To think religion will play less of a role in 21st century?

[sockatoe]

AIBU to think as society and the human race evolves, there is less need for organised religion? Are we moving towards a less religious society?
We can explain the world around us with science
We have laws to outline acceptable and unacceptable behaviour without the threat of eternal damnation as a consequence of not conforming
We have access to healthcare without going through a religious organisation
People are able to be "spiritual" and self aware without a God figure
People socialise and support one another and charity through means other than religion.

Obviously, many horrific and inhuman acts have and continue to be made in the name of religion. Also, many amazing, heroic and kind acts take place in the name of religion too.
AIBU to think that the majority of people are good, kind and helpful and they outnumber the rest? And that as time goes on, the human race will simply cooperate with one another because that's what you do, without outpouring love and obedience to a God figure who may or may not cast you into eternal damnation if you don't serve them well enough?

I always laugh slightly when vehement atheists post about violence in the name of religion, conveniently ignoring the atrocities carried out by atheists like Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot...

It would be rather hard too argue that these atrocities were done in pursuit of atheism though. Atheism by definition does not have an agenda. In each case the conflicts were motivated by politics or some other ideology.

How do you know what her motivation was?

If motivation matters, there are plenty of examples of pretty nasty things being done by people who believe in a God too ....

It makes more sense if people are nice to each other because of rationality and empathy rather than religious authority.

I don't think anyone is saying that awful atrocities haven't happened in the name of religion - but the claim that nothing good has is laughable.

It wasn’t me attributing motivation @DG, it was OP.

It wasn’t me attributing motivation @DG, it was OP.

I wasn't trying to snipe at anyone ... just passing the time of day .

I really don't have too much of a beef with religion and most people who are adherents. For me (and I appreciate that is a caveat) it's all a matter of personal conscience.

AIBU to think as society and the human race evolves, there is less need for organised religion? Are we moving towards a less religious society?

yup YABU

We can explain the world around us with science
That is self-fulfilling - science is just the definition of how you explain things - it isn't something in its own right... and while science can often explain What / How / When / Where - it can't always explain Why. Humans are so keen to remove any sign of God that they define everything by science - big bang -> evolution -> etc. forgetting several fundamental flaws:

• none of those theories are fully and scientifically proven
• science is about hypothesis accepted until disproven - it is not about core proof built on previous proof.
• none of it can ever go far enough back to explain the start - even if you accept the big bang - how was it initiated - if there was matter there, where did it come from - no science makes any sense without a creator sentient being behind it at some point.

We have laws to outline acceptable and unacceptable behaviour without the threat of eternal damnation as a consequence of not conforming

It might be worth reading the Bible to see what it actually says - the gospels are known as the Good News for a reason - based on love and freely given - it is a free option with no sets of rules to perform / no hoops to jump through - simply acceptance of Christ's death on the cross and repentance... and despite the popular misconceptions of Hellfire and Damnation - Hell is expressed as being not with God - and yes, that is likely to be a bad option...

People are able to be "spiritual" and self aware without a God figure People socialise and support one another and charity through means other than religion.

Very true - but none of it as designed by God - our creator who made us to be in a relationship with each other which includes God - without it is a shallow impression of what it can be.

AIBU to think that the majority of people are good, kind and helpful and they outnumber the rest? And that as time goes on, the human race will simply cooperate with one another because that's what you do...

Do you really think that history shows any evidence of this?! Sadly, until people accept that we have a world which has good in it (of God) and evil (not of God / of the Devil) then those people will always be living in a delusional place - without acknowledging that difference, there would be no fighting poverty / drugs / crime / evil leaderships - it would have allowed WW1 and WW2 to continue un-checked - it would have allowed Communism to oppress its people / etc.

