|
|
Hopefully, someday the human race will outgrow the need for religion. However, until that happens, do you think any new religions will
arise to take the place of Christianity, Judaism,Islam, etc., and what might
they include?
Firstly:
" someday the human race will outgrow the need for religion" Is something I have very mixed feelings about. The thing is that "Religions ain't religions".
What is an ethic or an aesthetic to one person might be a religion to another person. The Dalai Lama says "happiness" is his religion. Is he wrong? Is he a
moron? Should we look forward to the human race outgrowing a need for happiness?
I don't think so.
If we say " someday the human race will outgrow the need for God (or gods or god religions or superstition)" then I agree that it is something to hope for and to work towards.
The difference is a critical one. I don't want to be completely defined in negative terms - in terms of what I am not, in terms of what I reject and repudiate. Yes, I reject gods and spirits and superstition but that doesn't say what and who I am - only what I am not. I want to embrace life and diversity and possibility!
So to the second part:
"do you think any new religions will arise to take the place of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc., and what might they include?" I don't know if any major new "god" religions will arise - if they do they will probably be evolved forms of christianity and islam. There is a movement amongst the more intellectual and mystical members of the monotheistic faiths towards their "common ground" - whether
this ever becomes a popular movement or not is difficult to say. The Bahai's are an interesting development in this direction but they may just be a minor footnote in the history of religion.
I think (I hope and wish) that "monotheism" is just a stage we had to go through on the way from primative savage to wherever it is we should be going.
(And where is it we should be going? Why dont we ask ourselves this question?)
If (and its a big IF) the human race survives and thrives and we continue to build some kind of "civilization" from our diverse competing interests - God religions should fade.
I hope that, given that humanity, and some "civilization" survives the coming (population/economic/ecological/political) crisis of this century, that a new kind of religious consciousness will emerge.
People still have a need to know who or what they are or perhaps more accurately *what they can be* - this is what religion should be about. What it often *is* -
we all know too well - we all complain about it often enough. 8-)
This new religion will not be a about a creator "God".
It might come out of a fusion of the ideas from Budhism, Toaism, the environmental movement and who knows what else...
What exactly it will be I don't know, but I truly believe that we (the human race) either find it or we perish. (Mark Richardson #1095)
In ancient times, superstitious people often created gods in the image
of themselves doing what they did, perhaps to bring good fortune to
their enterprises. Farmers might worship a fertility god. Fishermen
would want a sea god. Hunters often prayed to the spirits of the animals
whom they hunted. Warrior groups, of course, prayed to militant god. I
believe that in a previous post, I noted in the OT, Yaweh often behaves
like a barbarian warlord.
So what do we do today? At least in developed countries, technology
rules. Nevertheless, many people are still superstitious and looking for
easy answers to life's complicated problems. Could we see the rise of a
new religion based on some mutation of science and technology? Some
might look to a god as the great 'Programmer in the Sky', or the
original genetic tinkerer. I think that others might even look to the
internet as a religion. If one thinks about how people from all over the
planet are in constant contact and exchanging information and thoughts
with each other at the speed of light, there is something almost spooky
about it. There is probably more information recorded on the net today,
than was recorded up to a few years ago in human history. (If not we are
getting there fast.)
I could see people looking at the net as being something close to
all-knowing. It does have a lot of power. Many governments and
businesses would probably crash if it were taken away. It can reward or
punish, e.g. your identity gets stolen, or you receive a virus. If
someone, probably not Google, ever decides to archive everything on the
net, it could even offer a sort of immortality. In short, it has many of
the features of the old fashioned gods.
In the year 2101, the Rev. Billy Gates III might begin the service by
typing: "My brothers and sisters, let us log on........." And Pope Steve
II will issue an encyclical denouncing evil atheists for claiming that
the Holy Internet is nothing more than silicon chips and electrons.
Anyway, it might make a good plot for a science fiction short story. (John Hachmann, aa #1782)
The next major world religion, provided common sense
doesn't prevail and eliminate all cults (yeah right,
we're talking about human beings here) will likely be
a mish-mash of islam and catholicism simply because of
the number of people currently under their influence.
