Gradual Secularization of Humanity

[JustinS]

I would like to post about an interesting theory. This theory predicts the gradual decline of religion from society, and eventually the complete secularization of humanity, i.e. religion disappearing from the world. Why? Well, the theory is based on multiple principles, or assumptions, that I find to be very accurate:

• Religion was fabricated as a means to satisfy human curiosity, before there was enough scientific understanding to do so
• Constantly, revisionist and reformist movements have allowed religion to conform to cultural, social, and scientific norms
• This frequent revisionism has caused the rejection of multiple doctrines in religious texts, causing them to become obsolete
• Scientific advancements made by humans have outweighed all religious texts in terms of logic and rationality
• These advancements contribute heavily to the revisionism and rejection of religious doctrines
• Along with scientific advancements, the social liberalization of western society has contributed to the revisionism and rejection of authoritarian doctrines

After a long enough time, heavy revisionism might cause western religion to fall into a much more accepting, tolerant, and liberal state. Most, if not all, of the doctrines in the Bible would be ignored (excluding, of course, those dealing with love, ethics, and morality with actual moral bases). A long time after that, Christianity may simply disappear if the remaining doctrines are accepted by secular people as well. It may just blend flawlessly into secular culture. Of course, this would take a very long time. Fundamentalism will hold this agenda back, but fundamentalism has been growing less common these days.

You might ask, "What about the invention of new religions?". This will become very rare after scientific advancements have been fully adopted by western culture. With so much secular prejudice existing against these 'new religions', it would be impossible for them to gain a significant number of followers once former religious bands with Christianity have been dissolved.

Middle Eastern culture would take much, much longer to secularize. The authoritarian nature of the countries might leave them hundreds of years (possibly thousands) behind western culture in terms of secularization. If Middle Eastern culture ends up progressing on a path similar to western culture, then the theory would apply here.

Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Max Weber, and Émile Durkheim, are all people who think that the rapid progress of science will lead to the significant decline in religion, if not the entire disappearance of religion. In the future, it may still exist, but instead as more of a deistic entity that promotes few moral values. After this stage, I am making a leap and saying that it may eventually go away due to lack of power or control over society.

How many of you guys agree?

Disclaimer: I am not anti-religious. This is just a prediction.

[xSilverPhinx]

There was an interesting analogy I came across some time back, in which at in the first moment, the gods lived high on the mountain top (Greek gods - Mt. Olympus). Then, god was pushed up towards and over the clouds. Now, god is outside the observable universe.

I wonder where god will go next.

If I were to guess, I'd say that we can't escape our nature. All it takes is some form of existential stress or insecurity and people will resort to religion with its comforting beliefs and sense of control over the universe and their fates. I can't envision a dystopian future without some form of religion.

I don't think religions will disappear completely, at most it will change into memes more readily accepted by the culture at the time. This is why I'm not against cherry-picking the good bits, provided they're the good bits.

I would also guess that religions will become increasingly separate from explaining how things in the world work, because that is their inherent weakness. A system with those sorts of beliefs is a weak one (creationism, for instance) and will go more and more to the fringes of society, because it's too easy for people to see that they're false.  Even though creationists are the loudest, they're not representative of most of the theistic population. Religion will become more abstract and more of a life philosophy than a way to explain how the world works.

The Catholic Church has rather brilliantly (not being sarcastic here) decided to promote the separate magisteria (religion and science don't mix but are not mutually exclusive) idea.

The other human tendency for religion is wanting to control the universe in some way. Superstition such as lucky charms and prayer fall into this category. Once again, usually the more people are educated on things such as cognitive biases, the less they believe that they're actually exerting some form of control over the universe. My guess is things like prayer will have more of a meditative purpose and transform into an acute awareness of lucky circumstances.

[Stevil]

The key contributor to secularisation is globalisation.
Governments have no choice but to create inclusive laws that provide freedom for people of all religions and non religions.

[JustinS]

The key contributor to secularisation is globalisation.
Governments have no choice but to create inclusive laws that provide freedom for people of all religions and non religions.

I don't think that this is the case. Western democracies were partially secular way before globalization. The American Constitution started out with these inclusive laws. However, I would agree that discrimination against atheists has been reduced since the establishment of democracy in the west. I think that this is because of scientific advancements rather than globalization though.

[Stevil]

The American Constitution started out with these inclusive laws.

The British, conquered the American Indians, and the Americans enslaved the Africans.
It took America sometime and much globalisation to realise that people are people regardless where they come from.
America has been a large global melting pot for a very long time. Globalisation has been around for a very long time.

[JustinS]

The American Constitution started out with these inclusive laws.

The British, conquered the American Indians, and the Americans enslaved the Africans.
It took America sometime and much globalisation to realise that people are people regardless where they come from.
America has been a large global melting pot for a very long time. Globalisation has been around for a very long time.

I guess that it does depend on what you mean by globalization. I thought that you meant the late-20th century kind that brought on frequent international trade and a surge of neoliberalism. However, there still is much discrimination against atheists in America today, and I wouldn't say that globalization is the main reason for decline in religiosity.