The simple reality is that God exists - plenty of evidence for those believing in science - ultimately it is each person's individual choice as to whether to take notice / follow God etc. - for those who don't believe then there is no issue as clearly there will be no Hell and Damnation, as for them they don't believe in an after-life - so why would they be worried about anyone else's belief?!

you need to read peoples own words to see what motivated them, many of them left plenty of writings to show they were motivated by a desire to follow for example Jesus's example to help the sick the poor those in prison etc, others were motivated by different spiritual ideas

for Wilberforce, Booth ( salvation army) and many many others their motivation was their faith although I guess they were decent human beings anyway
we can't change peoples motivations because we would rather not think about it or change it to line up with 21st century ideals or it doesn't appear "woke"
there are undoubtedly some very bad things done in the name of religion, there are also many many wonderful things done by religious communities / individuals across the world and many advances have been made because of some peoples religious drive to improve things for other people

If only it were true. We have seen the rise of religious extremism but people are not allowed to talk about the true causes without being labelled racist. A consequence will be a rise in the extremes of other religions to defend themselves.

Sad but I just see religion causing more hate and suffering.

We can explain the world around us with science

A lot of scientists are quite happy to admit to following a religion. And a lot of Newtons work was based on the gig Copernicus got from the Catholic Church to fix the damn calendar (which he did, to the delight of the Pope). Funnily enough, the Catholic Church was quite curious about science, once the dead weight of Aristotle dropped.

Then you have the great Quaker scientists ... Faraday pops to mind.

And Islam pretty much seems to have science baked in - certainly astronomy, mathematics, and chemistry.

Hi akkakk

so why would they be worried about anyone else's belief?!

I think it's because of the power and influence some religions have, and their attempts to influence the lives of everyone.

Hare Krishna seems crazy to me, and Scientology. I don't really care because they keep their crazy to themselves. Catholicism seems crazy also, but the Catholic church has a lot to say on birth control, HIV, abortion, and many other things that affect us all, and has the power and influence to push its irrational ideology on us.

It might be worth reading the Bible to see what it actually says

Indeed. It's very prescriptive about how I should treat my slaves. Male and female.

@Outoutout well said! I was about to say the same but couldn't put in any better than you

a huge party of the history of the Labour party is the story of Christian socialists within the union movement, temperance groups etc

The only people the Catholic Church influences around contraception, abortion, etc are adherents to the faith who freely choose to follow it. Unlike the US where the state is becoming the moral arbiter and all its citizens are affected.

I hope you are right. But there is a lot of muddled thinking out there, and a lot of people who just don't want to give up their imaginary friends.

Can we stop with the imaginary friends? It just trivialises what had the potential to be an interesting discussion.

It should be banned, the same way we ban terrorist groups. Nothing good ever came of it.

Whereas banning religion has a long and illustrious history?

Nope the opposite is likely to happen. Having children is an important part of most religions. Whereas atheists have no reason to have kids other than personal desire. In high level atheist societies population is declining. A new type of religion has evolved which is environmentalism. Which favours being childless or having no more than 2 children or raising pets instead. Whereas religious people will have more and more children therefore spreading religious belief.

that's a generalisation.

it won't play a lesser role in some communities.

A new type of religion has evolved which is environmentalism.

I'd say you've misunderstood what a religion is!

Having children is an important part of most religions

or evolution ...

It's certainly true that religious folk are the winners in the Darwinian sense. They tend to start reproducing at a younger age and have more children. Atheists tend to stay in education longer and have fewer children.

It's certainly true that religious folk are the winners in the Darwinian sense. They tend to start reproducing at a younger age and have more children. Atheists tend to stay in education longer and have fewer children.

They also get to define what religion is too ... so no Jedi holidays for us, my friend ....

Having babies later - if pursued with religious zeal - would increase the average human lifespan quite a bit.

It might be worth reading the Bible to see what it actually says

Is there a version that points out which parts you are supposed to take literally, which parts are 'metaphorical', what the actual meaning of any of it is, who wrote it and references to the original source so I can confirm its veracity?

Because every person I have asked says it means something different. So why?

At least with Harry Potter I was able to buy a first edition, I met its author and its meaning is agreed upon by everyone across the world who reads it.