(If you think they won't mix, remember that vodun is a
mix of catholicism and African animism.) Popularity,
power, opportunism, and luck are usually the deciding
factors ofwhat religion dominates (catholicism had all
four). (Bob Dog # 153)
The fact that the roots of human religious belief go back some 130,000
years does not suggest that it will disappear any time in the near
future. (chibiabos)
As long as there is money to be made off the the fears of human beings,
there will always be religion, of some kind. Fear of the unknown is a
very powerful motivating force. And unfortunately, there are those that
will exploit that fear for profit. It may have a nice new flashy
package, but once opened, it's the same old stink. (Karl E. Taylor #1143
It's also important to note that there are many people who are members of
various religions but are indifferent to their teachings, take no part in
their liturgy and play no role in their advancement. I suppose religion
for such people could be said to be meeting a "need" but I don't think
it's a very significant one.
This is important because the real "need" served by assuming a human need
for religion is the need of religion to maintain its own power base. It
has nothing to do with the needs of the human race. It has everything to
do with the need to preserve the status quo on the part of religionists
who benefit from that arrangement.
That said, I think religion, like most human structures of thought, is
constantly evolving. In fact, the most dynamic elements of most religions
spring from the conflict between the new elements within those religions
and the traditional strains that are resistant to change. Sometimes those
conflicts will lead to the development of new religions. More often they
lead to the formation of new sects within the old.
It's also important to note that individual believers usually tailor their
religious beliefs to suit thier own predilections. In that sense, there
are lots of new religions being formed all the time. It's often the case
that religionists who belong to the same sects disagree on some of the
most basic concepts of their religion. If anyone doubts that, go drop in
on one of the religious newsgroups and lurk for a while.
With all that in mind, I doubt we'll ever reach a point at which there are
no religions around. The "god of the gaps" will always exist in some form
or another, and there will always be some sort of religions organized
around variations in that concept. However, I think religion will become
less and less important, as time goes by, and eventually will be regarded
by most of humanity as a cultural novelty.
Of course, this assumes that some cataclysm does not throw us into a newer
version of the dark ages and wipe out much of the progress we have made.
Religion always prospers most in times of ignorance and superstition.
(George Ricker #146)
A non-exclusive list would include:
While these (and others) can be accomplished without falling back on
religion, the trappings of religion provide a vehicle to encompass
all these fears.
Good people are involved in religion. But religion offers a good
hideout for bad people, and protects them if they utter the right
passwords. As long as we have bad people, we'll have religion.
(Dewie Henize #122)
Will Christianity still exist in a thousand years. Given that it's still
a relatively young religion, and presuming that the species hasn't
discarded religion altogether, I wouldn't be surprised. Would it much
resemble modern-day Christianity? Probably not much, but I would bet that
it would be a recognizable descendant. Would it co-exist with at least
one other major religion that had its start between now and then? I would
wager that it well might. Will it still have the largest set of adherants
of all the major religions? Who knows, but I'm doubtful (heck, Islam,
alone, looks like it could overtake it within a few decades).
Will Christianity exist in ten thousand years? Probably not. In a
million years? Not bloody likely. In a billion years? Yeah, right. And
I'll be the Holy Emperor of the Universe. (Andrew Lias)
People really do seem to be disatisfied (or perhaps impatient) with
technology. Even mainstream culture is being infected with "spiritual"
memes. The Matrix? Feng Shui? We appear to have taken leave of our
senses.
If this keeps up, /I/ might start a cult.
On a more positive note, I think we might see more attempts to answer
spiritual questions in a non-theistic way
Click here to return to master question page.
This new religion will be about *existence* and it's meaning.
It will not be in conflict with science.
It will not easily be a tool of the powerful to control the weak.
It will encourage respect for life, for diversity, for creativity.
It will encourage us to care for the future of our planet and our species.
Socialization
Power to dominate
Power by belief in superiority
Exclusion of the unwanted
Revocation of personal responsibility
Permission to threaten and bully
Goals worth dying for
Goals worth killing for
Goals worth lying for
Simplification of worldview
