The advance of secularism

Ok, lets face it, religion is dying off, and nothing seems to convince many people to believe any more. Christmas is only a celebration of the birth of jesus a little bit now, it is mostly a celebration of materilism.
The worst thing is that people celebrate it, but don't believe in what they are celebrating.

Anyone have any thoughts/reasons why it is happening?

It is definately dying off in the UK and Europe but what about other areas of the world such as the Middle East and some third world nations? Might be holding steady in those places. I often get a lot of disagreement on this but I feel as nations get wealthier and more technologically advanced they become more secular. Perhaps people dont fear gods wrath as much?

Originally posted by apex
Anyone have any thoughts/reasons why it is happening?

My guess is because it's now legal in the West to not pretend to have faith (even though in some places you still have to align yourself with some religion officially / pay religious taxes), combined with the information age.

It's difficult to keep people in the dark when they are informed, even if the information is dumbed down and sold as entertainment.

The revelations from the Dead Sea scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Library are just now making their way to laymen and showing that the common vision of early Christianity is plain wrong. Many who have never given much thought about their religion, when faced with this, will just abandon it (which is most everyone).

In the West (which is what you were really referring to), Christianity has been the dominant religion for close to 2000 years, and this recovered information is finally taking its toll, after having been suppressed with physical force since the 3rd century.

I don't know if there is a similar rejection of religion happening in other parts of the world.

I figure it's because we can explain things with science and logic, when before we explained things with myths.
People are not forced to believe a religion by the government.
The church does not rule anymore.

All those I'd say.

"Religion" in and of itself may be a dying breed. However, many are coming to the realization that it is the individual's relationship with GOD that is far more important than attending a house of "worship" to be seen.

If one would look at my church attendance they would call me secular. However, nothing would be farther from the truth.

My thoughts can be found in your other thread on a very similar subject:
Religion vs Atheism
www.belowtopsecret.com...

And there are also some very interesting points in the PODcast thread here:
Why is Religion Dying? If it is.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

As regards Christmas, I do not celebrate it. If I were to celebrate Christ's birth, but not follow the Christian faith, I would consider myself a hypocrite.

I think it's simply that people are becoming more spiritual. They're finding their own personal path to enlightenment instead of joining with a group who employ group-think and rules and ancient rituals that no one can really be sure of.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
As regards Christmas, I do not celebrate it. If I were to celebrate Christ's birth, but not follow the Christian faith, I would consider myself a hypocrite.

And yet millions do.

I don't mean to offend in asking this question, but why is it wrong to celebrate a season where people are, in general, kinder and more decent to one another? Why is it better to throw a giant birthday party for someone you believe to be your lord? From everything I read Jesus was extremely modest, and kindness and compassion were two of the fundamental tenets of his teachings. Why then would he want his followers to discourage people from celebrating the holiday season simply because they do not worship him? I would wager that he would trade his own birthday party for including more people in the holiday spirit in a heartbeat. Like I said, I'm not trying to insult or anything, but I am curious to follow the logic.

And remember we were celebrating at this time of year long before Christ. New name same holiday, lets party.