Recently, some academic experts studied religion, around the world, and they found: “From about 2007 to 2019, the overwhelming majority of the countries we studied—43 out of 49—became less religious. The decline in belief was not confined to high-income countries and appeared across most of the world.”
You can read more about their findings at:
It’s important to note that they use the words “religion” and “belief” to describe the same thing. Apparently, our religion is the same as what we believe.
I disagree.
So, should we panic? Is the world coming apart? Are we all walking away from God? Is Atheism our future?
The news about religion can be hysterical, and we are encouraged to worry.
It is always useful to examine ourselves: Do you believe, in something?
Yes, you do. That’s how we are made. Human beings are believers, and it would be good for everyone to examine themselves and their beliefs.
So, what do you believe in? What will make you successful, or what negative thing do you want to avoid?
Are you a Vegan Vegetarian, do you believe in UFOs, is Jesus coming soon, is money the one thing you want?
I once had to work with someone who believed that dairy milk was one thing we should never drink. It was his evil thing, and he talked about milk all day and tried to start arguments.
I worked with him once.
Here’s a belief quiz:
- What would really make you happy? Let’s call this your picture of success.
- What makes you really unhappy? This is your picture of failure.
- What should the people around you do? … or not do? This is your picture of a good community.
- What power do you need, to make things right in your life? This is your god.
- What future do you see for our world? This is your hope.
Do you see yourself as a believer? You are, and I am.
In this world of believers, we have a problem, apparently. We are becoming less religious. Organized religion is declining among us. Specifically, the Christian religion is declining among Americans. Probably Europeans, Canadians, Australians, and other Western cultures are the same.
We are not old-fashioned anymore:
If we follow the findings of the Pew researchers, people who believe in their religion haven’t changed much. The decline in religion has hardly affected them. They still believe and practice in large numbers.
There is a famous story in the Bible, about a man who believed. He believed so strongly that he was about to kill himself with a sword. He asked some Christian prisoners what he should do, and they told him “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16: 31)
He was told to focus his beliefs on something, specifically someone who could actually do him some good, or ‘save him.’
If he believed, he had to end his old beliefs. We know that happened because he did not kill himself with a sword. He became one of the first Christians in his city.
The modern decline in organized religion might just be a decline in hypocrisy and a change in tribalism. We can belong to a religious tribe, without sincerely believing. If beliefs are not closely aligned with religion, we can wander from our religion when we have personal freedom. It will be interesting to see how the children and grandchildren of immigrants with conservative religions, will follow the old way.
After the old generation is gone, they may drift like everyone else.
The secret is belief, not membership.
This is where ‘religion’ started for the first Christians:
“And so we too constantly thank God that when you received God’s message that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human message, but as it truly is, God’s message, which is at work among you who believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13)
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