Community | June 12, 2012 | 125 comments

6 Reasons Religion is Dying

source: http://philanthropy2012.hubpages.com/hub/God-Is-A-Sadist

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kennymotown

http://philanthropy2012.hubpages.com/hub/God-Is-A-Sadist

Very interesting info for your perusal :

1. Choice
Upbringing- Today, with more rights and more freedom, it is more present in cultures to give children the choice to believe in a religion or not. There is no one right way of behaving anymore. It used to be that parents would teach their children to be of a particular religion from a young age. This was because everyone else in the community was too, and it would be good for the child to fit in with the community. There was simply no alternative. People did not want their child to be looked upon as an outsider because they failed to teach their children the views that everybody else had taken.
Multiculturalism- With the relatively new acceptance of new peoples and their cultures and views, people see that there are in fact alternatives to what they were taught as children and so understand that perhaps their way was not the best one. Thus, parents now have the choice of teaching many different views and morals, and children have the choice to choose them, all as a result of the new knowledge of the different ways that people live.
Result
Diffusion - Naturally, with the introduction of new choices, religion will have lost some of it's members to non belief simply because it is was a new choice to take.
Spoiled With Choice- Many children now see that there are over 100,000 different denominations of religion and none of them have any more evidence than the other. Hence, the value of truth that one religion has over another simply isn't there for them, many then decide that choosing one to follow on no more grounds than another is illogical.

2. Education
Schools
Linking back to the idea that there are more choices and rights; the modern schooling system accelerates the effects of of new choices by allowing for an unbiased teaching of different cultures and ideas. In many countries, it is mandatory for all school children to go through religious studies and understand the basic views of different religions. This then goes back to the idea that each religion is given less weight because children are no longer taught that only their parents' religions are correct and all of the others are ludicrous. They now see that religions have very large similarities and that one religion is not worth anymore than another. Many choose then to believe that all religions are worthless since they cannot choose the right one.
Information - With the invention of the internet and it's availability to citizens of modern societies, information is no longer a luxury reserved for the richest. People can now check certain facts that religious leaders have claimed in the past and see that they were simply lies. An example of this is Pope Benedict XVI's view that condoms are evil which has seen widespread opposition. People can find different views on topics such as these on the internet or in libraries, and see that perhaps the Pope's view is incorrect. Thus, whereas before religion had authority because leaders seemed to know certain things that the masses did not, now, everyone can know as much as everybody else thanks to the better information availability.
With the improvement of science, many questions that could not be answered before such as what is in space or how did organisms come to be, have been answered. Questions that would have otherwise lead people to religion because no other option was offered to them, now have many different theories. There is no necessary need for a God because other alternatives have been thought up of and so naturally some people will choose the different alternatives.

3. Bad Press
In recent times, the media has featured news relating to crimes that religious leaders and authorities have committed. Stories of catholic priests committing crimes of pedophilia and the pope opposing homosexual relationships make some people wonder whether religion really helps create morality and whether the beliefs are at all valuable. Ideas such as female circumcision and inequality of women in particular religious societies also throw up questions of whether being religious is at all valuable to a person or society.

4. It's Unnecessary/Counterproductive
Many people view religion as a burden on society or themselves. Ideas such as having to take time out to go to church every sunday, praying regularly, not eating pork, sexual abstinence, fasting, circumcision, being against homosexual relationships and abortions etc. can seem like a waste of time or immoral to some people. Therefore, many people simply decide that since they do not know which religion and set of rules they should follow (and which one would mean they wouldn't be punished eternally for not following is the right one), religion is simply irrelevant to their lives.
Also, some people find religious people and organisations who try to convert them such as jehova's witnesses and religious programs irritating and think that religion is too forceful, making them reluctant to associate themselves with these religions.

5. Controlling Method & Wars
Many people find that since so many wars have been waged because of religious reasons, the world would be better without them.
Others see religion as a method of controlling the masses and cite politicians who use religion as a method of getting voters such as George W. Bush who despite committing many sins (criminal drunkenness etc.) still claims he is a Christian.

