The Baha'i Studies Listserv The vitality of men's belief in God is dying out in every land; nothing short of His wholesome medicine can ever restore it. The corrosion of ungodliness is eating into the vitals of human society; what else but the Elixir of His potent Revelation can cleanse and revive it?
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 199) ----- Original Message ----- From: Stephen Gray To: Baha'i Studies Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 2:32 PM Subject: The Future of Religion The Baha'i Studies ListservWhat is the future of religion? Religion used be able to claim 100% of humanity. Back then, each person belonged to either a tribal or civilizational religion. Then, there was a neglible amount of skeptics. In the East, there was the blurred line between philosophy and religion. Religion really lost footing during the Enlightenment and Renesaince. The No Religion Nota group of atheism, agnosticism, secular humanism, agnostic existentialism, atheist existentialism, objectivism, secularism, etc. grow at a slow, but steady rate. What is the future if humanity ever becomes a secular majority worldwide? Which is more important in stats: birth rates or conversions? Religion is only that relevant in the classical sense to the ultra-conservative religious. Religous liberals tend to see it as a springboard for social justice and part of culture or part of a society. Most people see it as part of who they are, a form of self-expression, subjective, a private thing, etc. 2.1% is the magic number in logistics. According to Encylopedia Brittanica, Islam, Zoroastrianism, and the Baha'i Faith are above this threshold. Also, Sikhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Jainism, Confucianism, and Shinto being below. Shinto is even in negative growth already. Hinduism, Taoism, Judaism, Jainism, and Confucisnism would be too, except for birth rates that keep them from going below zero growth. Sikhism, Christianity, and Buddhism are in the middle with regards to growth rates. The only thing missing the the stats on NOTA group mentioned earlier. I have also seens stats for folk religion, chinesse folk religion, Chedogyo, Tenrikyo, Wicca, Sekai Kyuseikyo, Cao Dai, Seicho no Ie, Rastafarianism, and Unitarian Universalism. __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-535467-18515.b4c148b36ad0c21e46d1fc1f51d51...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [email protected] Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[email protected] Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-535547-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [email protected] Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[email protected] Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
