NationStates Jolt Archive

Which religion do you believe faces the best chance of becoming extinct? I know its hard to think that any religion would just up and die on us, but its possible. Personally I have a tie between Islam and Christianity, as they are two most controvesial ones this day and age. On one hand, there are a minority of Moslems that are pissing everyone in the world off, which i believe will one day bring the hammer of war down upon the whole religion, and someone will seriously suggest wiping them out.

Christianity on the other hand would die from stagnation. Seriously, no in the modern church, it seems, cares about doing the work of Christ. The church doesn't successfully minister to the world, and the leaders of the church are crooks. all these things will add up and people will see christianity kind of like how they view congress/parliament, as being worthless.

It's way too early to tell.

Falun Gong isn't doing too well lately.

Falun Gong isn't doing too well lately.


Well its located in china...Are you suprised???

My vote goes for Scientology, hands down. That is, if you consider it a Religion at all.

My vote goes for Scientology, hands down.


Oh, good call! Yeah, they are definitly stigmatized. A good many people look down upon them.

I think most of these 'new age' religions that seem to spring up every five minutes are the most likely ones to die out in the near future. They seem more like fads than actual religions, no offence to any who follow them but that's just the impression I get of them. Christianity and Islam are too old and entrenched to be in any danger of dying out completely for at least a few centuries, if not longer.

Of course Scientology doesnt have the history of Christianity, Judaism, etc. I perceive it as another Hollywood "look at me" type of thing, not so much a religion in the traditional sense.

With the ever growing freedom of religion in the world, I doubt any of them will go extinct and we may even see new ones cropping up or revivals of ancient forgotten ones.

Humans will always seek answers to that which science can't explain. Always.

While the public image of most religions is poor, the relgions themselves are mostly doing very well of themselves. Espcically the Christian youth movement

Humans will always seek answers to that which science can't explain. Always.

Just a shame so few do it by contributing to science so that it can explain them.

I voted paganism because the old ways seem to be dying out lately. Although Islam is looking like breaking apart lately, and christianity is pretty much confined to america. I mean theres plenty of christians in europe but americans are the only ones that care. in england the only religious people i ever see are muslims.

Of course Scientology doesnt have the history of Christianity, Judaism, etc. I perceive it as another Hollywood "look at me" type of thing, not so much a religion in the traditional sense.

Actually, it's more of a brainwashing, money-making scam.

Which religion do you believe faces the best chance of becoming extinct? I know its hard to think that any religion would just up and die on us, but its possible. Personally I have a tie between Islam and Christianity, as they are two most controvesial ones this day and age. On one hand, there are a minority of Moslems that are pissing everyone in the world off, which i believe will one day bring the hammer of war down upon the whole religion, and someone will seriously suggest wiping them out.

Christianity on the other hand would die from stagnation. Seriously, no in the modern church, it seems, cares about doing the work of Christ. The church doesn't successfully minister to the world, and the leaders of the church are crooks. all these things will add up and people will see christianity kind of like how they view congress/parliament, as being worthless.
Religion is surprisingly resilient. I rather suspect that it's going to be with us right up to the end, whenever that may be. As to specific religions, that's a tough call. Most of the major religions have shown themselves to be capable of adaptation and self-renewal so I don't have any projections as of yet.

Actually, it's more of a brainwashing, money-making scam.


How do you figure? I mean that equipment to test to see the level of the alien poison/virus/whatchamacallit does cost a lot. Scientologists would never try to scam us! :rolleyes:

I think Judaism will almost totally die out within a couple of hundred years. It already has far fewer followers than the others in the list, and those outside of Israel have a pressure to convert to Christianity (many of my relatives were Jews than converted), while I don't have much hope for anyone living in the Middle East given the increased militarisation.

How do you figure? I mean that equipment to test to see the level of the alien poison/virus/whatchamacallit does cost a lot. Scientologists would never try to scam us! :rolleyes:
http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/g_d.jpg

YOU WOULD ALSO BE SUPRISED AT WHAT IT COSTS TO MAINTAIN A FLEET OF INTERSTELLAR DC-10s TO FLY ALL THOSE BODY THETANS AROUND.

I think Christianity and Islam will go extinct at about the same time they finally nuke each other back to the stone-age.

Hmm religious zealots with WMDs. :eek:

Falun Gong isn't doing too well lately.

Too late. There are Falun Gong centers in the US. Had the chinese acted more quickly, then they might have stamped it out, but it's spread now.

Zoroastrianism stands a good chance of dying out, given that it doesn't allow converts.

The Roman Greek and Norse Gods where all ones part of religions. But who considers those gods anything other than mythology today?

Harry Kristnos is about the only pre Jesus savior God still worshipped today.

The where many savior Gods worshipped before Jesus and those religions all did out.

