The Fastest Growing World Religion – None
Oh no! According to this video, the fastest growing religion in the world is “no religion.” 1 in 5 American adults have no religion and this trend is growing quickly among internet savvy Millennials. This surely means that everyone is now going to throw morality out the window, and much like the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah, we’re gonna start having sex with rocks, raping angels and having gay orgies with the Anti-Christ! The horror the horror!
I mean, isn’t that what life was like before Judeo-Christian religion ever existed, didn’t people just rape babies and cannibalize each other left and right? I mean, there certainly weren’t tolerant, sophisticated pre-christian civilizations in the world like Egypt, Rome, or China – am I right?
Hopefully you understand that so far, this post has been very sarcastic, although much of what I mentioned above about Sodom would make cool content for a metal video.
EDUCATED PEOPLE ARE BECOMING LESS RELIGIOUS
But yes, it appears that all around the world, in the areas where people have more access to the internet and education, they are becoming less religious. Yet the lack of “religion” doesn’t mean that people aren’t spiritual. Even several of the atheists I know take solace in practices like meditation and yoga.
Yes, I did make a post a while ago about how Paganism had one of the fastest rates of growth out of all the religions in America. Yet Paganism is still a very small minority, 0.3% of the population. In terms of rapidly growing religions with a large following, the religious “nones” are quickly booming.
So as I mentioned above, much of this development is because of education. Now that we live in a world where information about a plethora of religions and philosophies are available at the click of a button, people have a greater ability to think for themselves about what they think the truth is. The internet is also helping to bring people together at an ideological level. Before the internet, people were limited to their geography if they wanted to become part of a community, and of course, the central social network in most communities is the church. Many atheists felt isolated from a religious point of view. Yet now many of these atheists have found a sense of community among like minded non-believers on the internet.
THE WORLD THAT EXISTED BEFORE THERE WAS “ONE CORRECT RELIGION”
Is the decrease of religion a bad thing? Does this spell out the moral decline of civilization as we know it? As I sarcastically mentioned earlier, many of the world’s most advanced civilizations existed before the spread of Christianity and did quite well for themselves. If anything, the growth of non-religion will simply take us back to the natural order of things. Monotheistic religion was splinter, a minor aberration in the scheme of time. Why do you think that Pagan holidays such as Easter and Christmas persisted, even as Christianity was shoved down people’s throats at the edge of a sword? Why do you think ideas like hell had to be invented to keep people religious? If religion is so appealing, why do people have to be scared into it? It’s because it is an unnatural system with laws that are not consistent with the laws of nature.
Pagan ideologies were diverse, and they certainly weren’t perfect. But they were the natural outgrowth of a people’s spiritual connection to their surroundings and culture. Paganism represented man’s attempt to live alongside the laws of nature. People revered Gods who were strong, and represented ideals of survival and health. Today’s “religious nones” are not pagan, but as they learn more about science and the natural world, they will hopefully use rational thought and debate to come up with a moral system that exists closer to Natural Law, and represent more realistic ideas about the environment and human sexuality. Nature is the weed and religion is a manicured garden. You can use all the pesticide you want, but at the end of the day Nature and her followers will always win out.
The ancient world was a much more spiritually diverse and tolerant place than the world we live in today. I’m not saying that the ancient world was a nice place. Don’t get me wrong, it was a very brutal place in a lot of ways. The Romans killed a large number of Druids to subdue the Celtic resistance. Leaders like Augustus and Tiberius Caesar were also weary about the cultural influence of Eastern Religions – such as the Cult of Isis in Rome. Yet despite the fact that some ideas were preferred over others, people had the freedom to worship their own Gods as long as they followed the law and paid homage to the emperor.
In a debate about the morality of religion, it has also been brought up that people can develop a framework of values without having a religion that carves such values into stone. For example, the Chinese have followed Confucianism as a key moral ideology of their society for 2,000 years, and while Confucianism promotes good character and social order, it is not a religion.
NOT ONLY CAN YOU BE MORAL WITHOUT RELIGION
BUT RELIGION ITSELF MAY ACTUALLY BE VERY IMMORAL
Is religion dangerous? I think so. Is religion immoral? I think so. If you watched the video above, one person states that the number one book that convinces people to become atheists (even more so than any work by Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens) is the bible. It’s a book replete with genocide, rape, sexism, racism, homophobia, incest, pedophilia, and the celebration of slavery. Here are some wholesome verses for the whole family:
COMMIT A GENOCIDE OF THOSE WHO DON’T SHARE YOUR RELIGION:
“This is what the Lord Almighty says… ‘Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” (1 Samuel 15:3)
…but what about “thou shalt not kill? ” Now I’m confused.
GO MURDER A BABY:
“Happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us – he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.” (Psalm 137:9)
…yes, because a merciful and just God glorifies the death of babies.
TIME TO GANG RAPE A HOE:
“So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight. When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. He said to her, ‘Get up; let’s go.’ But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.” (Judges 19:25-28)
…ah yes, good old gang rape, that’s some quality family values right there.
