NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,238104,00.html

EXCERPT:

Also — how is faith and spirituality holding up in the U.S., and are religious leaders able to reach their communities? Newly appointed Archbishop of Washington Donald Wuerl and Anne Graham Lotz, founder of the AnGeL Ministries and daughter of Billy Graham, join us this Sunday for a look at religion in America. Can religious morals keep up with the 21st century, and what changes is the church ready to make?

Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace will be on. Watch it tomorrow at 6pm Eastern/3pm Pacific only on the Fox News Channel. Check your local listings for the channel #. Until the show comes on, I suppose there won't be much to debate about here, unless you just want to make something up. ;)

BUMP!!! Took long enough to get this to post! :mad:

I won’t be watching it (what with me not caring about American politics and what some man with a hat has to say about religion)

I can say however that religion will always exist what we are seeing is a liberalisation of the world that some religions are having trouble keeping up with maybe in the next 100 years Buddhism will be the dominant religion would it really matter, no but if the more hard-line religions don’t adapt that is what the future will be

Well, yeah...there's no reason for it to die out. It will change like any idea but it won't die out; I mean, for an idea to die out there would have to be something that kills it, and nothing in existence today is doing that. The only thing that will die will be beliefs that contradict scientific knowledge, and most religious people today have long since accomodated science in to their religious beliefs.

Abolishing the "God of the Gaps" in favor of a spiritual conception of God just plain makes sense rather than weakens religion; I mean, that kind of God is a lot more transcendent than one that just produces natural phenomena.

I won’t be watching it (what with me not caring about American politics and what some man with a hat has to say about religion)

I can say however that religion will always exist what we are seeing is a liberalisation of the world that some religions are having trouble keeping up with maybe in the next 100 years Buddhism will be the dominant religion would it really matter, no but if the more hard-line religions don’t adapt that is what the future will be

If the hard line religions don't adapt - the future's bright, the futures glowing.

Hello Christian Anarchy. You may know me as Arovian Ascendancy from the NSCP.

The main focus of society should be science if we have any hope of getting off of this planet before we get swallowed up by the sun.

Sorry to say.

Religion the way we know it (with God at the top and the puny mortals at the bottom who bow to his will no matter what happens to them in life), will have to implode on itself if humans are to take a proactive role in advancing scientific progress. The new theology will have to involve everyone's collective responsibility to proactively advance human society. People follow today's religion for too simple reasons for religion to be of any use to society anymore.

So the answer is maybe.

Hello Christian Anarchy. You may know me as Arovian Ascendancy from the NSCP.

The main focus of society should be science if we have any hope of getting off of this planet before we get swallowed up by the sun.

ROFLcopters!

The Sun won't swallow the Earth for another five billion years.

Religion the way we know it (with God at the top and the puny mortals at the bottom who bow to his will no matter what happens to them in life), will have to implode on itself if humans are to take a proactive role in advancing scientific progress. The new theology will have to involve everyone's collective responsibility to proactively advance human society. People follow today's religion for too simple reasons for religion to be of any use to society anymore.

But religion is doing that in a lot of ways. The Catholic Church in particular has made a huge deal of social justice and global responsibility; that's over one billion people alone being shifted towards a more global mindset and focusing on advancing humanity as a whole. Obviously, they're far from perfect in that regard but it is a big change, especially since it has only occured in the last 30 or so years, or the last 1.5% of the Church's history.

They still have their flaws, but are starting to adapt. It takes a long time to change something that big, especially when most of the barriers to change have nothing to do with the actual theology.

The main focus of society should be science if we have any hope of getting off of this planet before we get swallowed up by the sun.

The main focus of society should be making society the best it can be through whatever methods work the best. Science, religion, philosophy, the arts, business, politics, and everything else are must all be cultivated if we want to advance ourselves and maximize our potential as human beings.

i do not consider FOX to be a legit source.

ROFLcopters!

The Sun won't swallow the Earth for another five billion years.

Indeed. Interesting how the pro-science guy ain't got such a great grasp of scientific predictions.

The main focus of society should be making society the best it can be through whatever methods work the best. Science, religion, philosophy, the arts, business, politics, and everything else are must all be cultivated if we want to advance ourselves and maximize our potential as human beings.
Well, this is what people do after they have realised that there are things to do beyond just continuing to survive. But what about the millions who are struggling to survive? The focus of society should be to feed and aid all of mankind.