Too late. There are Falun Gong centers in the US. Had the chinese acted more quickly, then they might have stamped it out, but it's spread now.

Zoroastrianism stands a good chance of dying out, given that it doesn't allow converts.
Yeah, my friend Dan from DC tells me that you can see them out in the morning doing their falun gong exercises. Still, how many followers can it attract over here?

http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/g_d.jpg

SADLY, MY SHAKERS HAVE ALMOST DIED OUT.

http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/Shakers.html

ONLY SEVEN LEFT. PROBABLY HAD SOMTHING TO DO WITH THE PROHIBITION AGAINST SEX AND MY RELUCTANCE TO RETURN TO THE BUSINESS OF IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.

none since hopefully religion ending events are gone forever (and have been absent for a long time)

I think Judaism will almost totally die out within a couple of hundred years. It already has far fewer followers than the others in the list, and those outside of Israel have a pressure to convert to Christianity (many of my relatives were Jews than converted), while I don't have much hope for anyone living in the Middle East given the increased militarisation.

Judaism will die out when the last Jew is found and killed, not before then. Sure, the populations outside of Isreal are going down because of assimilation and intermarriage, but you gotta remember the Orthodox Jews and the ones in Israel. Orthodox populations in western cultures are actually going up (they have more kids than the average family). Israel isn'tn going away anytime soon either, no matter what people think.

The Roman Greek and Norse Gods where all ones part of religions. But who considers those gods anything other than mythology today?


Well, the thousands of Hellenic reconstructionists, followers of the Religio Romana and Northern Heathens in the world would, I dare say, consider their gods more than just "mythology."

Judaism will die out when the last Jew is found and killed, not before then. Sure, the populations outside of Isreal are going down because of assimilation and intermarriage, but you gotta remember the Orthodox Jews and the ones in Israel. Orthodox populations in western cultures are actually going up (they have more kids than the average family). Israel isn'tn going away anytime soon either, no matter what people think.

Worldwide there are only 14 million Jews though - which makes Judaism smaller than e.g. the Sikhs, Juche and the various tribal religions. Not to mention the atheists.

I believe Christianity will be the first to "evolve" (pity the IDers...) into something else. Probably a merger with Buddhism. The religion will not die out, it will just gradually change.

What religion is "paganism"? Incredible ignorance...

"Compare the following nationalities:
Vietnamese, Burmese, Japanese, Chinese, Filippinian, White People."

:rolleyes:

What religion is "paganism"? Incredible ignorance...

"Compare the following nationalities:
Vietnamese, Burmese, Japanese, Chinese, Filippinian, White People."

One could make the same comment about Christianity. Calvinists, Mormons, Reformed, Anglical, Quakers, Jehovas witnesses, Roman Catholics, Protestants etc. A rather broad selection of beliefs there...

They all share the basic idea about Jesus, no? They come from the same "source" so to speak. Polytheist religions that haven't spread worldwide (what I expect this "paganism" to mean here) don't necessarily have anything in common.

As far as religiosity goes, Judaism will die out faster than any other religion. Not to say there won't be Jews, but they won't be religious Jews.:( Which is kind of sad, because they have a beautiful religion.

But the case that Islam may provoke the wrath of everybody else, who will then take a hammer to it:sniper: ... well, it wouldn't surprise me.;)

I think Catholicism will be the last to die out. We have our own army! Well, techinally its the Vatican Army, but it still counts! :p

Hmm, has anyone else notice how when you have to choose your religion on a form, it has Christian and then it has Catholic? Hmm, I wonder why, I mean we're Christian too. We just happen to have a governmental like structure, a city, and army. Hmmm.

Actually, it's more of a brainwashing, money-making scam.

That can be said for every religion on the planet.

Hmm, has anyone else notice how when you have to choose your religion on a form, it has Christian and then it has Catholic? Hmm, I wonder why, I mean we're Christian too. We just happen to have a governmental like structure, a city, and army. Hmmm.


I know the feeling. I'm Christian, but people feel the need to single out "Mormons".

Actually, it's more of a brainwashing, money-making scam.

Are you eferring to Scientology, or Religion?

Hard for me to tell. :p

I doubt any religion will die out completely. When a religion starts to rapidly lose followers the remaining believers will become all the more fervent and dogmatic. I suspect the levels of religousness (is that even a word?) will drop in the west over time but no religion will actually die out.

Are you eferring to Scientology, or Religion?
Hard for me to tell. :p

HaHa! I beat you!

I think Christianity and Islam will go extinct at about the same time they finally nuke each other back to the stone-age.

