Religion to Disappear By 2041 Claims New Study

Prezbo369
It's more like people fearing death as they get older and being enticed and/or induced by those propagating tales of an 'afterlife' and nothing more.

While that would be a reasonable guess, with out empirical data, that's all it is, a guess.

For me, who returned to an active spiritual life in my late 30s after about 20 years of indifference, it was more a matter of applying and analyzing my life experience and what I had learned about the nature of reality, not any fear of mortality.

For others, it might be having children -- there's something about creating and nurturing life that seems to be inherently spiritual; for some, maybe it is a way of dealing with the stresses of modern life -- I know that daily prayer or meditation does a lot to reduce stress in many peoples' lives, including mine.

Whatever the case may be, evidence exists that people become more spiritual as they grow older, again throwing a bit of cold water on the claims made in the article cited by the OP.

reply to post by adjensen

Whatever the case may be, evidence exists that people become more spiritual as they grow older, again throwing a bit of cold water on the claims made in the article cited by the OP.

Not really. There's a number of possible explanations for that, all of which do more to emphasize the imperfections of human nature rather than to prove any sort of divine agent.

AfterInfinity
reply to post by adjensen

 

Whatever the case may be, evidence exists that people become more spiritual as they grow older, again throwing a bit of cold water on the claims made in the article cited by the OP.

Not really. There's a number of possible explanations for that, all of which do more to emphasize the imperfections of human nature rather than to prove any sort of divine agent.

How is any of that relevant to what I wrote?

I said that there is evidence (citing a multi-decade study,) that people become more spiritual as they age, regardless of reason, and nowhere did I remark on "any sort of divine agent."

I honestly fail to see the need of some people to pipe up in threads simply to be contrary and gather stars from others who obviously don't bother reading the post before marking it.

reply to post by adjensen

How is any of that relevant to what I wrote?

You are implying experience leads to religion. I am saying that your statistics do very little to prove such a possibility is even likely.

I said that there is evidence (citing a multi-decade study,) that people become more spiritual as they age, regardless of reason, and nowhere did I remark on "any sort of divine agent."

Without a divine agent, such spirituality becomes a fabrication of the human mind. Meaning assigned of their own emotion and understanding. Nothing more to it. Which means they aren't religious, they are spiritual. There is a difference.

I honestly fail to see the need of some people to pipe up in threads simply to be contrary and gather stars from others who obviously don't bother reading the post before marking it.

And that qualifies as ad hominem. If you want to start something with me, start it via U2U.

AfterInfinity
reply to post by adjensen

 

How is any of that relevant to what I wrote?

You are implying experience leads to religion.

No, I'm not. I threw out some potential reasons to explain why people become more religious as they age, I didn't say that they were the end-all, be-all of explanation -- the guy I was replying to is almost certainly correct in his assumption that some people because religious because they're afraid of death, but without empirical evidence, there is nothing to say that my experience was unique to me.

I said that there is evidence (citing a multi-decade study,) that people become more spiritual as they age, regardless of reason, and nowhere did I remark on "any sort of divine agent."

Without a divine agent, such spirituality becomes a fabrication of the human mind.

Again, that is completely irrelevant to the study I cited and is not reflective of my points.

reply to post by adjensen


Then how does it "throw cold water" on the OP?

AfterInfinity
reply to post by adjensen

 

Then how does it "throw cold water" on the OP?

Because the claim that "Religion will disappear by 2041" is predicated on statistics that include all age groups, but ignores the fact that more people become religious as they age than they become atheists as they age.

As I said before, the article is more wishful thinking than it is actually borne out by actual evidence.

reply to post by adjensen

Because the claim that "Religion will disappear by 2041" is predicated on statistics that include all age groups, but ignores the fact that more people become religious as they age than they become atheists as they age.

And where did you pull that statistic from? Atheism is notoriously difficult to keep track of because it's a notoriously varied philosophy. There's no way to get an accurate fix on atheism. One can only surmise. And yes, that's exactly what this thread is.

reply to post by AfterInfinity


I already cited the study in question, and no, it isn't a matter of "who knows?" there is clear evidence that people become more religious as they age. If you disagree, take it up with the authors of the study -- barring that, just admit that your disagreement is a result of your opinion, not the facts of the matter, because the evidence demonstrates that you are wrong.

reply to post by adjensen


What you stated was technically correct, but I was attempting to prevent extrapolation. There are people who will take just that one study and run with it.

Not happening. This man's studies prove nothing. There's just too many people on this planet for religion to ever disappear. There's always going to be people who believe.

reply to post by LegendaryPotato


I don't think you understood the article or you didn't read it all. Even though I have said this several times throughout the thread I will say it again.

The article says religious people in developed nations will become the minority by that date. It isn't talking about the entire world.

reply to post by adjensen


I do agree with your article wich says older people tend to become more religious however even your article said religion is on the decline. Because your article didn't give any percentage of population which found religion after 58 we can say that the percentage is not enough to change the trend. The way it is worded can mean 1 in 50 found religion after 58 but because there are no figures we can't say except we know by there own words religion is still in decline.

reply to post by Grimpachi



No. I have not read the entire article yet. My post was in response to this portion of the original post.

Nigel Barber has completed a new study that shows Atheism is most prevalent in developed countries, and, according to his projections, religion will completely disappear by 2041.

reply to post by LegendaryPotato


Thats OK but you should really read the entire OP because it explains further like this part.

He says the majority of the world will come to view religion as completely irrelevant by 2041."