Is religion still the major factor in the western world? I got an interesting letter from an Australian Gentleman commenting on that topic during a internet debate on Evolution vs creationism an ID (Intelligent Design). i will explore that topic later but I like to pass his observations, about the relevance of religion in modern times, onto you.
The debate about evolution is basically a done deal. A lot of us do understand it to various levels and concur with it, others merely accept it without having a crisis of conscience. The rest don't really care one way or another. A very few but noisy people actively campaign against it (even in a perfect society there are always a few nutbags). Schools teach the facts, and guess what, even some privately funded schools owned and operated by religious organizations teach evolution as a science subject. I don't know of any school of any flavour that exclusively teaches Creationism/ID, but if so it would be rare. In case you are wondering where this nirvana exists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreligion_in_Australia The TL:DR, ~30% unbelievers or no religious affiliation. one study "52 per cent of Australians born between 1976 and 1990 have no belief in a god." Poll: "Would the world be better off without religion?" Eighty-one per cent responded in the affirmative. There's plenty more data there. As I said, I am unable to find anyone locally (in the bush) to have a discussion about this topic to the level of intensity as is frequently argued here. My compatriots either generally concur with me or they really 'couldn't give a stuff' as we say.
People will identify as being a certain religion mainly out of habit or residual societal expectations or maybe even Pascal's Wager, but will rarely if ever attend a church. Only about 8% of the population attend regularly. Of my half dozen or so near neighbours, none attend a church, nor do any of my family members - even in the extended family group - who are also unbelievers. God just isn't important to any of us in our daily lives. I have worked in organizations with as many as a hundred people or so, maybe 4 or 5 of those people did routinely attend church, but they were never in your face about it. Discussions about religion were very infrequent and proselytizing just doesn't happen (except for Mormons and Jehovahs door knocking once every few years). Only one person that I have worked with was ever heard to spout such things as "Lord our Saviour" or even God bless. A lot of people shunned him .
I think that the statistics in Canada would be much similar, but in the USA it is a different kettle of fish. The non-elected Leaders of the fundamentalist Mega Churches have a very strong influence on right wing politics. They want to destroy the separation between Church and State to force their religious laws on every one, cynically under the banner of "religious freedom". We must fight this ominous trend and promote "Freedom From Religion".
The debate about evolution is basically a done deal. A lot of us do understand it to various levels and concur with it, others merely accept it without having a crisis of conscience. The rest don't really care one way or another. A very few but noisy people actively campaign against it (even in a perfect society there are always a few nutbags). Schools teach the facts, and guess what, even some privately funded schools owned and operated by religious organizations teach evolution as a science subject. I don't know of any school of any flavour that exclusively teaches Creationism/ID, but if so it would be rare. In case you are wondering where this nirvana exists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreligion_in_Australia The TL:DR, ~30% unbelievers or no religious affiliation. one study "52 per cent of Australians born between 1976 and 1990 have no belief in a god." Poll: "Would the world be better off without religion?" Eighty-one per cent responded in the affirmative. There's plenty more data there. As I said, I am unable to find anyone locally (in the bush) to have a discussion about this topic to the level of intensity as is frequently argued here. My compatriots either generally concur with me or they really 'couldn't give a stuff' as we say.
People will identify as being a certain religion mainly out of habit or residual societal expectations or maybe even Pascal's Wager, but will rarely if ever attend a church. Only about 8% of the population attend regularly. Of my half dozen or so near neighbours, none attend a church, nor do any of my family members - even in the extended family group - who are also unbelievers. God just isn't important to any of us in our daily lives. I have worked in organizations with as many as a hundred people or so, maybe 4 or 5 of those people did routinely attend church, but they were never in your face about it. Discussions about religion were very infrequent and proselytizing just doesn't happen (except for Mormons and Jehovahs door knocking once every few years). Only one person that I have worked with was ever heard to spout such things as "Lord our Saviour" or even God bless. A lot of people shunned him .
I think that the statistics in Canada would be much similar, but in the USA it is a different kettle of fish. The non-elected Leaders of the fundamentalist Mega Churches have a very strong influence on right wing politics. They want to destroy the separation between Church and State to force their religious laws on every one, cynically under the banner of "religious freedom". We must fight this ominous trend and promote "Freedom From Religion".
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