6. Free Thought and Logic
With the introduction of new rights and the encouragement to think freely and rationally, many people see religion today as something that is fundamentally irrational. In a literal sense, turning wine into water or healing people's ailments through touch may be seen as contradictory to modern science which can be said to have more proof.

Also, large problems arise with the very concept of God. The Abrahamic God is defined to having Omnipotence, Omniscience and Benevolence which many people argue is logically impossible.
http://philanthropy2012.hubpages.com/hub/God-Is-A-Sadist
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125 comments // 6 Reasons Religion is Dying

  • johnnyTremaine
    • 0
      johnnyTremaine  
    • Image

    • PROTOCOL No. 4
      1. Every republic passes through several stages. The first of these is comprised in the early days of mad raging by the blind mob, tossed hither and thither, right and left: the second is demagogy from which is born anarchy, and that leads inevitably to despotism - not any longer legal and overt, and therefore responsible despotism, but to unseen and secretly hidden, yet nevertheless sensibly felt despotism in the hands of some secret organization or other, whose acts are the more unscrupulous inasmuch as it works behind a screen, behind the backs of all sorts of agents, the changing of whom not only does not injuriously affect but actually aids the secret force by saving it, thanks to continual changes, from the necessity of expanding its resources on the rewarding of long services.
      2. Who and what is in a position to overthrow an invisible force? And this is precisely what our force is. GENTILE masonry blindly serves as a screen for us and our objects, but the plan of action of our force, even its very abiding-place, remains for the whole people an unknown mystery.

      WE SHALL DESTROY GOD
      3. But even freedom might be harmless and have its place in the State economy without injury to the well-being of the peoples if it rested upon the foundation of faith in God, upon the brotherhood of humanity, unconnected with the conception of equality, which is negatived by the very laws of creation, for they have established subordination. With such a faith as this a people might be governed by a wardship of parishes, and would walk contentedly and humbly under the guiding hand of its spiritual pastor submitting to the dispositions of God upon earth. This is the reason why IT IS INDISPENSABLE FOR US TO UNDERMINE ALL FAITH, TO TEAR OUT OF THE MIND OF THE "GOYIM" THE VERY PRINCIPLE OF GOD-HEAD AND THE SPIRIT, AND TO PUT IN ITS PLACE ARITHMETICAL CALCULATIONS AND MATERIAL NEEDS.
      4. In order to give the GOYIM no time to think and take note, their minds must be diverted towards industry and trade. Thus, all the nations will be swallowed up in the pursuit of gain and in the race for it will not take note of their common foe. But again, in order that freedom may once for all disintegrate and ruin the communities of the GOYIM, we must put industry on a speculative basis: the result of this will be that what is withdrawn from the land by industry will slip through the hands and pass into speculation, that is, to our classes.
      5. The intensified struggle for superiority and shocks delivered to economic life will create, nay, have already created, disenchanted, cold and heartless communities. Such communities will foster a strong aversion towards the higher political and towards religion. Their only guide is gain, that is Gold, which they will erect into a veritable cult, for the sake of those material delights which it can give. Then will the hour strike when, not for the sake of attaining the good, not even to win wealth, but solely out of hatred towards the privileged, the lower classes of the GOYIM will follow our lead against our rivals for power, the intellectuals of the GOYIM..

      Decide for yourself, if they are real.

      http://educate-yourself.org/cn/protocolsofsion.shtml

    • 11 months ago
  • PhilanthropyHB
  • kennymotown
  • kennymotown
  • PhilanthropyHB
  • PhilanthropyHB
  • kennymotown
    • +1
      kennymotown  
    • PhilanthropyHB:

      Thanks for the connection as well, I was for every sunday for about a month posting a ridiculous Religion story, mostly about some weird Pastor somewhere saying something stupid. I ran across your article and used it, I really enjoyed it. I hope we can collaborate in something in the near future. Once again thanks, you did a marvelous job!