Hmm religious zealots with WMDs. :eek:


WOW! Someone finally sees the problem! (*devilish laugh*)

HaHa! I beat you!

http://www.abestweb.com/smilies/chased.gif

Religion will never die out. It's one of the 3 oldest professions, isn't it? Prostitute, Priest, Lawyer. There's no civilization without those three. ;)

As for the listed religions -- none is in danger of dying out in the foreseeable future. Most of them are pretty strong, relative to their sizes. Several are evolving, and that's probably why things are so shitty world-wide. I think Islam is going to change structure radically over the next 25-30 years (or longer if their extremist-fundamentalists succeed in starting a serious war). There are just too many Muslims who are not Arabs to keep up one coherent cultural identity/style. I think Islam will inevitably break up as a global organization, and anyone who reads history can guess what the world is in for in that case. (Oh, yay, another schism. :rolleyes: )

I also think Christianity will be going through some changes in response to the current tensions with Islam. There are still a lot of unresolved issues within Christianity between Catholicism and all the different Protestant sects. I see a lot of these old arguments coming out again in US politics. But I don't see it changing the religion much. We'll probably have to go through an embarrassing and unpleasant rise of political religion in the US for, oh, maybe 10 years, but hopefully, the rest of the world will see Christianity maturing into a less yappy cult. (Again, as long as we can avoid WW3.)

I have to inject this into the fray. Funny as I'll get out


A SHORT GUIDE TO COMPARATIVE RELIGIONS


TAOISM: Crap happens.

CONFUCIANISM: Confucius say, "Crap happens".

CALVINISM: Crap happens because you don't work hard enough.

BUDDHISM: If Crap happens, it really isn't Crap.

7TH DAY ADVENTIST: No Crap on Saturdays.

ZEN : What is the sound of Crap happening?

HEDONISM: There's nothing like a good Crap happening.

HINDUISM: This Crap happened before.

MORMON: This Crap is going to happen again.

ISLAM: If Crap happens, it is the will of Allah.

MOONIES: Only happy Crap really happens.

STOICISM: This Crap is good for me.

PROTESTANISM: Let the Crap happen to someone else.

CATHOLICISM: Crap happens because you are BAD and deserve it.

HARE KRISHNA : Crap happens rama rama.

JUDAISM : Why does Crap always happen to us?

JEHOVAH'S WITNESS: Let us in, and we'll tell you why Crap happens

TELEVANGELISTS: Give us all you money or Crap will happen to you

ZOROASTRIANISM : Crap happens only half the time.

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE : Crap is in your mind.

SCIENTOLOGY: Give us all your money, and we'll remove the Crap

ATHEISM : Craaap.

EXISTENTIALISM : What is Crap anyway?

RASTAFARIANISM : Let's smoke this Crap.

Are you eferring to Scientology, or Religion?

Hard for me to tell. :p

Scientology. More than any other religion.

~snip~

You got that off a T-shirt. Except you replaced "shit" with crap.

Scientology. More than any other religion.

I'll have to agree with you.

Scientoogy is more about money than anything esle.

Whereas most older religions are more about manipulation of their followers for political power.

You got that off a T-shirt. Except you replaced "shit" with crap.
That's 'cause Mormons aren't allowed to do Shit... ;)

Which religion do you believe faces the best chance of becoming extinct? I know its hard to think that any religion would just up and die on us, but its possible. Personally I have a tie between Islam and Christianity, as they are two most controvesial ones this day and age. On one hand, there are a minority of Moslems that are pissing everyone in the world off, which i believe will one day bring the hammer of war down upon the whole religion, and someone will seriously suggest wiping them out.
Right: the two religions with a huge entrenched fanbase and a policy that makes them attractive to every retard and psychopath on the face of the earth (and in one case, the GOP in their pocket, giving them a handjob) are far more likely to die off than Jain Hinduism or Tibetan Buddhism under the Chinese.

...

http://coda.co.za/words/64

One religon I can guaruntee will never die is discordianism. The fact that their goddess tells followers that she doesn't exsits and they should there for not follow the religon is a dead give away that she does, in fact exsist. Unless of course she's telling the truth and doesn't exsist, in that case the religon isn't worth following. Either way it's a fun, open minded religon. All hail the Golden Apple.

One religon I can guaruntee will never die is discordianism. The fact that their goddess tells followers that she doesn't exsits and they should there for not follow the religon is a dead give away that she does, in fact exsist. Unless of course she's telling the truth and doesn't exsist, in that case the religon isn't worth following. Either way it's a fun, open minded religon. All hail the Golden Apple.
If we're having religions somebody invented while stonbed during the early '70s, The Subgenius is not to be sniffed at.

You shouldn't have put "other" on your poll. It destroys the rest.
Without it, you'd've had a question dealing with the modern world. With it, you have to take into consideration this:

I decide to found my own religion. I shall worship this pack of cigarettes, until it runs out... wait for it... it ran out.