But religion is doing that in a lot of ways. The Catholic Church in particular has made a huge deal of social justice and global responsibility; that's over one billion people alone being shifted towards a more global mindset and focusing on advancing humanity as a whole. Obviously, they're far from perfect in that regard but it is a big change, especially since it has only occured in the last 30 or so years, or the last 1.5% of the Church's history.

They still have their flaws, but are starting to adapt. It takes a long time to change something that big, especially when most of the barriers to change have nothing to do with the actual theology.

I'm sorry Vetalia. But I simply don't see how the Catholic Church is causing global awareness by converting people in AIDS-ridden African countries and telling them not to use condoms to protect themselves. I have friends who've seen it themselves in Tanzania.

And business, politics, and anything else that affects people materially needs to be geared towards science at some point and not towards the "right to earn property", whatever form that may take. Philosophy will merely serve as the battlefield on which competing viewpoints fight.

But material/property concerns need to be sorted out first, of course. However, if we are to secure our existence, we need to shift our collective consciousness towards proactivity and science rather than "God wants me to be rich" or some relatively trifling concern like that.

There was once a time when religion mobilized whole societies towards a common goal. In first-world countries especially, it only mobilizes people towards individual concerns now, so it has really fallen out of use.

...unless it can revitalize itself by changing its hierarchical mindset and not making humans think that they are here to obey someone else's will and not their own. Its becoming more and more a tool of passivity and not a way to make humans feel they have a collective responsibility towards one another. Because if God wills it, it is for the better.

Passivity.

There's much debate as to wether we will fuck up the earth before it get's destroyed by Mr. Sun.

I feel it will be dead and we will leave long before our sun poses a real threat.

And no fox news for me. I prefer news broadcasters that admit their bias.

ROFLcopters!

The Sun won't swallow the Earth for another five billion years.

http://geek.upwardthrust.us/roflcopter.gif

I dont think that religion is in any danger at all at the moment. In fact, I would go so far as to say its in a sturdier position than it was in shortly post-enlightenment years.

Oh for Pete's sake you know what I mean.

We have plenty of reasons to get off of this planet soon. Nuclear war, Global Warming, overpopulation, a meteor could hit...

I looked ridiculous, but now you should get the idea lol.

And eventually, if none of these things happen, the human race will have to get off the planet anyway, however long after we die it may be.

So my point is, religion isn't going to be around forever.

Okeh?

*bump*

No response?

Indeed. Interesting how the pro-science guy ain't got such a great grasp of scientific predictions.

It's rather painful to watch, isn't it? :(

Oh for Pete's sake you know what I mean.

We have plenty of reasons to get off of this planet soon. Nuclear war, Global Warming, overpopulation, a meteor could hit...

I looked ridiculous, but now you should get the idea lol.

And eventually, if none of these things happen, the human race will have to get off the planet anyway, however long after we die it may be.

So my point is, religion isn't going to be around forever.

And what, pray tell, makes you think that we won't simply export our problems into a situation that, quite frankly, would only breed more problems? Most humans would go absolutely insane within a few months of living in space. Not to mention the other, more often overlooked problems with space. Like taking a shit... Seriously, do you have any idea what is involved in taking a shit in space? Any at all?

What does this have to do with religion? Absolutely fuck all, that's what! But it is things like John Glen shitting himself gloriously in his space suit that really puts humanity's problems into perspective!

Maybe I was assuming that humanity could overcome those problems by proactively coming up with solutions? Maybe space travel will evolve past John Glenn's period?

And I'm guessing you've been in space before?

And please, I didn't bring up global warming because I knew this would turn into a global warming thread if I did. I've been reading this forum too long for me to think otherwise.

i do not consider FOX to be a legit source.

Then you're a fool. FOX is as legitimate as any other news source. The fact that it does not pander to your biases cannot change that.

The human race will probably destroy itself before the sun goes red giant. Even if it doesn't destroy itself, it may never advance beyond religion. If it does, it will be a long, long time in the future.

It seems to me that hard line religion is likely to survive for a good long while. Traditionally, human beings have groups themselves in three major ways: race/ethnicity, nationality, and religion. With globalization moving at the speed it is the concept of nationality is weakening, race is rapidly becoing less of an issue as the number of multiracial individuals rises, that leaves religion.

Human beings like having ways of defining and identifying themselves, and I predict that religion will remain as long as average people retain the drive to set themselves apart. Hardline religion in particular is likely to survive because it is more distinct than a lighter version of faith.