    • 11 months ago
  • remanns
    • 0
      remanns  
    • Image

    • -THOR is the one TRUE god,....( among many ; the one that REALLY KICKS ASS ! )
      People have forgotten to praise and sacrifice to THOR !!!

      - final answer .

    • 11 months ago
  • LivingPong
  • unimatrix0
  • crabbyoldguy
    • 0
      crabbyoldguy  

    • Omnipotence, what a concept, like someone watching over you every minute of every day. My self, I'll go for the self imposed omnipotence of a perceived deity than the actual omnipotence of government.

      Close your blinds, that camera on the light pole down the block could be looking your way.

    • 11 months ago
  • ThirdSection
  • Gravity_Man
  • crabbyoldguy
  • gump
    • 0
      gump  
    • crabbyoldguy:

      Dont worry about that camera on the light pole. Thier eyes in the sky in orbit can count the freckles on the back of your hand. And the digitally stored phone call or E mail you sent last year can be reviewed anytime they want to mess you up.

    • 11 months ago
  • lazloman
    • +3
      lazloman  

    • I agree with Marx when he said that "Religion is the opium of the masses". He could also have added that it is the "bludgeon of the frightened" as many so-called religious leaders use it to control people.

    • 11 months ago
  • Tayllerand
    • 0
      Tayllerand  

    • The main reason is because the Roman Catholic Church wants to control the planet and they have no moral to do that. Look at the history ( the real history no the Disney version ) of the church and you can see the corruption and the abuse of power over humanity. The Roman Empire is dying and his followers don't want to see the truth. This is the year where all religions are going to collapse and the truth will be known .

      The End

    • 11 months ago
  • ThirdSection
  • gump
    • 0
      gump  
    • Tayllerand:

      It looks like the moron religion is getting a big boost this year. And the pope is now a Bush Boy. So I think its going the other way. They all want to be state religions. Or at least have some strong politicians linked to them.

    • 11 months ago
  • cecone
    • +4
      cecone  

    • I think what you really mean to title this editorial piece is 6 reasons why Christianity is dying. Its actually a pretty limited argument. Your over arching thesis is that educated people (people who have been given choices) chose not to believe in God. And further, find belief in God some how illogical. I have not found that to be at all accurate personally. In my experience just as many ignorant people are atheists and dogmatic religious zealots, as there are well educated Atheists, and religious zealots. Furthermore, I see a huge increase in the west in spirituality and interests pertaining to a spiritual life, if not in religion per say. In the west we are biased to criticize Christians, as this editorial does (no other religions are directly mentioned), and we forget that in actuality most of the rest of the religious world believe in something other than Christianity. Though, the Abrahamic God does have the most vocal followers. But I don't really see the Jews getting too much philosophical flack and they are the ones who subscribe to the violent God of the old testament, you speak of. They tend to be perceived as the more peaceful denomination (I'm not by any means engaging in pro-Isreal speak, just speaking to a general perception I see). Though, true Christians should subscribe to the compassion and forgiveness consistent in the teachings of Jesus in the new testament, that does not always seem to be what is being understood nor proselytized.
      Overall with the growth in world population happening mostly in India and S.E. Asia, I'd say that Hinduism and maybe Buddhism are likely overtake the One true God religions in less than a quarter century.
      Although, I tend to agree with Marx; and I agree that religion and mass religiosity certainly maintain a capacity for abuse by leaders of nations, I don't believe religion makes the world a more violent place. Man will find any excuse to wage war, because there still seems to be a benefit for some even if it damages the majority. Its all about the chance of being the Some. Its never been about religion. Justification for war can be found anywhere and in anything, if you think it will benefit you. So, in my opinion (and that's what we are really doing here, opining) religion overall is not in decline at all. However, Atheism does seem to be growing in western societies.

