Which Religions Will Do Best In The Next Few Centuries?

[EliyahuQeoni]

StarryEyed said:
I might be wrong but when I think of dogmatic religion, I think of a religion that purports to know the only True Path(TM) and that everyone else is Hell-bound.

Well, to some extent all religions are dogmatic. Dogma is merely the beliefs and doctrines of a religion that are accepted as authoritative and are usually not questioned by practitioners of that faith. One can have a dogmatic religion that doesn't include the dogmatic doctrine that their way is the only way.

 

[StarryEyed]

See, it's the authoritative and unquestionable part that I take issue with. Especially when it comes to moral issues. The only thing you can be authoritative and unquestionable about is facts that have been demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt. Anything less has to be open to disagreement as a matter of practicality because otherwise it degenerates into my holy cow vs. yours and that's an argument nobody can win.

I understand that this isn't something anybody who believes in anything dogmatically wants to hear but it has to be said. Give up dogma because it has no practical value. Find common ground with your fellow man and go from there.

 

[starburst]

I doubt religion will ever go away as things stand now, the believers will believe no matter what evidence is put in front of them and the disbelievers will know they are right because of the same evidence.

Me, Im a disbeliever as I cant find it in me to take that leap that something that has no proof can be true, but Im open to it (just cant go along with it at this point in life) and respect most who do for having that much faith in an idea. Only time I become agressive towards it is when I feel someone shoving their ideaology and doctrine down my throat as their way is the 'only' way.

Anyone read "The God Delusian", my brother was bought it for Christmas and I read the first chapter or so before he went back to University, raises some good questions but hadnt had a chance to get to the real meat of it yet.

 

[Saxman1]

Star Trek fan Tom Cruise would say Scientology.

Star Trek fan Saxman (a quasi-Roman Catholic) would say (according to Star Trek) secular humanism, as that's what ST (and GR) always pushed.

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

StarryEyed said:
Anything less has to be open to disagreement as a matter of practicality because otherwise it degenerates into my holy cow vs. yours and that's an argument nobody can win.

It certainly can and does, but I personally don't think it has to. Perhaps that's naive wishful thinking on my part, but I firmly believe that people can hold dogmatic beliefs and still accept and respect that others disagree.

As it happens, the unquestioning part is something I have a few issues with myself. I think questioning, searching and curiosity are hardwired aspects of the human condition. The problem is that so many people aren't really secure in their beliefs and see questions and/or doubts as an attack on their beliefs. The fact is that any religion that has lasted more than a few generations has had to change and adapt its dogma and beliefs to fit the times it finds itself in.

Find common ground with your fellow man and go from there.

This is a sentiment that I can find no fault in. I think far too often people focus on our differences rather than are similarities. Religion can be divisive, but--once again--I don't think it has to be.

 

[starburst]

Cruise is a Trek fan? But doesnt he believe aliens fly around in Douglas jet airlines?

 

[Who_Trek]

The Eastern Relgions, Buddhism and Hinduism.

 

[fullfathomfive]

Shatnerology. Mainly because when I occasionally run into people I knew from my time in various churches who ask me where I am going to church now, I can tell them I have embraced shatnerology, and eagerly await the coming of the ubershatner.

Seriously though, most of our current belief systems will continue, Christianity will become more like Hinduism in its inclusiveness, Islam may finally have its equivalent of the reformation and enlightenment, fundamentalism will continue to be a fringe annoyance, and weird cults will still seduce the unthinking and unwary.

john

 

[Balthier the Great]

My best guesses:

Bahai -- For reasons stated above.

Islam, though probably in a couple of different forms:

As a personal religion -- something like Judaism is today. Even in Israel, they aren't keen on theocracy

As a mystic religion -- something like Sufiism

And as a religion with later revelations. There's one in Pakistan called Ammadhiyya that says the Mahdi has come and forbids holy war.

Buddhism and Taoism -- I don't see a lot of change here, because they're more tolerant and accepting of new ideas. The idea is to become a good person yourself, not to gain converts.

Judaism -- hey, after 10,000 some years of trying to kill it, it's still here. i can't think of anything short of human extiction that could kill it in the future.

Christianity -- Maybe. I think it won't exist in the literal sense. It can't survive as the current Armageddon is soon form, and most literal interpretations seem to contradict science. The one form I think could work is the charismatic personal experience form, perhaps with the idea that the kingdom of God is inside you, not something physical.

Tenrikyo -- It's a revealled religion based on Shinto. The idea is that through reincarnation and working for the good of all people, you remove dirt from your soul and get to be with Tsuhiki, who is God according to Tenrikyo.

And probably a bunch of new revelations. I could see combining several of the above into new religions.

Herbert mentions Buddislam, which seems like a distinct possibility. I could also see Christoislam, where Jesus dies to allow people to follow some rules. Tenrikyo/Islam also seems like a reasonable possibility. Maybe some forms of Gnosticism as well.

New revelations will increase after humans start living in space permanently.

