Is the future Atheist?

[Daytripper]

Pendulum effects are common... they need not be seen over centuries in time. Let us take the Biblical ''7 good years and 7 lean years,'' a recurrent phenomenon in our economy. The years may vary but the effect is always the same: Invest, grow, reap the benefits, crash, then build it up again. This is only natural. You cannot keep growing, machinery gets old etc.

If we keep this current state, things will never be the same. Since the renaissance people have become different. They question everything and see things at their face value. In the middle ages the church could not be questioned! And in the old testament Jawe would off a couple of thousands on the spot if they did some kind of ritual wrong.

To continue this trend we need to keep all this...Technology, freedom of speech, interaction with the rest of the world etc etc. If we had to start over again, people would invent new rituals of comfort, etc etc. In this regard I do not see the pendulum happening... At least I would not call a world disaster a pendulum effect.

It is true being not affiliated with religion does not make you an atheist. Likewise, if I observe most of the Christian rituals, am I not a Christian atheist? That is, not considering the rituals are actually Germanic. I do believe this is a start, however. If you have a christmas tree, but do not go to the mass, what kind of Christian are you? Can you still be saved? You just become more and more detached from your beliefs.

And btw thanks for all the previous answers. Debate is still debate. I'll bet I could play a pretty good Christian too.

[Belthus]

Whether the long-term shape of a graph is a pendulum-effect or moving in one direction isn't as important as what is causing the movement. I would guess that the move away from religion in the US and Europe has to do with more widespread education and increased mobility. Religion has the advantage in a parochial society, in which people stay in one place all their lives, never meet others with different backgrounds or ideas, and look up to their pastor/reverend/priest as one of the few learned persons in their town. When people move around a lot, meet people from all around the world, and attend college, the message of religious leaders gets diluted with alternative points of view. Some of those views are from other religions, but other views are more or less secular. Even the Internet is having an effect because it's possible to get exposure to different points of view without physically leaving wherever you live.