But religion is doing that in a lot of ways. The Catholic Church in particular has made a huge deal of social justice and global responsibility; that's over one billion people alone being shifted towards a more global mindset and focusing on advancing humanity as a whole.

But how many of those billion people are actually shifting at all?

More importantly, why has the church mde these shifts? The big push for social justice in the Catholic church is coming from the liberation theology movement in South America. The RCC has begun to make concessions to the social justice crowd, after decades of resistance, only because Cardinal Trujillo's christian socialist followers are pretty much the only people in the world who still show up to church more often than twice a year.

Then you're a fool. FOX is as legitimate as any other news source. The fact that it does not pander to your biases cannot change that.

During the Mark Foley scandal Fox News consistently labelled him as a Democrat. :p

The RCC has begun to make concessions to the social justice crowd, after decades of resistance, only because Cardinal Trujillo's christian socialist followers are pretty much the only people in the world who still show up to church more often than twice a year.
The Catholic Church has always aided the poor in the form of charity. A degree of commitment to social justice comes from the Bible itself.

ROFLcopters!

The Sun won't swallow the Earth for another five billion years.

I imagine that either humanity will find a way of accelerating the process somehow if they could find an effective way to exploit all that energy effectively or they will go extinct.

Either way, we won't be around by then.

During the Mark Foley scandal Fox News consistently labelled him as a Democrat. :p

Who's Mark Foley? (Not joking - I live outside the US, I must have missed that one.)

Who's Mark Foley? (Not joking - I live outside the US, I must have missed that one.)

He's a Republican Representative who sent obscene emails and messages to his underage intern. The Republican Party got a lot of flak because it turned out that they'd known about his behaviour but had let him off. Fox news pretended he was a Democrat because of the upcoming elections. :p

Basically Fox News is not a proper news provider.

Jesus rides a Segway. :)

The Catholic Church has always aided the poor in the form of charity. A degree of commitment to social justice comes from the Bible itself.

Notice I said social justice and not aiding the poor. These are not the same things. An interest in charity comes from the bible, and the church has consistantly worked to feed, dress, and house the poor. Traditionally, however, the church has been opposed to modern liberalism. Social justice is a term that has a lot of imbedded meaning, most of which goes much further than simple charity. My post was talking about the RCC's increased interest in social justice and global responsibility, something that is relatively new for the church.

In specific I was discussing the influence that South American liberation theology has had on the RCC. Arguing that the Chruch's behavior hasn't been seriously influenced by it's base shifting from Europe to south America, south east Asia, and Africa is folly.

Jesus rides a Segway. :)

he isn't riding anyhting! he's dead!

he isn't riding anyhting! he's dead!

Never stopped Him before. :p

I imagine that either humanity will find a way of accelerating the process somehow if they could find an effective way to exploit all that energy effectively or they will go extinct.

It's possible. According to the Kardashev scale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale) we will reach a point, around the 53rd century where we will be able to harness the energy of the Sun, so I suppose we could fuck up that one!

Notice I said social justice and not aiding the poor. These are not the same things. An interest in charity comes from the bible, and the church has consistantly worked to feed, dress, and house the poor.
Social justice can come from charity.

Traditionally, however, the church has been opposed to modern liberalism.
Liberalism is capitalist, not socialist.

Social justice is a term that has a lot of imbedded meaning, most of which goes much further than simple charity. My post was talking about the RCC's increased interest in social justice and global responsibility, something that is relatively new for the church.
Liberation theologists advocate changing the global economy for social justice, a goal shared with socialists, but you are right, this is new for the Church as a whole.

Apologies, I thought you were another ignorant troll shouting "Christians never help anyone!!" Such posters have proliferated over the past week.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,238104,00.html

EXCERPT:



Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace will be on. Watch it tomorrow at 6pm Eastern/3pm Pacific only on the Fox News Channel. Check your local listings for the channel #. Until the show comes on, I suppose there won't be much to debate about here, unless you just want to make something up. ;)

It's on today? Ah well, I'm not watching anything on Faux News.

I myself think religion's only going to be around for another century or two, ideas are quite rapidly changing.

Religions will go through a wave of mergers and acquisitions to consolidate their markets, improve economies of scale, and streamline business processes.

Social justice can come from charity.


Liberalism is capitalist, not socialist.


