Religion and belief have been a part of human history more or less since human history came into existence. Recently, however, some are pointing to evidence that religion is on the decline worldwide. But is it declining, or is something else at work?
There are quite a few studies showing that, nation by nation, stated religious belief is declining. But there are a couple of reasons to be a bit skeptical. First of all, these are self-reported studies, so while they might reflect an overall cultural trend, the data can’t be taken at face value either.
More importantly, though, each society is very different in how it approaches religion, and religion’s role in society. For example, in America, you can’t blame people for seeing religious figures bellyache about Girl Scout cookies or hear about the pastor whining about not being able to buy a private jet, and wondering if perhaps there’s other spiritual options.
In Japan, on the other hand, the decline of religion reflects a full-on demographic crisis. Temples don’t lack monks because religious belief is declining, necessarily, but they almost certainly lack monks because Japan’s population, and thus share of workers, is rapidly declining. Japan is in the grip of enormous social stress that’s only going to intensify, and religious practice is just one bellwether.
Perhaps the biggest shift, though, ultimately lies in religion’s role in society. For example, it wasn’t until 1965 that the Catholic Church officially stopped blaming the Jewish people for Christ’s execution and stated they viewed non-Christian religions as valid. Currently, the Islamic community is struggling against the stereotype of religious extremism, when those same religious extremists kill the very people practicing the religion they claim to defend.
Are people less religious? Quite possibly. But the answer to such a question is far more complex than, perhaps, we can truly acknowledge. What is true is that human society is shifting, and how we approach religion, and what religion can provide us, is shifting with it.
(Via The Huffington Post)
