@sree No, Charles Manson was a cult leader, but he wasn’t a Xian. BTW, there is more world views than just Xian and atheism.
BTW, there is more world views than just Xian and atheism. -@mrianaYou either believe in God or you don't. You are either for Him or against Him. As Bush said, "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."
I’ve been away a couple of weeks, so I’m probably late to this party, but I think the answer is “education”. There is a negative correlation between education and religiosity. The more educated a person is, the less likely that person is to be religious. We now have information (and misinformation) at our fingertips 24/7. My mother once asked me, “What holds the sun up?” And yes, she was serious. I was in high school at the time and thought that was every bit the silly question you all think it is. She legitimately did not know anything about how space works with her 8th grade education from the early 1950s. Today we have a basic understanding of the Earth revolving around the sun by first grade, probably before kindergarten.
It stands to reason that if an individual becomes less likely to be religious the more education they receive then a society would reflect that. For some it takes a PhD before they drop their religious upbringing. For some even that isn’t enough. But for some it takes less than a modern high school education. As more people get that, fewer people retain their religious beliefs.
I’m sure that’s not the only factor. Another possible factor is the loss of suffering. A suffering populous is more likely to turn to supernatural help when the natural world does not provide for them. There are fewer people going hungry and fewer devastating plagues with high death rates. People in these countries have rights not subject to the arbitrary whim of a single leader or his minions. They feel empowered themselves to protest and try to change things in the real world themselves instead of feeling so helpless that the only thing they can think of to do is call on a magical power to change it for them.
There are probably other factors, but I would be those are the major two. Science certainly has a hand in explaining things once thought to be magical, such as diagnosing schizophrenia as a medical condition instead of demon possession. But science isn’t some bogey man here out to get God or anything, and that includes evolution. The facts are what they are and science helps us find the truth in reality instead of the “truth” in ancient texts written by primitive people, which is the writer’s best guess based on the primitive belief system he already held instead of any real investigation. Essentially science made all the magic disappear by actually explaining the world around us rather than relying on wild guesses based on preconceived notions.
And finally, I would argue that it is the fate of all religious beliefs to eventually become silly mythology we all laugh at. People used to really believe a god threw lightning bolts and that’s why there was lightning. Today that’s just silly. Lots of religious ideas people once believed are now considered silly. Christianity isn’t going to escape this fate forever.
The rise of Atheism is very simple. The teachings don’t have a beginning and an end.
Every books have a beginning and an end. And the Christians Bible also have a beginning and an end.
Atheist book: Begin in the middle of nowhere so called a (big bang). But what is the cause of the big bang is mysterious.
And still today they are waiting to humans will be small and have a big head like some aliens film.
God book: In the beginning … Genesis 1.
The end, Revelation 22:20.
So we have hope. Atheist don’t have hope.
@pip1961 Atheism doesn’t have any teachings, so they can’t have a beginning or an end. They never began.
And still today they are waiting to humans will be small and have a big head like some aliens film.
What are you talking about?
Atheist don’t have hope.
We have a lot of hope. We have hope that the human species will better themselves and overcome things like climate change and alike. I also have great hope that President Biden will succeed in curbing the pandemic in the U.S. (which is another topic that includes explanation). Not sure how you think atheists have no hope. It’s simply not true.
@pip1961 That is just ridiculous. Yes, a “story” has a beginning and an end. Because it’s “a story”. When we’re describing the universe we’re not telling a story, we’re trying to unravel a mystery. It doesn’t matter how it “feels” to us, we only want reality.
And I would point out that your “end” in the Bible is “eternity”, which isn’t exactly an end. And your “beginning” in the Bible was “eternity”, which isn’t actually a beginning. That’s just how you choose to look at it.
As for atheists not having hope, accepting that I will be dead and gone some day doesn’t mean that I can’t ever have hope for anything. I have children. They are my future. And as any decent parent would happily give their lives for their children I see it as my duty to one day die and get out of their way so they can be better people than I ever was. Already they have grown up without the prejudices of my own past which I have since grown past. Already they were better people as children than I was. How can that not bring a parent hope?
