Which Religions Will Do Best In The Next Few Centuries?

[StarryEyed]

EliyahuQeoni said:

StarryEyed said:
I can't see the long-term survival of religions which purport to know the specifics of God - especially when such claims fly in the face of science and logic.

"Logic is the beginning of wisdom... not the end" - Cpt Spock

"God is not a hypothesis derived from logical assumptions, but an immediate insight, self-evident as light. He is not something to be sought in the darkness with the light of reason. He is the light." - Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

That isn't quite what I meant. Your Rabbi makes specific claims about God and declares Him, "self-evident as light."

I believe future religion will be all about a search for spirituality, about possibilities - not a claim that we know the nature of it.

 

[Plecostomus]

Science and religion can co-exist. I personally believe that science represents the tools that God uses to run the universe and by unlocking those secrets you become closer to Him.

Sadly not all my brethren feel that way.

 

[StarryEyed]

.. the Borg are the ultimate missionaries/religion. You WILL join, you WILL like it, you HAVE NO CHOICE.

I agree.

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

StarryEyed said:

EliyahuQeoni said:

StarryEyed said:
I can't see the long-term survival of religions which purport to know the specifics of God - especially when such claims fly in the face of science and logic.

"Logic is the beginning of wisdom... not the end" - Cpt Spock

"God is not a hypothesis derived from logical assumptions, but an immediate insight, self-evident as light. He is not something to be sought in the darkness with the light of reason. He is the light." - Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

That isn't quite what I meant. Your Rabbi makes specific claims about God and declares Him, "self-evident as light."

I believe future religion will be all about a search for spirituality, about possibilities - not a claim that we know the nature of it.

Oh, I understand what you mean. I was just pointing out that religion being illogical does not necessarily invalidate it. I'm the first to admit that my religious/spiritual beliefs aren't logical, but I don't view logic as the ultimate tool of discerning reality. That's all I meant by posting the above quote.

I think the search for meaning is one of great merit, but some seem to have issues when their fellows find meaning (or a meaning that they themselves don't agree with). Any meaningful search must end with something being discovered.

 

[StarryEyed]

I think the search for meaning is one of great merit, but some seem to have issues when their fellows find meaning (or a meaning that they themselves don't agree with). Any meaningful search must end with something being discovered.

Yeah, understood. Problem is, there have been lots of people who have claimed to find meaning but there is huge disagreement on what that meaning is. No one party can present any valid claim which gives their meaning primacy over anyone else's meaning so as a matter of practicality, we must all agree to disagree here or we'll be at each other's throats. That's why I see future religion as a personal, non-specific thing. Dogmatic religion - where different people claim different absolute truths - is dangerous.

 

[Garibaldi O'brien]

NOT SCIENTOLOGY.

And I can only hope the rest of them will die on the vine, but I suspect we'll have them around for another few centuries.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Plecostomus said:
--One way to look at it... the Borg are the ultimate missionaries/religion. You WILL join, you WILL like it, you HAVE NO CHOICE.

Case in point. Perhaps the future religion will be comprised entirely of door to door salesmen.

 

[misskim86]

Probably islam since it is spread so ruthless

 

[anti-matter]

I think they'll all be around ... just like in B5.

 

[starburst]

Uss Stardis said:
A new Bible based prediction based on a study of Its time-line information gives the world only 3 1/4 years left. It is not easy to explain but basically it says that 2011 is the 7000 year anniversary of the flood and thus; doomsday for the same reasons the world was destroyed by flood; sin. But this time it's with fire not water.

Nice...although the way things going with global warming I guess another flood could happen (or a super sunami)...wonder what could cause the world to be destroyed by fire, meteor?

Religion and Science can coexist, will just take some religious people to accept that they can still have their beliefs but other people can debate and doubt it.

I have always wondered what would happen if someones core beliefs were proved wrong, for instance an alien race being present during the time of Jesus and having evidence that parts of that history were incorrect or completly wrong for example.

Right now I dont think its in humanity for those people to accept it and it would likely lead to hostilities with said race.

Random thought, not sure if any of you will get what Im trying to get at, hope so though.

 

[Sean Aaron]

Dayton3 said:
Which religions do you think will do best (that is have the most people following it) in the next say 400 years?

It would be nice if humanity put all this superstitious nonsense behind it by then...

 

[blaXXer]

Why, the church of Star Trek, of course...*cue futurame theme*

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Scientology...after Xenu's prison and remnants of space craft that look like Douglas DC-8's are found.

Reformed Zoroastrianism will be on the upswing, too.

 

[Mysterion]

Zen Catholic Church, Third Reform (Terran)

 

[starburst]

Ah yes the alien space craft which resembles a modern jet aircraft complete with NASA logo on the tail (from one scientologists artistic impression Ive seen on the net)

Im lost to how anyone can take something from a scifi writers brain as truth, then again elements of the bibile were changed when it was created by the Romans (not that the Romans were scifi writers).

As for religions disappearing in the future...why not? The beliefs of the ancient Egyptions as well as a number of other cultures arent practiced anymore so who knows what event might change in the future.

 

[captcalhoun]

Neo-Norse (Church of Thor)
Jedi
Neo-Greek (Church of Hercules)
Neo-Egyptian (damn 'gaters.)
Ichor God Bel-Shamaroth Cult
Church of Primus

 

[S'kai]

Arthur Clarke said that Buddhism was the only 20th century religion that would survive.

Myself, I vote for "Natural Religion" as proposed by Stephen Larsen in "The Fundamentalist Mind." Our brains are hardwired to BELIEVE. It must have some outlet, and we should find ones that celebrate our humanity and our wonder.

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

StarryEyed said:
That's why I see future religion as a personal, non-specific thing. Dogmatic religion - where different people claim different absolute truths - is dangerous.

Oh, absolutely. Though I don't think dogma is in and of itself the problem. The problem is the idea that there is only one path to The Truth©. This idea is definitely most prominent in dogmatic religions, but isn't--to my mind--a necessary component. If God exists and if He is infinite, as many religions propose, then it stands to reason--logically--that there an infinite number of paths to Him. Some of those paths may look very strange to others, but so long as they are meaningful for the person traveling the path then it is the "correct one." Some find meaning in God(s), some find meaning in nature, some find meaning in Science, and some will find meaning in places we haven't dreamed of yet. I think that so long as we as a species keep looking for meaning and ultimate truth, however one wishes to define such truth, then we're doing alright.

 

[JoeZhang]

Uss Stardis said:
A new Bible based prediction based on a study of Its time-line information gives the world only 3 1/4 years left. It is not easy to explain but basically it says that 2011 is the 7000 year anniversary of the flood and thus; doomsday for the same reasons the world was destroyed by flood; sin. But this time it's with fire not water.

Sounds a bit wonky - I've never seen a creationist account that puts the bibical story of the flood at 7,000 years - off the top of my head, it's generally @ 4,500 - 5,000.

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

Yeah, since most creationists place The Creation at around 4,000 BCE give or take a few years (or centuries depending on what method of counting you use). The 7000 anniversary of The Flood would place it around 5,000 BCE, which is well before most Biblical timelines have the world existing.