Sunday 1 September 2019

The Future Of Religion

Religion has always been a movable feast with one which was absolutely the truth being replaced by another which is the new absolute truth and that in turn replaced proving that religions are born, grow and die before turning into myth such as happened to the Roman, Greek and Norse Gods of old.
Believers of today many faith may believe that they have arrived at the ultimate truth but history shows that no matter how deeply held their beliefs may be today, they are likely to be transferred onto another in future generations or even religion could die out altogether as it becomes less and less relevant to our lives.
Undoubtedly it has been the greatest cause of wars and conflicts down the ages and used by oppressive Governments to control the masses regardless of what flavour of religion is dominant but it has also bought comfort to many, especially in times of bereavement and stress, but as it is an ever changing thing, we must wonder what it will morph into next as the way Christianity was absorbed, and then usurped, Roman religious beliefs.
As Voltaire put it, society invents the particular gods that they need and whereas previous religions had many Gods, the modern religions have one big God, one who is all powerful and is watching to make sure we behave ourselves.
Atheism and agnosticism is on the rise, especially with the upcoming generations, with science providing the answers where Religion once provided them and the moral convictions at odds with their own beliefs so the future of religion could be that religion has no future at all but interestingly, there is a sharp increase in 'spiritual phenomena' such as astrology and medium ship amongst the young.
Organised religions, Christianity for example, is a hotch potch of previous beliefs so Jesus borrows heavily from the Roman's Mithra and festivals such as Christmas and Easter are directly lifted from Pagan traditions so the future of religion could be a 'pick and mix' affair, streamlined to take just the best bits from the many without the strict moral doctrine such as gender, sexual orientation and contraceptive dogma. 
I don't think religion will ever die out entirely, there will always be people looking for easy answers, but i can see Voltaire's line that man will invent the God they need being at the forefront and the next religion to gain superiority will follow the lines of previous religions and take the bits they want from all the others although less restrictive, less controlling and certainly more inclusive and that will become the absolute truth and Jesus, Muhammad and all the rest of today's deities will end up with the likes of Jupiter, Odin and Zeus in mythology.

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