Opinion | The future of faith
4 min read . Updated: 08 May 2019, 03:00 PM ISTDespite the overbearing influence of religion in the world today, there are more people leaving than embracing it
For millions of years, religion had a significant impact on human life, from birth to death. So far, almost every member of the society, the rich and poor, the weak and strong, the living and the dead have been members of one religion or the other. Religion created a community feeling among a group of believers. As these religious groups became more and more organized, the influence of religion reached even the highest echelons of power.
No doubt, religious faith has also been used to manipulate people. It is also responsible for several wars, strife and suffering in the world. In the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka or even in the latest general elections in India, religions continues to play a crucial role. The collusion of faith, politics and power is a reality.
But in the midst of this over bearing influence of religion, there are some important counter trends in the world of religion. In their recent research, demographers Vegard Skirbekk, Eric Kaufmann and Anne Goujon have documented what may very well be a historic first: there are now more people leaving religion than embracing it.
The book 'Living The Secular Life' by Phil Zuckerman quotes several studies that show the number of those who claim “none" when asked about their religion, are growing significantly. In the past decade, US nones have overtaken Catholics, mainline Protestants, and all followers of non-Christian faiths. Time magazine cited the dramatic increase of Americans claiming “none" as their religion as one of the ten most significant trends changing American society. This trend is even stronger in the European countries. World’s newest major religion is actually “no religion".
Why are individuals walking out of religion? Research by sociologists Michael Hout and Claude Fischer indicate that much of the growth of “nones" in America is largely attributed to a reaction against this increased, overt mixing of Christianity and conservative politics. Lots of people who have weak or limited attachments to religion and are either moderate or liberal politically, find themselves at odds with the conservative political agenda of the Christian right and thus reacted by severing their already somewhat weak attachments to religion. So even as religion shows off its powers in the political arena, that very power show is also contributing to its undoing. This observation was as true in medieval Europe as it is now in modern world.
Where does religion go from here? There are three developments that could further weaken religion’s hold on the society. The first of that stumbling block is that the world is becoming a better place to live in. We are living in one of the most peaceful times in history. Most of the communicable diseases have been conquered. There has been a dramatic increase in life expectancy. The number of people who live below poverty line have drastically reduced. All these developments are making people more happier. But interestingly, studies show that as the happiness level of a country increases, the level of religiosity, the need for God, in that country goes down.
According to the latest WIN/Gallup International polls, some of the least religious countries in the world are countries like Japan, Sweden, Norway where the economic and lifestyle parameters are very good. The most religious countries are Ethiopia, Malawi, Niger, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Somalia and Afghanistan where economic and political instability are the order of the day. For many, religion has a role in the midst of suffering. But how will religion make itself relevant in a world that is becoming more happier? This is a crucial question that will determine the survival of religion in the future.
The second stumbling block that could threaten the future of religion is the rising power of women. Most religions are bastions of male domination and have always treated women as second class citizens. British historian Callum Brown rightly argues that it has been women who have historically kept their children and husbands interested and involved in religion. Brown was the first to recognize an interesting correlation: when more and more women work outside the home, their religious involvement—as well as that of their families—tends to diminish. Denmark and Sweden have the lowest levels of church attendance in the world, and simultaneously Danish and Swedish women have among the highest rate of outside-the-home employment of any women in the world.
Women across the world are becoming economically and politically more empowered and are demanding equal rights in all spheres of life. How will organized religions manage the ever increasing demands from women to have an equal say in all religious matters? Religions can ignore this question only at its peril.
Most organized religions in the world acknowledge the existence of only men and women and only encourage a monogamous relationship between a man and a women. So none of the major religions have even acknowledged the existence of the LGBTQ+ community. In the last few years, even in socially conservative societies like India, the LGBTQ+ community have started asserting their rights to live as any other citizen in the country. The attitude and willingness of organized religions towards the LGBTQ+ community could become a flashpoint that could threaten the future of religion.
Agnosticism, scepticism, atheism, naturalism, secularism, and humanism go back to thousands of years. It never gathered enough momentum to take on the juggernaut of organized religion. The attack on religion and religious practices by the French Revolutionaries or powerful Communists like Lenin and Joseph Stalin could not make much impact. But this time, the challenges to religion are from within. It is far more philosophical than physical. Can religion manage to face this new onslaught on its existence?
Biju Dominic is the chief executive officer of Final Mile Consulting, a behaviour architecture firm