[Sandra Craft]

As much as I'd like to see this, I don't think it will ever happen.  I think there's something in humans that hard wires (most of) us toward spiritual feelings and perceptions.  They don't need to be Xtian or of any specific organized religion, but I really don't think science will do away with spirituality.

[xSilverPhinx]

IMO secularisation is what you get when you have diversity and the desire for a stable society. Forced religious conversions are frowned upon these days, so that's no longer viable. Globalisation does deal with diversity.

Ironically it was because of the religious persecution going on in Europe at the time people started settling in North America that caused them to adopt the idea of separation of Church and State. 

[The Magic Pudding]

Good times are comin',
but they sure comin' slow.

[JustinS]

As much as I'd like to see this, I don't think it will ever happen.  I think there's something in humans that hard wires (most of) us toward spiritual feelings and perceptions.  They don't need to be Xtian or of any specific organized religion, but I really don't think science will do away with spirituality.

Yes, this is why I think that such complete secularization would take a long time, but could be possible given the right circumstances (may not happen though). It really depends. Christianity in its future form will be extremely tolerant, so it doesn't really matter that much. In my opinion, religion is generally benevolent excluding fundamentalism and evangelicalism.

I don't personally think that the human brain is wired for spiritual feelings, although I have talked to a lot of Christians who say they are Christians because they want to be happier. Religion seems to have been founded on two principles: curiosity and the pursuit of happiness. I think that the former is perhaps the stronger principle.

IMO secularisation is what you get when you have diversity and the desire for a stable society. Forced religious conversions are frowned upon these days, so that's no longer viable.

Diversity can play a significant role in determining secularization. However, since atheists (at least in America) are such a minority and the vast majority of immigrants to America are religious, the diversity in America seems to be preconditioned towards freedom of expression of religion rather than being devoted towards secularization. Also, there exist circumstances in which the society is largely secular to start with, such as Scandinavia.

[Egor]

I don't know. I do agree Christianity will become far more tolerant than it is. Believe me in the last 40 years, I can tell you it has become extremely tolerant. I see no reason why that won't continue into the future as churches try harder and harder to fill their stadium-sized megachurches. I recently talked to a man who didn't even want to call himself a "Christian" because that had religious connotations and he didn't want people to think he was "religious." Many churches I see today have no crosses at all, but have replaced them with globes (Now, there's some interesting symbolism.). Even the Catholic Church has become way more tolerant than it ever, ever was. Again, apparently, you got to keep the customer happy.

But I'm not worried about that, because I am a Gospels-only Christian (a title an atheist gave me). And I consider the Gospels entirely inerrant. So, on the one hand I don't harbor any ill-will toward homosexuals, because Jesus never talked about them, but at the same time, I'm pretty adamant that unless you hate your mother and father, you will never be able to follow Christ. If you look at a woman in lust, you have committed adultery, and if you don't live up to the talents God has given you, He will throw you into hell. And there's a whole lot more.

What I discovered, becoming a Gospels-only Christian is that I don't look a lot like most Christians. How is that possible? How can someone love Jesus Christ as much as I do and be so separated from the main body of believers? And what would happen if Jesus showed up today? How would he be accepted given what the Gospels say? I tell you this: I don't really work on arguments for the existence of God anymore. I have a ton of those. I work on these kinds of questions, and they torment me.

Great post, Justin. You really got me thinking.

Ed

[Ecurb Noselrub]

If you look at a woman in lust, you have committed adultery, and if you don't live up to the talents God has given you, He will throw you into hell.

Then you are going to hell. What do you think it will be like?  Just askin'.

[Egor]

If you look at a woman in lust, you have committed adultery, and if you don't live up to the talents God has given you, He will throw you into hell.

Then you are going to hell. What do you think it will be like?  Just askin'.

How could I go to hell? I've put my faith in Jesus Christ. You don't even know what that means, do you?

[xSilverPhinx]

IMO secularisation is what you get when you have diversity and the desire for a stable society. Forced religious conversions are frowned upon these days, so that's no longer viable.

Diversity can play a significant role in determining secularization. However, since atheists (at least in America) are such a minority and the vast majority of immigrants to America are religious, the diversity in America seems to be preconditioned towards freedom of expression of religion rather than being devoted towards secularization. Also, there exist circumstances in which the society is largely secular to start with, such as Scandinavia.

Diversity goes beyond just the nonreligious minorities. It also protects the religious from the religious (in fact, moreso), religions from the State and the State from religions. At least that's the idea. Whether or not a country such as the U.S is secular and is respecting its own constitution is another thing.

[xSilverPhinx]

Religions are actually a bit late in the tolerance and growing up game, but that's how it is. Then there are those who would prefer that more people were like them...

If you look at a woman in lust, you have committed adultery, and if you don't live up to the talents God has given you, He will throw you into hell.

Then you are going to hell. What do you think it will be like?  Just askin'.

How could I go to hell? I've put my faith in Jesus Christ. You don't even know what that means, do you?

Is there a difference between putting fatih in Jesus and having the faith of Jesus?