GOD SPARED ABRAHAM’S SON BECAUSE HE IS MERCIFUL, BUT FUCK JEPHTHAH’S DAUGHTER:
“And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, ‘If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord’s, to be offered up by me as a burnt-offering.’ Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and there was his daughter coming out to meet him with timbrels and with dancing. She was his only child; he had no son or daughter except her. When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, ‘Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low; you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.’” (Judges 11:30-1, 34-5)
…So God was nice enough to prevent Abraham from killing his son, but I guess the life of a man’s daughter is less important. I mean, women aren’t people – at least not in the bible.
SLAVES, SUBIMIT TO YOUR MASTERS!:
“Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the cruel.” (1 Peter 2:18)
…Good old fashioned slavery.
ONE PROPHET, TWO BEARS AND 42 DEAD BOYS:
23 Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!” 24 When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of their number. (2 Kings 2:23-25)
…My personal favorite, this must be the original Goldilocks story.
You see, I’m one of those people who read the bible cover to cover. In fact, I didn’t do so as some atheist looking for a good source of snark. I actually did this back when I was still a Catholic. I was looking for answers and hoping to improve my faith. Instead, reading the bible and going to church are probably two of the greatest catalysts for my loss of faith. I ended up finding much more solace in Edith Hamilton’s mythology.
Thus, my read through of the bible made me realize that most Christians must not read the entire bible. Because surely this book of peace, love and wisdom that they discussed was not the same book that I was reading. And if they did read the whole bible, cover to cover, they must have done a triple back flip in mental gymnastics to assure themselves that the parts about not touching pig skin (a foot ball), or eating seafood, or marrying your rapist were simply metaphor, but the parts about gay sex were literal law.
Therefore, after reading the bible, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not only a silly book, but that anyone who truly follows its commands – down to the last letter – must not be a good person. A man named A.J. Jacobs tried one year of living biblically and even wrote about it. Yet the truth is that it was impossible for him to truly do everything the bible commanded. There is even one humorous part where he tries throwing rocks at people he sees as being guilty for sin.
Honestly, most people I know who follow a religion, even the very conservative ones, are ultimately picking and choosing which verses they are going to follow. What makes them pick what is a good verse and what is a bad one? They are ultimately using their own logic, rather than doing everything the bible says. Therefore, if they are going to use their own logic anyways, they might as well just create their own spirituality at the end of the day, instead of half heartedly following one they don’t entirely agree with.
You see, Religion is just an ideology like any other. Yet here is the difference. Most ideologies open themselves up to room for debate. Ideologies like politics, education, and philosophy can be subjected to the scrutiny of reason, so that they can be improved or altered to produce the best possible results. Even in China, a place where Confucianism was a key framework of morality, there was always the dialectic between Legalism, Confucianism and Taoism.
Yet Religion is different because it is an ideology backed up by a powerful Sky Daddy. It is not allowed to be debated, scrutinized or changed because it is a set of laws written in stone. Such an ideology can support the most murderous of intentions, and no one is allowed to disagree or else they are branded a “heretic.” It is no small wonder that the Roman Empire fell apart after its conversion to Christianity. Without the freedom to question who was in charge, and why things were being done in a certain way, the empire fell into a state of ignorance and decay.
As Christopher Hitchens once stated in a debate, it wasn’t the crusades that halted the power of Christianity, it wasn’t the bloody Reformation that brought about the deaths of millions, and it wasn’t the slaughter of indigenous people in the new world. What halted the power of Christianity was when the Christian nations finally controlled a majority of the planet in 1914. What was the result? Two world wars and a total destruction of the environment. Suffice it to say, people are not impressed, and now the influence of Christianity at a world stage is beginning to fade.
So am I scared of a world that is becoming less religious? No. I am hopeful. I am hopeful that there will be more chance for people to discover their own spiritualities, and find the best way of living through rational debate, rather than superstition and fear.
THE SONG FROM THE VIDEO ABOVE:
SCORPION FROG – BY INFECTED MUSHROOM
I don’t usually post techno/dubstep, but this song was catchy.
LINKS
Former Christian Minister Leaves Christianity and Starts Atheist Church (Alternet, 11-6-14)
Metal Gaia 
The Holy Work consists of finding out how the World REALLY WORKS. And after finding out making the descision to step up to the plate and do the right thing. Not some thing, but the right thing. Only you know what the right thing is.
Based on natural law and the one rule that governs human behavior, take responsobility for your own situation. Now you may protest and say that there is no law that governs human behavior. How do you explain that there is a law for Everything from atoms to the movement of planets, and the only thing exempt from this is human behavior?
The holy Trinity is thought, emotion and action in unison.
Be well and use your spiritual Connection.
November 10, 2014 at 12:42 pm
honestly though, I’m not sure that this move to non-religion is much of an improvement. This is based mainly on my own experience, but those non-religious folks are nearly, if not more, dogmatic in their views than some of the worst Christians I have met. Sure, they don’t need religion because they have a conscience, but that conscience is ruled solely by their whim and often runs wild against those who would challenge their view of how things should work.
