If - as the derivation of the word 'religion' implies, religion is about what binds us to society, then I reckon we shouldn't be happy about the seeming decline in interest and respect for our traditional religions.
From what I have read, it seems that the most serious by-products of the decline of religions have been the decline of personal responsibility and the loss of moral compass.
Some people may say that there is no point in worrying about this; we should just get on with life as we find it. They feel that the religions we currently have carry the seeds of their own destruction; their claims to authority have been eroded by science and technology; their core myths (see Rue's book in the links below) have lost their relevance. We may accept that Jesus and Mohammad were great leaders and that their ideas brought much insight and progress. But maybe we don't need all that God stuff. We have had wars between not just different religions, but also between sects within the same religious tradition. And religion is still hamstrung by old traditions and a self-perpetuating oligarchy of priests, mullahs and rabbis - some of whom seem as sinful as the rest of us.
But as the saying goes, we are in danger of throwing out the baby with the bath water.
There have been honest attempts to look for a way forward. Aldous Huxley examined what were the common principles of several of the world's great religions. Within Christianity, John Robinson's 'Honest to God' appeared in my student days- he had been Dean of my college. Anthony Kenny was a Catholic priest but was excommunicated after marrying. Jack Spong wrote several books, including 'Why Christianity Must Change or Die'. Richard Holloway has written about his life both as head of the Anglican church in Scotland and his thoughts after leaving the church. None of these writers has received much encouragement from the mainstream church hierarchies, but they have had respect and interest from readers.
As to the future of Islam, an interesting book appeared in 2015: Islam and the Future of Tolerance. This was a transcript of a discussion between Sam Harris and Maajid Nawaz - two very interesting people.
A valid question for many lapsed believers as well as agnostics and atheists is: "Is what we are hearing and reading from religious people just another form of bullshit?". Are the speakers and writers trying to bypass our better judgment by appealing to our emotional weaknesses? Perhaps there are a number of different situations. Some religious people may believe that their 'story' is more real than the physical world we find ourselves in. They may be less guilty of bullshit but rather of inability to understand how other peoiple may not think their way. However they may still sometimes use arguments which leave out issues which both speaker and listener know to be relevant. Some modern believers argue that their religion's story is really a metaphor, with personalization of vital concepts relating to how we can best live our life on earth. But for the best religious bullshit, I like to look at the words of western Christian hymns - which I sang happily for over 20 years!
I have always taken an interest in religion - my father was a lay preacher and his father a minister. I participated in discussion groups in my early adulthood. I stopped being a mainstream worshipper after a period of living in the Middle East and meeting Moslems. I have read a lot and am still concerned to find a forward path for religions, but I rate myself as a very poor 'believer'.
The author I find myself closest to is Loyal Rue, As well as highlights on his book 'Religion is not about God' (see link below), I have prepared a slide show which gives my 'take' on his ideas. Interstingly, he points to Religious Naturalism as a cause that could bring many people - of various religious or non-religious inclinations - together.
Relating primarily to Christianity
Islam
| Koran - What It Says and Where | Brown: Misquoting Mohammad | Sultan: A God Who Hates | My Koran Essay |
Other major religions
| About Buddhism | Momen: The Bahaí Faith |
Philosophical angles
A few of my own essays
| Religion - a personal view | Religion - Man from Mars view | Religion - Where Next | Religion - miscellaneous thoughts |
| Happy to be an Unbeliever | Let's Check With God |
The links below lead to the other components of PLOVER
| Philosophy | Language | Ontology | Value | Evolution | Religion |
Back links to pages in the website
| Back to Religion A | Back to PLOVER home | Back to Roger's Re-think home | Back to tagg.org website |
Some of these links may be under construction – or re-construction.
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