What I'd predict is that religion will become more and more focused on the INTERAL part of man and less on EXTERNAL rituals and creeds.

Maybe there will be a rational form of Zen too. The idea being that the universe is logical and mathematical and that's what you should strive for.

 

[StarryEyed]

Maybe there will be a rational form of Zen too. The idea being that the universe is logical and mathematical and that's what you should strive for.

Hmmm. Vulcan philosophy?

 

[EnsignRicky]

Well, I heard that some time around 2238, not to long after "The Great Burning", surviving records will lead to the rise of Kal-El, the great Highlander Jedi Hobbit Lord. His teachings will lead mankind into a thousand years of piece...That is until the rise of Darth Scooby-Doo, the Ghostbusting Vorlon. But that's a story for another time.

 

[skep155]

Islam probably, and i find that prospect extremely frightening. Our brains are indeed hardwired to believe, not just in religions, but in things without evidence. We spend the first years of our lives accepting everything our parents tell us as true.

Unlike Christianity with its meekness and supposed love for all regardless of whether they are your enemy, Islam is ruthless. The Koran is written in first person as though God himself was narrating it to you, hence making every word of the Koran unquestionable to many muslims. Combined with the hadith we have the Shariah law, whereby leaving Islam is punished with death, along with quite a lot of other things. This kind of belief system is extremely dangerous, since it essentially forbids independent thinking, and if you dare to think for yourself you are killed.

We might all end up being borg after all...

 

[misskim86]

agrees totally

 

[starburst]

skep155 said:
Islam probably, and i find that prospect extremely frightening. Our brains are indeed hardwired to believe, not just in religions, but in things without evidence. We spend the first years of our lives accepting everything our parents tell us as true.

The funny thing is after telling us the truth about Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy alot of parents wonder when their kids question them on their insistance that everything in the Bible is real

Im still going on it depending on if something comes to prove these faiths are wrong people will still believe in it and even then there will bound to be calls for war with whoever tells us the truth (and if its little green/grey men they will say its their truth to bend us to their will)

 

[Deks]

Actually no, our brains are not hardwired to believe.
People are taught to believe in something as it's mostly what others do around them during the process of maturation (when people are the most influential) .

Atheists for example by definition are devoid of beliefs entirely, and since that alone proves what I just wrote in the first sentence, stating that people (as in a universal manner or rule) are hardwired to 'believe' is inaccurate.

As for which religions will survive over the next several centuries ?
Honestly I have no idea.
Personally, I would love for everyone to be atheists ... but that is just a personal desire.
In any case ...
Just because a religion has persisted for 2000 years or more, doesn't mean it will continue to persist in the future.

For one thing, lots of things can happen between the present and the next 400 years.
Also, look at how much society progressed/changed over the past 100 years alone technologically speaking along with our knowledge (which is despite it's huge increase over the past century alone still considered about 0.001 % on a universal scale ... generously speaking of course).

It could be wishful thinking that all religions will phase out as our knowledge increases ...
Then again, anything is possible, so I wouldn't rule that possibility out.

If anything I would sooner prefer if people stopped butchering and fighting one another over resources/territory like they are children (and also not use religion as a justification on numerous of their actions).
I would like that people learn to at the very least tolerate/respect one another and at the same time grasp those concepts and not go around behaving opposite.

If religion will not phase out over the next several centuries, it's possible it will simply take a back seat.
But I can definitely imagine that as our knowledge of the world/universe grows that people would rely less and less on religion and we would at the very least see more agnostics/atheists as time goes by (of course as one of the possibilities).

 

[starburst]

Deks said:
Actually no, our brains are not hardwired to believe.
People are taught to believe in something as it's mostly what others do around them during the process of maturation (when people are the most influential) .

Atheists for example by definition are devoid of beliefs entirely, and since that alone proves what I just wrote in the first sentence, stating that people (as in a universal manner or rule) are hardwired to 'believe' is inaccurate.

Very true, its how you get family members believing or not believing in different things to their own point of view, Im sure there are some members of faiths who wish we were hardwired to believe in what they think is right.

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

Deks said:
Actually no, our brains are not hardwired to believe.

There are many biologists who would disagree with you. While I don't think its been proven beyond a doubt, there is much evidence to support the theory.

Atheists for example by definition are devoid of beliefs entirely,

Nope. Atheists by definition don't believe in god(s). Atheists, like everyone else, have beliefs.

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

skep155 said:
Unlike Christianity with its meekness and supposed love for all regardless of whether they are your enemy, Islam is ruthless.

And totally unlike the loving meekness of the Crusades...

The Koran is written in first person as though God himself was narrating it to you, hence making every word of the Koran unquestionable to many muslims.

Many Christians and Jews believe that their Bibles are the unquestionable word of God as well, despite not being written in the first person. So the difference isn't as great as it might sound.

 

[exalted one]

Cthulhu is going to get you all, yummy cultists!

 

[GMDreia]

Who says that in four hundred years, there wouldn't be some entirely new religion that gains humongous momentum?

Look at the progress Mormonism has made after being around less than 200 years.