    • 11 months ago
  • Ricky84
  • gump
  • VFORVENDETTA
    • +3
      VFORVENDETTA  

    • Mr. K, You are near and dear to my heart with this post, you are much loved, thank you so..........much..........you speak truth!!!!! Thank you again and again!!!!! ];-)

    • 11 months ago
  • kennymotown
  • jubal
    • +1
      jubal  

    • I suppor the abolishment of all religion. They are the most destructive force on the planet, next to necons and plutocrats.

    • 11 months ago
  • VFORVENDETTA
  • coolplanet
    • +5
      coolplanet  
    • Image

    • How religiously and politically incorrect it is not to include the Native American medicine wheel in the black & white representation of world religions.

    • 11 months ago
  • ankab
    • +2
      ankab  

    • See here Kenny I never heard that line about the religon being the opiate of the masses until quite recently. I suspect if I had read/studied Lenninist/Marxist dogma I would have

    • 11 months ago
  • kennymotown
  • artemis6
    • +3
      artemis6  
    • ankab:

      ANY information that will help you to understand the real situation is certainly not going to be spoon fed you . You must defy what is comfortable and hunt it all down . THEN , you might know the truth of it .

    • 11 months ago
  • ankab
  • gump
    • 0
      gump  
    • ankab:

      You have to kidding !!! Never heard of it? Are you from Arizona city???? Or Mars?? Have you even read THE PRINCE by MACHIAVELI ???? Well you have much adventure in discovering ahead of you.

    • 11 months ago
  • gump
    • 0
      gump  
    • ankab:

      Useless info is on fox network. You paid 4.6 billion for it last year. Weather you wanted to or not. Thats the amount the government paid them to run the propaganda.

    • 11 months ago
  • Leen61
  • kennymotown
  • Leen61
  • Micheal_Daston
    • 0
      Micheal_Daston  

    • The UN will soon turn it's back on religion, this will result in the banning of religion . It already has been prophesied, as soon as hear talks of world peace this event will follow. Since nobody is following religion it will be easier to accomplish.....Just saying be careful what you wish for

    • 11 months ago
  • ThirdSection
  • gump
  • DEM46
  • Radical_Centrist
    • 0
      Radical_Centrist  
    • DEM46:

      I do not believe the TOTAL collapse of all religion will come in anybody's lifetime. While I agree the numbers of believers in a Supreme being will diminish over time it will NEVER come to 0.

    • 11 months ago
  • savroD
  • noxidereus
  • kennymotown
  • coolplanet
  • kennymotown
  • coolplanet
  • kennymotown
  • kennymotown
    • +1
      kennymotown  
    • coolplanet:

      Here is a partial list:

      How many has God killed?
      I kill ... I wound ... I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh. -- Deuteronomy 32:39-42
      The table shows two numbers: the number given by the Bible, if any, and an estimate, when no biblical number is available.

      Grand totals are shown below and at the end of the table.
      Biblical number 2,476,636
      Estimate 25 million

      DWB
      Chapter Killing Event Scriptural Reference Biblical number Estimate
      1 The Flood of Noah Gen 7:23 - 20,000,000
      2 Abraham's war to rescue Lot Gen 14:17-19 - 1000
      3 Sodom and Gomorrah Gen 19:24 - 2,000
      4 Lot's wife Gen 19:26 1 1
      5 Er for being wicked in the sight of the Lord Gen 38:7 1 1
      6 Onan for spilling his seed Gen 38:10 1 1
      7 God's seven year, world-wide famine Gen 41:25-54 - 70,000
      8 The seventh plague of Egypt: Hail Ex 9:25 - 300,000
      9 God killed all first born Egyptian children Ex 12:29-30 - 500,000
      10 God drowned the Egyptian army Ex 14:8-26 600 5,000
      11 Amalekites Ex 17:13 - 1,000
      12 Who is on the Lord's side? Ex 32:27-28 3,000 3,000
      13 God plagued the people because of Aaron's calf Ex 32:35 - 1,000
      14 God burns Aaron's sons to death Lev 10:1-3 2 2
      15 A blasphemer is stoned to death Lev 24:10-23 1 1
      16 God burned people to death for complaining Num 11:1 - 100
      17 God plagued the people for complaining about the food Num 11:33 - 10,000
      18 Ten scouts are killed for their honest report Num 14:35-36 10 10
      19 A man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day Num 15:32-35 1 1
      20 The opposing party is buried alive (with their families) Num 16:27 3 9
      21 250 burned to death for burning incense Num 16:35 250 250
      22 For complaining about God's killings Num 16:49 14,700 14,700
      23 The massacre of the Aradites Num 21:1-3 - 3,000
      24 God sent snakes to bite people for complaining Num 21:6 - 100
      25 Phinehas' double murder: A killing to end God's killings Num 25:1-11 24,002 24,002
      26 The Midianite massacre: Have you saved the women alive? Num 31:1-35 6 200,000

