Why do more and more people in Western societies become secular?

[noname223]

Today I have heard it is the first time since they make this poll less than 50% of Americans say they are convinced God exists. In my country a lot of people leave the christian churches due to the sexual abuse scandals. I am glad that the churches lose power. They have way too big power. For example concerning assisted suicide.
Maybe this is just another religion bashing thread. I think eduction and enlightenment make people more rational. There are a lot of dogmas in the churches which are very outdated. I am not sure but I think for example in Africa the amount of church members is increasing. I checked it on wikipedia they say the numbers are growing. It would be interesting if religion became extinct in western countries. Though this would also cause problems. The churches do a lot of work on voluntary basis. In my country they contribute to the welfare state. My personal favorite model would the one of Scandinavia. They are very secular and still have a good welfare state.

What do you think are the reasons why the religions lose members and attraction (in Western countries)? I think many people crave for meaning in life. Though the answers concerning the question what gives meaning in our modern societies which are more centered on individuals are way more pluralistic than in the past.

 

[Nolan96]

Wokeism has replaced Christianity in the US, either directly or occasionally indirectly by taking over churches and making the Christian doctrines secondary to Woke ideology.

In this sense the US is not in any way a post-religious society. There is simply a new religion, equally systematic and unquestionable, and in my opinion a more dangerous one.

 

[jandek]

Wokeism has replaced Christianity in the US, either directly or occasionally indirectly by taking over churches and making the Christian doctrines secondary to Woke ideology.

In this sense the US is not in any way a post-religious society. There is simply a new religion, equally systematic and unquestionable, and in my opinion a more dangerous one.

Yeah, I think I agree. The social and psychological impulses that give rise to organized religion in the first place are still very present, even if they're no longer being channeled into traditional religious structures. The idea that "religion" can be eradicated from the human mind seems naive to me.

 

[InezSerrano]

Wokeism has replaced Christianity in the US, either directly or occasionally indirectly by taking over churches and making the Christian doctrines secondary to Woke ideology.

In this sense the US is not in any way a post-religious society. There is simply a new religion, equally systematic and unquestionable, and in my opinion a more dangerous one.

It is not just "wokeism," there are many schools of ideology that consume their followers, one prominent example would be populism.

 

[whatevs]

Cultural drift, in part engineered. We seem to be living in the Kali Yuga period.

 

[Spiritual survivor]

Religion is not the same thing as Christianity. Christianity is a relationship with God. Religion is a tool of control and it is not to help people become delivered from sin. Christianity actually treats the root cause of our suffering when it is taught correctly.

 

[InezSerrano]

Cultural drift, in part engineered. We seem to be living in the Kali Yuga period.

Do you mean this in a Julius Evola sense, or a traditional Hindu sense, or some other way?

 

[whatevs]

Do you mean this in a Julius Evola sense, or a traditional Hindu sense, or some other way?

I haven't more than skimmed Julius Ebola, I think he was one of the intellectuals behind Fascism?

I borrowed from Hinduism a concept that seems to apply, living in a materialistic epoch that denies humans trascendence (based on fallacies, the authority of academia and just evading relevant questions).

We might have been superstitious before, but at least we grasped something more important than anything technology or science can offer: that we come from something instead of nothing, and whatever we are doesn't completely disappear upon death.

But I think the masses are as superstitious as before, the blind obedience and trust in well paid scientists and politicians we saw during the covid power grab is as vile and demeaning as the one bestowed to the priest class of old.

 

[summers]

Because god doesn't exist. Maybe westerners are tired of hundreds of years of bullshit fairytales.

 

[InezSerrano]

Because god doesn't exist. Maybe westerners are tired of hundreds of years of bullshit fairytales.

Even if they are "bullship fairtales" I think there are many people that haven't found a good replacement. Religion gave many people a community, a reason to live, moral guidance, and maybe a few other good things in the past. Of course there were minority ground that suffered under religion, and there are other issues, churches covering up child sex abuse for example, but I do feel like there is a real hole that some people struggle to fill now that it's gone.

 

[Feeding Pigeons]

Because god doesn't exist. Maybe westerners are tired of hundreds of years of bullshit fairytales.

I think a lot of westerners still love their bullshit fairytales, they just moved on from abrahamic ones.

 

[Sherri]

So true, I always tell myself, if I was rich I would move away to the woods somewhere. In a cozy cabin and a cozy little town far away.

 

[SantaTeresa]

Materialism and technological advancement unveiled the true nature of men, organised religion sugar-coated life way too much to be taken seriously, and people slowly discovered their role for being mainly a socio-economical ladder. Capitalism offers both things without theological travesty, just plain prostitution.