clueless in their world, humans bowed at the altar of their surrounding mysteries and surrendered their lives to beings and forces they can’t see but believe they know all that they don’t know. Therefore, religion offers humans a cover in areas of deficiencies and security in areas of fears.

Apart from serving as source of comfort and guidance, religion can be used to give meaning and purpose to life, enforce social connection, unity and stability. Human excesses can also be checked using religion.

WHY RELIGIONS DIE?

Always have I said that religion is like a vehicle to our destination. Where is our destination you may ask? It is where we meet the forces and powers that humans believe are in control of their individual and collective lives.

And what happens when the vehicle is no longer able to propel this journey? Well over 5,000 religions including the famous Egyptian and Celtic religions had come and gone and yet religion has not vanquished.

Two major reasons a religion ceases to exist is through cultural change and conquests. Most organized religions instituted their authority through military conquests, cultural erosion of the conquered, and forced conversion.

However, the current decline in religious appeal is more of a cultural change, championed significantly by those who feel they can provide to themselves that which they thought only God or religion could provide. There is palpable correlation between religious decline and highly advanced societies where the citizens believe they can provide high economic, political and existential stability for themselves through science, technology and robust knowledge. They think that what God can do for them they can actually do for themselves. Increased mental advancement of humans in recent years due to unrestricted information has also rendered some previously held religious positions irrelevant.

RELIGION AND THE FUTURE 

Does this mean that religion will likely end with further human advancement? Interestingly at the peak of every ladder is another ladder to climb. More advancement begets more challenges, and hence more search for solutions. Yes, even if Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu gods all lose their appeals, spiritualism, superstitions and belief in supernatural forces shall still prevail in one way or the day. This brings me to chapter 2 of the famous book: THE SPARKS (New Beginning) where I emphatically stated that religions come and go but God remains.

Finally, should the global tensions we presently witness escalate to World War 3, then whoever wins will also have a say in the religion of future. Don’t forget conquest has been the fastest way of conversion.

May Lights Shine On Our Paths.

EoR

(SUNBURST is random thoughts of EoR published every Saturday)