    • 11 months ago
  • coolplanet
    • +4
      coolplanet  
    • kennymotown:

      I'll probably get into big trouble for saying this but that is not God (Elohim). That's "the LORD God" (Yahweh/Allah).
      This is the Gnostic interpretation.
      The anthropomorphic god of fundamentalist faiths is a "blind god" who brought hell to Earth.
      I like what Jesus had to say about this in the Gnostic Gospel of Phillip:
      "In the beginning God created man. But now man creates God. Therefore it would be more fitting for God to worship man."
      Just some food for thought.

    • 11 months ago
  • kennymotown
    • +3
      kennymotown  
    • coolplanet:

      Your not going to get into trouble with me! :) If it works for you, that is all it matters. I just wish that those in religious power positions would start speaking up about the Hypocrisy of judging humans whoever they are from the pulpit. Not to mention but staying out of politics would be a really good place to start. The system is corrupt enough without having a bunch of holy rollers who know nothing of divinity voting because some yahoo in pulpit told him to vote.

    • 11 months ago
  • coolplanet
    • +2
      coolplanet  
    • kennymotown:

      I am a Democrat because I am a Christian.
      The way I see it Jimmy Carter is one of the few real Christians alive today.
      His charity Habitat for Humanity is what the Gospel is all about.
      I don't like it at all when Republicans stereotype me as a "godless liberal."
      I like it even less when my faith is put down by godless liberals.
      Let's try to evolve beyond stereotyping.

    • 11 months ago
  • ThirdSection
  • coolplanet
  • kennymotown
  • ThirdSection
  • gump
  • kalamama
    • +3
      kalamama  

    • Good article Kenny!

      I would agree on each point you made, adding though...that the one part of "Religion" that seems to be becoming stronger would be the zealots.
      The zealots are the very ones who do the most harm with their rather scary viewpoints and harsh, ugly rhetoric.
      I do believe that is also becoming more dangerous for people to think it's alright to hate, discriminate, and even kill in the name of "God".

    • 11 months ago
  • HarukoHaruhara
  • kalamama
  • kennymotown
    • +1
      kennymotown  
    • kalamama:

      Bingo, I think you nailed it......now that religion is waning in popularity and clarity of the human mind the zealots come out with the iron fist to scare people back into the flock. These religions are very predictable!

    • 11 months ago
  • HarukoHaruhara
    • +2
      HarukoHaruhara  

    • I dunno, I see religion gaining more power in the Middle East AND in America.

      And the Catholic Church continues to thrive in Latin America.

      I fear religion is becoming more powerful.

    • 11 months ago
  • youngdebater
  • kennymotown
  • HarukoHaruhara
    • +4
      HarukoHaruhara  
    • kennymotown:

      God of the Old Testament is a sadist. He destroyed all of Mankind in a fit of pique; he demanded that no one could worship anyone but Him; he gave man free will, then tempted him, he sent his angels to kill and even rape; he allowed Job to be tortured just to see if he would still believe in Him. Pretty sick old bastard, if you ask me.

