Asking for a clarification, hope you can help

Post Reply New Topic

I have noticed that in the USA, about 3-12% of people are atheists or agnostics and I have noticed that the majority of message board posters that pertain to religion, science, or something similar claim to be atheists or agnostics and a lot of them bag on religion and people who beleive in a higher power. Even when I read youtube comments, it seems that at least 30% of people who comment about something that pertains to society will either claim or try to hint that they do not believe in any God or are a skeptic.

I have read some article about how church attendance has been declining everywhere in the Western World and some articles I read say the opposite, that people are becoming more religious. So I don't know which is right. Are people becoming more secular, more religious, or is at the same levels as it always been?

I have noticed that the younger generation (ages 30 and below) have become more scientific minded whereas the older generations tend to think more supernaturally to explain things.

I really don't know what to think about this. Despite what you all may think or have been brainwashed to think, I do believe that society overall is decaying, and I do think that it will continue to escalate. I am afraid of how things will be 20-30 years from now. Young people today generally do not respect their elders like they did 30 years ago, for young people today it's all about me-me-me-me-me-me. All they care about is the shoes they wear, the cell phone they have, and what they drive. Just because America elected a black president doesn't mean all that much. Slavery ended in the 1860's but people were still very prejudiced after that. I even heard on the CNN a few months back that hate groups are up 30% in the last five years. Just because science is advancing and we have better medicine, doesn't necessarily mean we are better people overall. I would rather live among nice people with lesser-quality medicine than with immoral, plastic people and have better medicine. I don't think common courtesy even exists anymore. Three times this week I have heard 20-something year old people mutter the f-word on their cell phones not having a single care in the world of how other people might feel about their choice of words. Just about everyone has this "anything goes" attitude. I mean, where do you draw the line? Even though,I'm 17, and many of you think that I sound like an "old-school 75 year old", this is just how I see things. I KNOW the world is messed up. More messed up that ever. I don't know if values and morals are decaying just in the Western World or everywhere. I think I have heard that respect is also declining in Japan too. That's too bad. Anyway, I will quit my rant.

Is God-belief on the same levels as before in America and other Western countries, or is it declining or growing? Can anyone provide any clear-cut unbiased statistics on this topic?

I am not religious and never have been. I find that there are many worthwhile parts in religion that inspire people to behave decently to each other and many parts of religion that are much too fantastically idiotic for me to accept. I will soon be 83 years old and do not think the world is morally much better off than it was a few thousand years ago but science has given the world a better understanding of how things are and how they might be. Obviously the world is moving towards tough times but that has always been true. Make the best of it.

I can't find the source again. Somewhere from the internet.
I'm skeptical about it myself.

I was looking for another quote by a pre-Socratic writer, but I couldn't find it as I forgot his name.

I read an article the other day that some people in America pretend to be religious or Christians just to fit in or they would face difficulties in the work place or elsewhere. I guess similar behaviour exists in all religious extremist regions of the world. I bet there aren't many Muslims who would admit to being atheist either for fear of the consequences, so they just go through the motions.

At least here in France and England most people can be up-front about their atheism without fear of consequences. In fact atheist or believer is generally considered irrelevant in the workplace and elsewhere. In fact the reverse is more likely to be true, that a believer who tried to talk religion with co-workers would be considered weird and become an outcast.

It is not many years ago that people were expected to attend church on Sundays or face the finger wagging and tutting tongues of the believing majority. Nowadays, thankfully, religion in Europe is on the decline - at least it seems to be to me. Thank God

For years my parents answer "Church of England" on the census. Not because they believed in god, but because:
"Well, I don't want to put nothing and I was bought up as a Christian so I shall put that."