Is religion losing its influence?

I know that, as a Christian, I never used to feel like I had to apologize for some others who claim to be Christians the way I do now. It seems like now I will say, “Yes, I’m a Christian, but I’m not one of those mean right wing Christians.”
I think it’s sad I have to make the distinction that because I follow Christ doesn’t mean I allign myself with the agenda of others who also claim to follow him.
I’m pretty stubborn, and know what I believe, but I can see others just saying, “if thats Christianity, I don’t want anything to do with it.”
That leaves the churches full of extremists, just like politics seems to be.
I think we are probably all just going to implode.
The Bible does have things to say about the CAUSES of current problems, the modern fundamentalist movement chooses to ignore it. They preach a doctrine of prosperity instead of selflessness and embrace greed instead of stewardship and charity

We can only hope

I think it is too early to establish a trend. The power of the Catholic Church to scare people into obedience seems to have weakened, but the most remarkable trait of religions in my opinion is their ability to reflect the secular values of the people of the day. For example, homosexuality was once the most base of sins (akin with being of a different race or religion), but now several churches are allowing homosexuality – even in the clergy. For this reason, I think religion still has plenty of influence, and will continue to do so for some time yet.

The situation in the Arab world is too new to have any defining trends. We don’t know how many regimes will fall, what they will be replaced with, and what role Islam will have in the new system. All we can really say so far is that the people have shown a desire for change, and an ability to think outside of what their leaders say, so there is a great deal of hope for them yet. Hopefully as they begin to see the possibilities, they will show the same disdain for their religion that that have for their governments.

Hope so.
IMHO religion should stay in the home or the community. It should not be a political party.

I feel that it is, but that may simply be wishful thinking. The numbers dip and rise with different states the country is in. Ex: A depression may bring in more people looking to a higher being for answers, while others shed their faith because it does little to nothing to help the situation.

Religion is still too deeply rooted to be shaken so easily. Too many people are quick to switch back to the support of their religion when times are tough, instead of finding their own strength to move forward.

We’re not done with religion, not by a long shot. But we’re trying, and logic is gradually sinking in it seems, as the generations come and go. Now we simply wait, as logic sinks further, and further . . .

I suppose it depends on your definition of religion. If a religion requires a supernatural element to it, then yes they are declining. If a religion could be just secular and consists of unthinking dogma and doctrine then religions are on the rise in fields like politics and business.

Absolutely! “Organized” anything, from religious groups to labor unions, seems to be losing influence. Even community associations struggle with membership problems. People just seem to be a lot less accepting of promises made by institutions that offer little or no evidence of the pay off. Who knows? Maybe, at some future time, people will look back in history and view our present religious belief systems much as we view the old belief in ancient Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. I understand studies have linked increased intelligence with decreased religiosity.

Science has displaced religion as a way of explaining why the universe is as it is. That’s a big loss of influence. Many still see it as a way of explaining initial causes, but far fewer would see it as accounting for why the rains come. This explanatory role has been one of the oldest and most powerful roles of religion.

In the public policy domain, I think that the world has seen what happens when religion has a strong hand in policy, and it isn’t pretty. The Bush presidency was a Western version of governing by faith, and that didn’t work out so well. It’s not as if God showered America with blessings just because we tried to play by his book. The Taliban and Iranian regimes are a Muslim version, and that’s hardly a utopia either. Meanwhile, godless Sweden gets consistently ranked one of the happiest nations.

I actually do think there’s a place for religion. I think it has potential as a useful framework for personal transformation. It has potential for bringing out compassion in people. In that sense, it can be a powerful influence to the good. But when it tries to extend its influence beyond that strictly private sphere, things seem to go badly.

Hardly.

That’s me in the corner…...

i think peope are getting tired of religious rhetoric, and the bs that goes along with organized faiths, but in all i think people are spiritual beingsand will seek out that part of their lives regarldless of what its called…

There seems to be an inherent need in the human psyche to believe in something. Religion fills that need. Until there is something to replace that sense of certainty and allay our natural fear of death, I don’t see it receding very far. And when that something new comes along, it will probably look pretty much like a religion.

Does anybody know what the godless Chinese “believe in”? Seems like they represent a pretty big segment.

Religion will continue to exert an influence at a personal level. I think that its influence on a societal level will continue to diminish unless and until some new form of religion comes along. Some other issues that current religions are not equipped to address are genetic engineering and the effects of cybernetics.

Religion is definitely losing its influence. Spirituality is definitely not.

I think what we see in the Gallup poll as well as your noted changes in the Islamic world is the gradual erosion of church authority over life, and we see that decline happening most rapidly to the branches of faith that attempt to exert the most dogmatic, total control. We live in a world where information flows far more rapidly than ever before. No religion founded on principles laid down before or during Medieval times is going to jibe with facts being discovered and widely disseminated today. Every time religions butt heads with proven facts we all get a glimpse of a bit more real-estate behind the Great and Wonderful Wizard of Oz;‘s curtain. Pretty soon, we realize it is just a man back there, not that different from you and I, pulling the levers and pushing the knobs to animate the phony wizard.

There may be great reversals. The power structures of Catholicism, Islam and other major religions will not give up all that power without a murderous fight. But they are on the wrong side of history, and the arrow of time never reverses course to let those on the wrong side of history win a permanent victory.

There is much of value in the world’s great religions. We don’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water. But several of them have done grievous harm and been responsible for untold bloodshed and atrocities as well. A world ordered around rationalism and altruism (which is actually a rational value) will be a much better place than one ruled by a Great Pope or Imam or Guru.