Consider the suicide cults. They have the life-span of the common fly.

Consider the suicide cults. They have the life-span of the common fly.
The Ishmaelian sect of Islam (the religion formerly known as the assassins) still exists, though.

The Ishmaelian sect of Islam (the religion formerly known as the assassins) still exists, though.
Yeah, but suicide was goal-limited (hence, "assassins"). I was referring to those idiots who seal themselves in a room, and then leave their bodies behind in order to take the trip to Alpha Centauri. Or the Guyana thing.

Yeah, but suicide was goal-limited (hence, "assassins"). I was referring to those idiots who seal themselves in a room, and then leave their bodies behind in order to take the trip to Alpha Centauri. Or the Guyana thing.
You're being unfair on Jones there: it wasn't formed as a suicide cult.
(Though insisting that everybody in Jonestown died alongside him is truly disgusting, it must be said.)

(Though insisting that everybody in Jonestown died alongside him is truly disgusting, it must be said.)
A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.
I'm dubious that a man ever has to murder children.

You got that off a T-shirt. Except you replaced "shit" with crap.

Which kinda ruins the 'Atheist: No Shit' really.:(

I'm dubious that a man ever has to murder children.
I was joking, Cahnt.

I was joking, Cahnt.
That's a relief: the amount of libertarians on this board, I'm sadly inclined to accept posts here about abusing children at face value.

Yeah, my friend Dan from DC tells me that you can see them out in the morning doing their falun gong exercises. Still, how many followers can it attract over here?

Are we talking about the same america?

That's a relief: the amount of libertarians on this board, I'm sadly inclined to accept posts here about abusing children at face value.
You needn't worry. I'm a socialist.

You needn't worry. I'm a socialist.
I didn't get the impression you leaned that far to the right, somehow.

You got that off a T-shirt. Except you replaced "shit" with crap.


Not off a shirt, but close. Yes, I did replace crap in.:)

Bah! Flying Spaghetti Monster-ism will outlast them all!

Bah! Flying Spaghetti Monster-ism will outlast them all!


SOUNDS GREAT! How do I join?!:p

SOUNDS GREAT! How do I join?!:p

www.venganza.org

I agree with the original statement about Christianity. If anything's going to kill it, it's going to be stagnation and corruption.

Rats - no Flak Cannon... :sniper: will have to do

I agree with the original statement about Christianity. If anything's going to kill it, it's going to be stagnation and corruption.

Rats - no Flak Cannon... :sniper: will have to do

Aha! A first post gun smilie! I called it, I now get to eat your soul. Have a nice day.

I agree with the original statement about Christianity. If anything's going to kill it, it's going to be stagnation and corruption.

Rats - no Flak Cannon... :sniper: will have to do
Stagnation and corruption is more likely to help ity along: have a look on wikipedia for the spanish inquisition and the counterreformation.

how about Zoroastrianism?

does anyone have an update on that faith?

You forget Satanism.

I think we are going to die out first.

Most atheist or agnostics still follow moralities and equivalent ideas of the
their cultural religion.

The view on society is just the same as the view on the church was before.
Society is the new only true god.

Satanism rejects everything
including sekular morality
and so we have everyone against us.

Humans will always seek answers to that which science can't explain. Always.
Indeed. If science can't explain it, just make it up!

What if science explains everything someday.

You forget Satanism.

I think we are going to die out first.

Most atheist or agnostics still follow moralities and equivalent ideas of the
their cultural religion.

The view on society is just the same as the view on the church was before.
Society is the new only true god.

Satanism rejects everything
including sekular morality
and so we have everyone against us.
You don't if Anton Lavey is to be believed (and to be fair, I wouldn't believe him either.)

I'm gonna guess all go at roughly the same time.
There's just way too many people following all of those religions for them to be effectively stamped out...
So, I figure the end of humanity MIGHT stop them. I figure, statistically, some people will survive... maybe even try to rebuild... so whatever faith those people have is what will go on.
If religion starts that war, I hope the survivors aren't religious, and we start over without it.
But, yeah... cataclysm. That's when any or all of the religions are probably going to die out.

Indeed. If science can't explain it, just make it up!

What if science explains everything someday.

it won't.

we'll have all the answers we need when we die.

it won't.

we'll have all the answers we need when we die.
If I've ever heard a cop out...

it won't.

we'll have all the answers we need when we die.
What if you die tonight?

Is there a Church of the Holy Ignorance? Oh, wait...yeah... :D

paganism - its just a fad based on weird ideas about what 'celtic religion' involved (at least in western europe it is). im an archaeologist with some interest in ancient ritual/belief systems so i have a fair idea what im talking about there. if on the other hand you mean the animist religions of africa and elsewhere i think they'll continue much longer.