Religion doesn’t make monsters, it merely provides the framework by which they hold themselves accountable. Without that framework, man can still be a monster, he just won’t be held by rules. And if that means sending thousands to their deaths or worse because preventing it would stand in the way of “Diversity” or would be “discrimination” to stand against…then let thousands suffer so that one does not violate the sacred laws of their non-religion. Or let people who seek only justice be slandered and threatened because they challenge the “narrative.”
November 12, 2014 at 1:43 am
You are right Lucius, a lack of religion does not always indicate tolerance. For instance, I like to frequent reddit quite a bit. I’ve noticed that many of the Christians and Muslims on reddit are actually more willing to have a civil debate with me about my Paganism than the atheists, who mostly just shout at me that my beliefs are stupid since they cannot be proven. Yet then again, if any of these Muslims or Extremist Christians were a majority – they might also support having my pagan ass lynched for heresy.
What I’m supporting here is the idea of a society that creates a moral framework based not on religion, but on rational debate. I definitely think people should have the freedom to practice their religions – whether it be Paganism, Christianity or Islam in the private and public sphere.
However, the danger with creating a social framework based on religion (specifically Islam and Christianity) is that it does not open itself up to debate. While America, for example, is a mostly Christian country, we are also a secular humanist country that allows religious liberties, while trying to maintain a secular, Godless government. Our government obviously still has many Christian biases, more so than Europe, but for the most part, we Americans are not governed by biblical law, or else we’d be stoning adulterers and homosexuals to death, and killing all people who aren’t Christians – let alone the “right type of Christian.”
Yet much of the Christian bias still shines through, in the fact that many states do not allow gay marriage, still have old biblical laws on the books that ban sex acts like sodomy and oral sex, impose strict abortion laws – which can be harmful to the mother, ban prostitution everywhere (except rural parts of Nevada), and even allow teaching creationism in school.
In Western Europe, their government is more Godless, and as a result, they have more Gay Rights, realistic laws about prostitution, realistic abortion laws (except for Ireland), and don’t allow something like Creationism to be taught as a “science” in schools. Yet even though Western Europe’s governments are quite secular and godless, people still – for the most part – have the freedoms to practice their religions in their private lives.
So it is the existence of religious bias in America’s government that often takes us backwards compared to the rest of the developed world.
What I will say about America though, is we do have much more freedom to have an open debate about religions like Islam and Judaism, than people do in certain parts of Europe. There are European countries where criticizing a minority religion is considered “hate speech” by law, which in my opinion is a little ridiculous, because this is basically imposing a blasphemy law. If people want to criticize my religion they can be my guest, as long as they do so in a civil manner.
So, in conclusion to my long rant, I support a Godless, Secular government that allows people to practice their religions and debate other religions without bias.
If you want to have a fair football game, you shouldn’t have one of the player’s be the referee.
November 12, 2014 at 11:51 am
Why do you need a goverment to run your Life? Why replacing the priests in Church with the new priesthood upholding the law of the new God, the goverment?
Be careful what you wish for.
November 12, 2014 at 4:02 pm
Pingback: One Third of American Adults Under 30 Have No Religion | Metal Gaia
Excuse me, but I do believe that we all are not interpreting the Bible correctly. We are taking the text out of context. Yes, I know that it is impossible to follow it completely by the Bible. However, a lot of the stuff in the Bible was the norm for the entire ancient world. Israel was not the only place where women were considered property. So was Ancient Greece. Back then, women were not giving the same rights as men back in the ancient days in a lot of people. Also, slavery was very common all over the world and war was very brutal. I am pretty sure the Ancient Egyptians were not very nice as well. My point is you should not be singling out the Bible as the only thing. Go read about the customs of ancient culture and you will understand of what I am talking about.
February 16, 2016 at 5:02 pm
Yes, the ancient world was a brutal place. However, the problem with books like the Bible and the Quran is that modern people today see these books as the literal word of God. Meaning, that you must obey every part of the bible. Even the parts about killing homosexuals and adulterers. Whereas with neopagan movements today, no one is saying that the ancient myths should be followed as some sort of bible. They are a vehicle through which to study the pre-christian Gods. Most pagans agree that these myths are stories written/told orally by human beings. And we look to these things as inspiration for finding our own path today. If most Christians said that the bible was a collection of Hebrew myths through which they drew inspiration (but did not follow literally) that would be different. Many pagans realize that our ancestors practiced slavery, animal/human sacrifice, war mongering, and so on. But we’re not treating the myths of our ancestors as a literal text that we think everyone is supposed to live by to the letter. I know not all Christians take the bible literally, but it seems that a lot do. And for me that seems problematic because it creates a sort of morality where you have infallible laws that cannot be questioned or subjected to ridicule, so then people follow these said laws without thought. Even though as you say, such laws were merely a product of their time.
February 17, 2016 at 10:29 am
Pingback: Why millennials are leaving religion for witchcraft and astrology | Metal Gaia