Liberation theologists advocate changing the global economy for social justice, a goal shared with socialists, but you are right, this is new for the Church as a whole.

Apologies, I thought you were another ignorant troll shouting "Christians never help anyone!!" Such posters have proliferated over the past week.

1) Yes, social justice can come from charity but we both know that wasn't what was being referenced.

2) Sorry, I'm in the US, I really wish our politicians didn't keep changing definitions, it makes discussing politics with people from other places difficult...Read "modern liberalism" as "socialist/progressive." I didn't mean classical liberalism.

3) You should have figured out I wasn't a troll when I mentioned Trujillo or liberation theology. Neither that name nor that term tend to come from people who haven't read up on the subject.

Yes, and it will. People are always going to want something to believe in when things get rough, and religion is such a thing.

Maybe I was assuming that humanity could overcome those problems by proactively coming up with solutions? Maybe space travel will evolve past John Glenn's period?

And I'm guessing you've been in space before?

And please, I didn't bring up global warming because I knew this would turn into a global warming thread if I did. I've been reading this forum too long for me to think otherwise.

That is one hell of a stupid assumption.

"Humanity" is not some kind of repairman that you can just slip a few bills and say "fix it." We have proactively caused more problems then we've ever solved. Seriously, we are still dealing with the same cultural issues for thousands of years. Few have gotten better, many have gotten worse... So tell me, Mr. Science, what do YOU have in mind beyond a couple ridiculous assumptions in regards to "proactively coming up with solutions"? Enlighten me.

As for space. I mentioned taking a shit because when we first started sending up astronauts, NASA had absolutely no idea what the hell to expect. They had made no accommodations for waste disposal and the astronauts were forced to literally shit themselves... Today, they suck it out of you with a vacuumed. It CAN NOT be pleasant. They actually had a problem with people masturbating into the vacuumed urinal (a device that looks like a penis enlarger) and clogging it because, again, they had no idea what the hell to expect.

That is just the tip of the iceberg. No one has any idea what the hell will happen to the human body after long term exposure to 0 gravity. The entire muscular, vascular, and digestive system is completely altered. Then there are even more problems like having sex, giving birth, and raising children with absolutely no opportunity to develop muscles.

If one thing is for certain, humanity WILL be completely changed by the adaptation to living in space, and once again, it CAN NOT be pleasant.

It isn't all it's cracked up to be.

The human race will probably destroy itself before the sun goes red giant. Even if it doesn't destroy itself, it may never advance beyond religion. If it does, it will be a long, long time in the future.

Wrong. Humanity will almost destroy itself, but before that happens Jesus will return to save all the Christian survivors from certain death, which will in turn begin to repopulate the world. :)

Wrong. Humanity will almost destroy itself, but before that happens Jesus will return to save all the Christian survivors from certain death and repopulate the world. :)

Yes... of course...

Wrong. Humanity will almost destroy itself, but before that happens Jesus will return to save all the Christian survivors from certain death, which will in turn begin to repopulate the world. :)

I wouldn't. I hate fixer uppers. :p

Religion, in some form or another will be around forever.

That is one hell of a stupid assumption.

"Humanity" is not some kind of repairman that you can just slip a few bills and say "fix it." We have proactively caused more problems then we've ever solved. Seriously, we are still dealing with the same cultural issues for thousands of years. Few have gotten better, many have gotten worse... So tell me, Mr. Science, what do YOU have in mind beyond a couple ridiculous assumptions in regards to "proactively coming up with solutions"? Enlighten me.

As for space. I mentioned taking a shit because when we first started sending up astronauts, NASA had absolutely no idea what the hell to expect. They had made no accommodations for waste disposal and the astronauts were forced to literally shit themselves... Today, they suck it out of you with a vacuumed. It CAN NOT be pleasant. They actually had a problem with people masturbating into the vacuumed urinal (a device that looks like a penis enlarger) and clogging it because, again, they had no idea what the hell to expect.

That is just the tip of the iceberg. No one has any idea what the hell will happen to the human body after long term exposure to 0 gravity. The entire muscular, vascular, and digestive system is completely altered. Then there are even more problems like having sex, giving birth, and raising children with absolutely no opportunity to develop muscles.

If one thing is for certain, humanity WILL be completely changed by the adaptation to living in space, and once again, it CAN NOT be pleasant.

It isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Well, if we're in space far enough, we won't have to worry about the Sun going nova on our asses.

