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fredinjeddah
22nd March 2011 - 07:55 AM
This is an interesting paper recently completed, on the growth of religeous non affiliation throughout certain parts of the world.

Growth of non affiliation

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When groups compete for members, the resulting dynamics of human social activity may be understandable with simple mathematical models. Here, we apply techniques from dynamical systems and perturbation theory to analyze a theoretical framework for the growth and decline of competing social groups. We present a new treatment of the competition for adherents between religious and irreligious segments of modern secular societies and compile a new international data set tracking the growth of religious non-affiliation. Data suggest a particular case of our general growth law, leading to clear predictions about possible future trends in society


Religeon is definately on the decline in many parts of the world, but as one thing declines, another increases, which inevitably leads some to feel isolated and those individuals become more radical as a result.
soundhertz
28th March 2011 - 02:48 AM
Study Finds Religion May Be Going “Extinct” in Some Countries
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/...some-countries/
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Looking at census data from nine countries, a team of scientists have made the bold assertion that religion is headed for extinction and it’s all based on a mathematical model of the complex social motives behind joining religious groups. As they note in their abstract, “People claiming no religious affiliation constitute the fastest growing ‘religious’ minority in many countries throughout the world.”

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Looking at census data from nine countries, a team of scientists have made the bold assertion that religion is headed for extinction and it’s all based on a mathematical model of the complex social motives behind joining religious groups. As they note in their abstract, “People claiming no religious affiliation constitute the fastest growing ‘religious’ minority in many countries throughout the world.”

    * Using a nonlinear dynamics model, which allows researchers to track outcomes from a number of factors, the scientists accounted for the “social and utilitarian merits” of being in a non-religious category, concluding that religion will die in societies wherever non-religious affiliation is more socially useful than religious affiliation—which seems to be the trend in the nine countries studied.



Some current charts on various aspects of church-going in the UK. America is similar:
http://www.whychurch.org.uk/trends.php
fredinjeddah
28th March 2011 - 06:51 AM
I sometimes wonder why religeon was created in the first place (before biblical). I truly believe man has always had the ability to be logical which would mean no need for a god, but I wonder if there was not a good valid reason for beginning to believe in a god.

I strongly suspect, that the fear of death has been an enormous motivator for religeon existing. If you do not believe in a god or afterlife of some sort, then you have to come to the realisation, that once dead, there is nothing. I think for most , and probably myself too, this is an awful thought to have to accept.

I have to accept this as a fact, unless otherwise is proven, but most people do not want to face this fact. It could make you stop moving forward. If everything is going to end including our galaxy and probably existance as we know it, then why bother going forward.

Even scientists agree, that we should be looking for other planets to possibly inhabit, so that we as a species, can continue to exist, but if we had knowledge (which we do not have yet for sure) that ultimately, the universe itself will also be destroyed, then why bother playing the game if the end result is already determned.

For me, there is this thing called life, and we should make it the most fun possible for ourselves and future generations, so that regardless of the end result, the enjoyment of life , and not the fear of death, is what should drive and motivate us to continue.
synthsin75
28th March 2011 - 06:03 PM
It probably should be pointed out that religious affiliation and church attendance are not the same as the belief in a god or spirituality. It'd be more apt to say that organized religion is on the decline, not necessarily religion itself.

I don't think the belief in a god, nor even religion, has a fear of death as its primary motivation. In a world of rule by strength, in which many religions formed, it could have merely been a idealization of a complimentary mental hierarchy to a brutal life. A nonphysical lord to counter the tyrant. A means of retaining some personal dignity by compartmentalizing the physical from the mental/spiritual.

The concept of an afterlife is distinct from the belief in a god, as reincarnation doesn't require a godhead. Since energy is never destroyed, some form of afterlife is in some way valid. If only for the components that make up a person.
fredinjeddah
1st April 2011 - 09:51 AM
QUOTE (synthsin75+Mar 28 2011, 06:03 PM)
It probably should be pointed out that religious affiliation and church attendance are not the same as the belief in a god or spirituality. It'd be more apt to say that organized religion is on the decline, not necessarily religion itself.

I don't think the belief in a god, nor even religion, has a fear of death as its primary motivation. In a world of rule by strength, in which many religions formed, it could have merely been a idealization of a complimentary mental hierarchy to a brutal life. A nonphysical lord to counter the tyrant. A means of retaining some personal dignity by compartmentalizing the physical from the mental/spiritual.


I would agree, that spirituality is on the rise, and organised religion on the decline.

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The concept of an afterlife is distinct from the belief in a god, as reincarnation doesn't require a godhead.
But is re-incarnation an afterlife? I do not think this is what is meant by re-incarnation as it is not a death (after life) but a re-birth back on earth.

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The concept of an afterlife is distinct from the belief in a god, as reincarnation doesn't require a godhead.
But is re-incarnation an afterlife? I do not think this is what is meant by re-incarnation as it is not a death (after life) but a re-birth back on earth.

Since energy is never destroyed, some form of afterlife is in some way valid. If only for the components that make up a person.
I agree, but the question is whether or not we would have conscienceness once we revert back to our original component/s.

synthsin75
1st April 2011 - 03:00 PM
QUOTE (fredinjeddah+Apr 1 2011, 03:51 AM)
But is re-incarnation an afterlife? I do not think this is what is meant by re-incarnation as it is not a death (after life) but a re-birth back on earth.

Any life after a death can easily be considered an afterlife. Either way we are considering a continuation after bodily death.

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... but the question is whether or not we would have conscienceness once we revert back to our original component/s.

And this is where a bodily or spiritual afterlife are joined, in the concept of a continuing consciousness. The question here would be what constitutes a fundamental element of the what we perceive of the mind.

I have a philosophical take on that which doesn't require any ideology.
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