    • 11 months ago
  • kennymotown
  • OlBlue
    • +1
      OlBlue  
    • kennymotown:

      I think he's a sadomasochist. He created this mess and now he's got to deal with it. I just hope to God that if he wears assless chaps he doesn't reveal himself to us in them. You don't think he's an exhibitionist do you?

    • 11 months ago
  • kennymotown
  • ThirdSection
  • kennymotown
  • VFORVENDETTA
  • mebsn22
    • +4
      mebsn22  

    • All religions die. Look back in human history. One god to many gods and back to one god. " History does not repeat itself but it does rhyme"(Mark Twain).

    • 11 months ago
  • kennymotown
  • Ricky84
    • +2
      Ricky84  

    • Sounds like a bunch of wishful thinking. None of the things listed in this article actually eradicates religion and at best it would be a stretch to suppose a combination of the particulars would kill off religion. The whole issue is kind of like saying heterosexuality is dying, or white people are dying because society has changed and we're not exerting the same rigid controls on homosexuals and minorities.

      Spirituality and religion is just part of the human condition.

    • 11 months ago
  • kennymotown
  • OlBlue
    • +2
      OlBlue  

    • The more hatred and oppression I see from religious groups, sometimes overt but usually covert, the more I think religion is not such a good thing. I cannot think of any significant religious group that is not guilty of this "sin" of hatred and oppression.

    • 11 months ago
  • kennymotown
  • HarukoHaruhara
  • kennymotown
  • OlBlue
    • +2
      OlBlue  
    • HarukoHaruhara:

      Good question. I've studied Buddhism for many years and don't consider it a religion. Some may argue the point but this from "Killing the Buddha" by Sam Harris, says it better than I could:

      "The ninth-century Buddhist master Lin Chi is supposed to have said, “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” Like much of Zen teaching, this seems too cute by half, but it makes a valuable point: to turn the Buddha into a religious fetish is to miss the essence of what he taught. In considering what Buddhism can offer the world in the twenty-first century, I propose that we take Lin Chi’s admonishment rather seriously. As students of the Buddha, we should dispense with Buddhism."

      Interestingly, in regions where Buddhism is more "religious", as in Sri Lanka and East Asia, the practitioners can be less peaceful.

    • 11 months ago
  • HarukoHaruhara
  • OlBlue
  • Truthitswhatsfordinner
  • OlBlue
  • kennymotown
  • hammywill
    • +3
      hammywill  

    • Except religions is growing worldwide...so I am not sure where the scientific rationale is behind this assertion. Although the RATE is plummeting, so there is that.

      Though I would not mind if it died..lol...

    • 11 months ago
  • kennymotown
  • kalamama
  • kennymotown
    • +1
      kennymotown  
    • kalamama:

      Thanks I appreciate that, you know there is a saying about agnostics that goes....... an agnostic is just hedging his bet! :) Not saying I'm either but it does make me laugh.....:)

    • 11 months ago
  • kalamama
  • kennymotown
  • kalamama
  • kennymotown
  • kalamama
  • kennymotown
  • johnnyTremaine
    • +1
      johnnyTremaine  
    • Image

    • It's in the Protocols, I hate to keep bringing it up, but every one of the social ills and inequities prevalent in American society today from vaccine poisoning of children to control of the media, destruction of religion, terrorist police states

      The global elite are following this template , they have adopted the blueprint layed out in the fictional 'Protocols', as their business plan for the corporate aristocracy to consolidate their power and become absolute. Destruction of religion is just one of the 23 protocols. read for yourself.

      http://ddickerson.igc.org/protocols.html

    • 11 months ago
  • kennymotown
  • jackhole
  • alexandrekBack
    • +3
      alexandrekBack  

    • I think there is some valid and sound points, yet, not in USA, I mean, you got a mormon on the final presidential leg and look how important subjects like "same sex", abortion and others bigots retarded issues, USA looks getting even more religious, sadly!

    • 11 months ago
  • DerJoker
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