I hope religion dies a quiet unnoticed death. Probably too much to hope for, though.

I hope religion dies a quiet unnoticed death. Probably too much to hope for, though.

Religion will only die when all doubt is removed (aka NEVER).

Religion will only die when all doubt is removed (aka NEVER).I have plenty of doubts, it doesn't make me religious. I hope in the future people can accept not knowing without resorting to superstition.

Can religion survive the future more likey to start more bloody war's then save it

Religion changes, just like any other facet of human identity.

If one thing is for certain, humanity WILL be completely changed by the adaptation to living in space, and once again, it CAN NOT be pleasant.

Say hello to artificial gravity, my unspacy friend.

I hope religion dies a quiet unnoticed death.
Come on, what did religion ever do to you?

Come on, what did religion ever do to you?I'm stuck in a state full of Southern Baptists. It's enough to make any sane person hate religion. But not being sane, the most I can really say is I'm against superstition.

I'm stuck in a state full of Southern Baptists. It's enough to make any sane person hate religion. But not being sane, the most I can really say is I'm against superstition.
WASPs make up 3.5% of Christians.

If you were stuck in a state with Liberation theologists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_theology) would you feel the same? Open your mind; it's not just a bunch of superstition.

Say hello to artificial gravity, my unspacy friend.

Research into artificial gravity has been on-again, off-again for decades with nothing to show for it. Granted, the Moon, Mars and Beyond mandate has given the idea new consideration, the theories they are working on are hardly more then a bandage for a bigger problem. Certainly not the Sci-Fi cure all they had hoped.

Then you're a fool. FOX is as legitimate as any other news source. The fact that it does not pander to your biases cannot change that.

That says less about FOX and more about what is considered a legitimate news source at all.

-- Weeping for the future of journalism.

Wrong. Humanity will almost destroy itself, but before that happens Jesus will return to save all the Christian survivors from certain death, which will in turn begin to repopulate the world. :)

Yeah.... that he will.....

Though I hope there's no troll-babies about :Rolleyes:

Research into artificial gravity has been on-again, off-again for decades with nothing to show for it. Granted, the Moon, Mars and Beyond mandate has given the idea new consideration, the theories they are working on are hardly more then a bandage for a bigger problem. Certainly not the Sci-Fi cure all they had hoped.

I think he meant the spinning sort, not the Star Trek sort.

I think he meant the spinning sort, not the Star Trek sort.

I was refering to the short radius centrifuges. Which, although certainly progress, are still an incomplete solution.

Noting the post about the three ways human identify themselves on the third page.

I believe that a shift will have to take place as to how we identify ourselves. We need to stop identifying ourselves as people who sit in the center of the universe waiting for bounty to fall on them from up above. Nothing is going to stop humans from contemplating their place in the universe in a spiritual manner, but the focus of their contemplation simply needs to shift from worshipping authority (an omnipresent deity) towards spiritual consciousness that is less hierarchical. Soon, people are going to say that the universe is big, but through the collective efforts of the human race we can find out what it is made of. And we have a spiritual duty towards the entire human race the way we once had a spiritual duty towards God".

That will probably be the face of future religion.

Religion today is basically: "Scripture tells human beings that God created the universe. You must believe it or humankind will face oblivion through Divine Judgement." What place does that logic have in today's world? It encourages passivity and reactionism. It is not a model for societies.

I simply see no reason why humans have to place the burden of good and evil on a (imaginary) deity, when they can believe with just as much faith that good and evil rests in their fellow human beings.

I won’t be watching it (what with me not caring about American politics and what some man with a hat has to say about religion)

I can say however that religion will always exist what we are seeing is a liberalisation of the world that some religions are having trouble keeping up with maybe in the next 100 years Buddhism will be the dominant religion would it really matter, no but if the more hard-line religions don’t adapt that is what the future will be


Not everybody is a Liberal junior. If anything having hard line religions grow in europe would be a good thing, may moderate you people. I still feel the growth of Islam, while resented by some in Europe is good medicine for you.

I hope religion dies a quiet unnoticed death. Probably too much to hope for, though.


I am an agnostic and I hope a moderate form of it grows. As long as its not to far to the right, their morals are a good thing.

WASPs make up 3.5% of Christians.

If you were stuck in a state with Liberation theologists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_theology) would you feel the same? Open your mind; it's not just a bunch of superstition.

