What do we know about the future of religion? Then consider four quite different hypotheses.
1. The Enlightenment is over, and secularizing of society is evaporating. Religion is becoming more important, and will soon regain its dominant social and moral role. Once we're insured to all of our technological miracles, our spiritual identity becomes more important, populations become more rigidly Christian, Muslim, Hindu, etc... Eventually, one faith might win out over the rest. Or needs to unify into one common faith & belief admissible to all, after all we believe in one same God.
2. Religion is dying, and the current fervour is more of a hopeful, backward look, a wistful desire to regain what will be soon be lost. Religion will soon play little more than a ceremonial role, and eventually, even the major religions will be as extinct as so many of the minor ones from the past are.
3. Religions transform themselves into something else. Creedless self-help organizations, maybe, or teachers of teamwork and morality using ceremony and tradition. Each different set of traditions will develop fans and followers, but mostly the rivalry will be no more volatile than rooting for a favourite team. Religions might specialize in areas like environmental protection, self-help, or social or economic justice.
4. Religion diminishes in prestige. Once, smoking was cool and actors and the famous did it. Now, it's very uncool and though some still do it, they keep it more under wraps. We wouldn't point at people and snicker, saying "ooh look, a Muslim, a Christian" or anything like that. That would be rude. But really, religion would be one of those little aberrations that are more tolerated than admired.
So, anybody care to post a thread defending one of these four hypotheses? Or perhaps another hypothesis not considered here?
