Poorer countries are more likely to be religious

[Romanov2488]

And richer countries tend to be less religious with the U.S. being a hard exception (which is a leading cause for the cultural division here). Let’s be honest, if one believes there will be an afterlife full of rainbows and butterflies, they will be less likely to make the most out of this life. If less people believe in God, all of a sudden there’s this greater responsibility to improve the standard of living, in other words belief in God is correlated with holding back society from advancing. I think one of the main reasons America in particular is both wealthy and religious is due to religious freedom and having so many competing faiths. Christianity is on the decline in the U.S. however, and wherever Christianity is booming, you’ll notice it’s in the poorer countries. It is of no surprise that Christianity is growing rapidly in South America, Africa, and Asia-continents that are home to some of the highest poverty levels in the world.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/do-countries-lose-religion-as-they-gain-wealth-1.1310451

 

[FlySwatter]

Religion preys on the weak and vulnerable because psychologically it's far easier to give false hope to such people as they are more ready to align with anything that gives them a comfort blanket. People with nothing need something to fill the void. People with plenty don't need it and are more likely to be intelligent and in tune with society, knowing how to survive in it and thrive and prosper. It's far harder to convince intelligent people to believe in concepts that lack tangible evidence so inevitably religion vests itself where the dogma is most easily pushed.

 

[FlySwatter]

Christianity declining in the UK too

Christianity in the UK is in decline but its influence is not – and that's a real problem

The 2021 census suggests that Christianity is no longer the majority religion in England and Wales

inews.co.uk

"I mean, where do you look for the start of the decline of Christianity in England? It depends on who you ask but it could be the disillusionment with religion after the First World War? It could be the fault of the boomer generation, who didn’t raise their children with the same level of attachment to the Church? It could be the many and various abuse scandals that have dogged both the Catholic and Anglican Churches – and the responses of the Churches that have left many appalled?

It could be that the Church of England is comprised of an ageing demographic that seems obsessed with matters of gender and sex and appears woefully out of touch with younger generations? It could be that the seeming decline of Christianity in England matters very little to many Christians given that it’s increasing its membership globally.

But Christianity is so closely tied with issues of nationalism, whiteness and privilege in England that it’s impossible to separate them. For instance, who’s betting that we see some horribly racist responses to the census findings, along the lines of “those coming into our country aren’t Christian” or will point to the suggestions that Leicester and Birmingham are England’s first “minority majority” cities as evidence that the apparent Christian decline is linked to minority groups slowly but surely “taking over” the country.

But these findings don’t herald some seismic shift in religious attitudes, no matter what the hyperbolic posts on social media say. There’s nothing surprising or unexpected about the lower proportion of people identifying as Christian and a higher proportion ticking the “no religion” box on the census – this is a continuing pattern and, unless you’ve had your head stuck in a hymn book, you’ll know that the debate about secularisation and England’s Christian credentials has been rumbling for decades.

The 2021 census suggests that Christianity is no longer the majority religion in England and Wales. “Christian” is down 13 percentage points from 59 per cent in 2011 to 46 per cent. However, the proportion of those identifying as non-religious is up by 12 percentage points from 2011 (25 per cent to 37 per cent). Is this really the death knell for Christian England?"

 

[FlySwatter]

The decline of Christianity in the States has been going on for many years . . .

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/17/1123508069/religion-christianity-muslim-atheist-agnostic-church-lds-pew

"While the study does not grapple with the question of why Christians are disaffiliating from their religion, Kramer said there are some theories that could help explain this phenomenon.

"Some scholars say that it's just an inevitable consequence of development for societies to secularize. Once there are strong secular institutions, once people's basic needs are met, there's less need for religion," Kramer said.

"Other people point out that affiliation really started to drop in the '90s. And it may not be a coincidence that this coincides with the rise of the religious right and more associations between Christianity and conservative political ideology.""

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"For Campbell, conflict between the teachings of her faith and her own personal identity and values were at the core of her decision to leave.

"For me, especially, when I started to come out as queer, it became impossible for me to reconcile this church that was basically admitting that they wanted kids like me dead or suicidal," she said. "I decided I had to choose myself and choose my well-being.""


Alongside Christian numbers in the U.S. trending down, the Pew study also found that the percentage of people who identify as "religiously unaffiliated" is rising and could one day become a majority.

"That's where the majority of the movement is going," Kramer said. "We don't see a lot of people leaving Christianity for a non-Christian religion."

Importantly, Kramer said, "religiously unaffiliated" is not synonymous with atheist, as the term also includes those who identify as "agnostic," "spiritual" or "nothing in particular."

In the four scenarios that Pew modeled, Americans who were religiously unaffiliated were projected to approach or overtake Christians in number by 2070. At the same time, the percentage of those following other religions was expected to double.


"It's almost what I expect," Hasan Tauha, a student at Stanford University, said of the rising numbers of religiously unaffiliated people in the United States.

"I don't think it's surprising. I think it's a product of modern comforts. I think when life is good, when it's better, you know, religion is just not as important."

Tauha was not raised Christian. He spent most of his life as a devout Muslim but decided four years ago to leave his religion, and he now identifies as atheist.

Like Campbell, Tauha's process of turning away from his faith was not just a matter of changing his beliefs; it involved disconnecting with the religious community he had been involved with for his entire life.

"The process of leaving the faith, for me, was kind of torturous," he said. "[But] I look back on my experience and leaving the faith as something generally productive and positive. In fact, I'd say it remains the formative experience in my life [and] gave me a new sense of direction. So I look back on it fondly."

 

[Romanov2488]

Religion preys on the weak and vulnerable because psychologically it's far easier to give false hope to such people as they are more ready to align with anything that gives them a comfort blanket. People with nothing need something to fill the void. People with plenty don't need it and are more likely to be intelligent and in tune with society, knowing how to survive in it and thrive and prosper. It's far harder to convince intelligent people to believe in concepts that lack tangible evidence so inevitably religion vests itself where the dogma is most easily pushed.

It’s no surprise missionaries love going to underdeveloped countries. The people of those countries see that these missionaries come with supplies and technology, so it’s easier to think that their beliefs is what led to their success. If the same missionaries go to a university campus on the other hand, they would be met with stiff opposition and questioning.

Also, the more developed places such as the U.S. and UK where religion is declining, you can see the contention between the religious and non-religious on a micro level. Abortion is one of the biggest political issues in America and why? Because we have a group of religious zealots standing in the way.

 

[Romanov2488]