I would, then again I have pretty strong moral, philosophical, psychological, and ethical objections to western monotheism in general and Christianity in specific.

I dislike that monotheism because it necessarily demands a dualistic view of the universe that we are only now staring to fight back. The either/or good/evil mindset that leads to the stultification of human advancement. I am sickened and enraged by the crushing effect monotheism has had on the minds of human beings, with every new scientific discovery being fought tooth and nail against by some troglodyte who feels their own interpretation of a book written by by someone centuries dead should supercede human endevor. I despise the shame that is heaped upon young minds by the majority of religions, leaving in it's wake a horde of crippled fetishists and obsessive personalities. I am actively sickened by the hatred that has been the halmark of monotheist thought for the past 5000 years.

Religion today is basically: "Scripture tells human beings that God created the universe. You must believe it or humankind will face oblivion through Divine Judgement." What place does that logic have in today's world? It encourages passivity and reactionism. It is not a model for societies.

I simply see no reason why humans have to place the burden of good and evil on a (imaginary) deity, when they can believe with just as much faith that good and evil rests in their fellow human beings.

It doesn't matter if I agree with your or not. The fact of the matter is that religion has survived because people crave it. People will continue to identify baised on religion because people need to identify and most are too lazy for any real spiritual inquiry. It is important to note that most religions in both the east and the west have two tiers: a class of priests or monastics who devote their lies to spiritual exploration and a class of everyone else who sits quitely and waits to be comforted by what the wise men say.

That won't change until people change, and I'm not about to hold my breath.

I agree.

All I said was that we need to stop craving authority that really doesn't need to be craved at all.

As far as I'm concerned, humans have no place in the cosmos (physically and spiritually) unless we ourselves hold the secret to good and evil.

Religion has always been and always will be the heaviest stone around humanitys neck, slowing us down and keeping us from true enlightenment. Unless hardline religious doctrines such as those adopted by Christians and Muslims change and adapt with the world around them, we are all doomed.

MOD i f*cking hope not.

Religion has always been and always will be the heaviest stone around humanitys neck, slowing us down and keeping us from true enlightenment. Unless hardline religious doctrines such as those adopted by Christians and Muslims change and adapt with the world around them, we are all doomed.

I think that is a bit of an overstatement. A quick look at our society will show you that adaption is neither necessary nor common. Hardline Christians in the US have been getting more and more extreme, but the general society has continued to move forward. Abortion is legal, the most conservative supreme court the country has seen in decades struck down sodomy laws, morning after contraceptives are OTC, pornography is widely available, alcohol is legal, premarital sex is the norm rather than the exception, the list goes on and on. Hell, even the war over homosexuality has been pushed back to the issue of marriage, something even the most optimistic of gay rights advocates didn't dream of 30 years ago.

The trick is to set society up in such a way that no one group can have complete control. Looking at history you can see that the more information begins to flow the harder it is for anyone to control what society does. The advent of the printing press broke the back of Rome's control over Europe. As literacy spread you saw the printing press stoke the fires of revolutions in the US and Europe, heralding the end of monarchy and the birth of democracy/representitive republic. Next came the radio, the moving picture, and television allowing information to be broadcast cheaply over long distances. Now we have the internet and SMS messaging being used to organize protests the world over, the most significant of these being the Orange Revolution.

Hardline religion is dangerous, but it fails to hold the power it once did. God has a hard time competing Mammon when they have to stand in the same room and convince an audiance to buy them. Hell, you already see hardline religion in the west buckling, turning faith into just another product (check out The Passion or any midwestern megachurch). The culture war is over, they just haven't noticed yet.

Well, if we're in space far enough, we won't have to worry about the Sun going nova on our asses.

our crappy little sun wont go nova, itl just become a red giant and then burn out. And that wont happen for months yet so theres no need to worry. When did this become the space travel thread anyway?

I suppose, depending on how space exploration turns out, that there could be a lot of isolated colonies with a relatively shit standard of living and a high mortality rate. That sort of thing leads to superstitious and religious thinking. Perhaps astronauts will make up their own gods to cope with all the new pressures. After all, the various gods we worship now were made up to cope with earthbound problems. Not crapping in zero G.

Yes religion can survive in the future; it just depends on where it can survive. As countries separate religion from state and the economy picks up, people won't rely on faith but that doesn't mean religion would disappear. Look at developed countries, religion is strong among the poor while the rich have faith in money.