Your argument is essentially, “I like my belief better than yours, so mine is definitely right”. Reality doesn’t care how you feel or if you like it. It’s going to keep being what it is regardless. I accept that and you should too. You’ll be much happier for it.
What are you talking about? -- MrianaI have a feeling aliens are going to increasingly be featured in his posts
There is any hope in yours believe. If I asked questions, you cannot answered. Let me begin with this one.
How the earth has his existence? And what was the first element?
I think it was hydrogen. Watch this lecture
Waisting time my friend. He must answered my questions. Who is the first humans name? How can be a man and a woman? Who was first, the baby of the parents?? If you say that this world is millions years old, why now about 300 years we have from horses to spaceships? All those millions years was a waste of time. And today we have the monkeys still in the jungles, but the apes man all have starving out. Ridiculous isn’t it!!
You are not interested in my answers. You could just use Google if you want to know. No one here has to answer you if they don’t want to.
No @lausten, @pip1961 isn’t interested in what we have to say. He’s more interesting in attempting to convert us, even with all his misspellings and scientific illiteracy. He thinks science is ridiculous because he’s illiterate.
Watch this on YouTube
The Atheist Delusion Movie (2016)
But looked at it completely and tried to answered the question with an open mind.
That movie is a B.S. movie that 1. knows nothing about atheists and 2. it’s an evangelical movie dead set on scaring people into believing in a fantasy. Most atheists don’t fall it.
You are scary to see it, because you cannot answered my questions. And also you have seen how the pastors have laughter him, saying that the trying to understand the divination of … go see it completely and with an open mind.
@pip1961 I’m not scared at all to see. How do you know I haven’t seen it and haven’t poked holes in it before? I just happen to know what such video are like and their purpose. I’ve also answered your questions, but if you don’t like the answers, that’s not my problem. Also, I’m not sure if English is your second language or if you have issues with proofreading, because some of your sentences make no sense.
I actually enjoy “answering” movies like that, but in this case, I think I will pass. Pip is already talking about moving on. I appreciate his proclamation that he will give us “BIBLICAL answers”. We all knew that from his first post, but it saves us the step of pointing out that his answers are circular.
I think I did watch that one, at least part of it. First of all, Ray Comfort. No need to look any further. Once you’ve spent 10 minutes listening to him, you’ve heard every argument he has ever had. His technique is simple; provide just enough information to get to the question, then, don’t answer it. Instead, point out that it is a question and that the Bible has an answer for it. Ignore all other evidence and all other logical arguments. Show people who have the answer talking, but don’t show them providing the evidence or logic to the specific question. Also fun, go to college campuses, where people are just starting to grapple with these questions because their parents didn’t know to prepare them, or proactively shielded them from them. Same technique though, ask them the question and show they don’t have an answer. Jay Leno perfected this, asking people on the street fairly simple questions and only showing you the video of the ones who stumbled with them.
I will not talk about the world, i will write about France.
Atheism and secularism are 2 different concepts. Atheism is the absence of god and religion, secularism is the separation of church and religion. The state does not recognize or subsidizes any religion, but guarantees religious freedom, to every religion.
A big difference between France and Anglo-saxon and protestant countries is that we had to impose secularism to the catholic church. One must remember that in the 19th, the pope condemned many ideas as simple as freedom of conscience, with encyclical Quanta cura and its annex, the Syllabus.
Secularism was a way to affirm religious liberties and to claim that the state was free from religion. What happened after is another debate. But it became something fundamental in the French culture. WWI was need to reconcile
Atheism rise takes more time. Roughly, only 15 % of French people are atheists, but 50 % are without any religion, either atheists, free thinkers or agnostics. Only 43 % of people living in France declare themselves as Catholics.
Why ? Education is the first factor, i feel. Second come the fact that the religious texts are contradictory with science. Third a reject of the Church ideas about morale and so. Churches and priests try to tell us how we must live, love and so and by rejecting their ideas, people reject the churches.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quanta_cura
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syllabus_of_Errors