That’s a promising trend. They could have included Germany in that list of countries as well. According to a study (http://fowid.de/fileadmin/datenarchiv/Religionszugehoerigkeit_Bevoelkerung__1950-2008.pdf) by the “Forschungsgruppe Weltanschauungen in Deutschland” (Research Group for World-Views in Germany) which examines demographic trends from 1950 - 2008, Germany is clearly moving in the same direction, as the following statistics of those having no religious affiliation shows:

1950:  0%
1961:  0%
1970:  3.9%
1987: 11.4%
1990: 22.4%
2003: 31.8%
2004: 32.3%
2005: 32.5%
2008: 34.1% (estimated)

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From Canada, my view, it’s like there’s an indifference to religion…“nothing in it for me”...although, Islam seems to be more prominent than it used to be…

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Interesting article, although I question the conclusion that religion will ever completely die out.

As long as there are situations in which people feel there have nothing else to hope for (e.g.; poverty, life sentences in prison, foxholes), they will find something to cling to.  As unreasonable as religion is to those of us fortunate enough to live relatively stress free lives, those under extremely unpleasant circumstances will cling to irrational hope rather than no hope at all.

If you’re already bankrupt, you might as well buy that lottery ticket.

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The end of irrational religions cannot come a day too soon.  Then we must hope for the end of the anti-humanity socialist movements around the globe.  Only when individual liberties are recognized will all of us live together in peace.

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Somehow Zheng Ye I highly doubt that we will live in peace just by giving individual liberties to everyone. There will always be a cause for conflict regardless of that.

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The study reflects the reality in the referenced societies only as it is now.  I think history as shown that human behavior trends often reverse.  So .... don’t hold your breath.

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Chris, there are micro reversals (and unfortunately, I believe that the 1980-2008 period in America was one of these periods) but the BIG picture trend is still that of religion getting pushed back, inch by inch, fingernails clawing into the dirt, by science and reason.  It’s hard for us, who live our sub-century lifespan year by year to find comfort in this (as you said, don’t hold your breath) but this is the big-picture, multi-century trend, and it seems to be inexorable.  I’m an optimist at heart.

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While the trend may be real, I see many countervailing forces at work, including, but not limited to, the following:

1. Poor, un/ill-educated people will continue to cling to religion for hundreds of years to come.

2. The non-religious, including secular groups I’ve been a part of, seem less well organized than religious groups. They also seem unfocused as a whole, having no clear objectives in mind within said organizations (members may have various goals, often not shared by others and not agreed upon by the group’s leaders). Of course, there are notable exceptions, including the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science and, of course, Project Reason.

3. In the groups I’ve seen, either female membership is under representative of the true number of women who are non-religious or there are way more guys than gals who claim no particular religious affiliation.

4. Islam, as practiced by moderates and extremists, all of whom seem extreme to me.

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Even if religions die out the necessity for mankind to believe in God never will.  I don’t know why it is so essential for atheists to push for the extinction of God belief.  Furthermore, the propensity for atheists to blame the ills of the world on religiion are absurd.  The problem is mankind himself - not mankinds belief in God.  Man can figure out how to abuse man no matter what world view he adheres to as a society.. 

And no one in this blog can honestly claim to know that the world would be better without religion.

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9. chris:
“Even if religions die out the necessity for mankind to believe in God never will.”
At least some of us infer that religion will die out because mankind’s belief in supernaturalism is fading. The original article is about a study across various countries that provides some evidence supporting that proposition. It’s Ok, and less wordy, to say that you have reservations about the study and cite some reasons.
“ I don’t know why it is so essential for atheists to push for the extinction of God belief.”
The ‘God belief’ is a subset of superstition, which in turn is a subset of beliefs not supported by evidence, which additionally tend to be contrary to the usual experience. The ‘God belief’ requires the suspension of disbelief, which is actually the thing that it is essential to dispose of as a default in the general population.
“Furthermore, the propensity for atheists to blame the ills of the world on religiion are absurd.”
Agreed. More ‘Straw Man’ anyone?
“The problem is mankind himself - not mankinds belief in God.”
Mankind’s beliefs are a subset of ‘Mankind’ , so this distinction is not possible. It is this statement, more than any other, that marks you for a religious irrationalist. Or perhaps a troll. I find it surprisingly common that contemporary religious argument is predicated on meaningless distinction.
“ Man can figure out how to abuse man no matter what world view he adheres to as a society..”
The confusion of the collective and the individual is the main issue here (contemplation vs commission being a minor point). I don’t know if you are saying that in exasperation that religious society has failed to curtail abuse both within its leadership and its membership, or are deliberately denying that individual philosophy has been quite successful in promoting peaceful approaches to interaction and reducing personal conflict.
“And no one in this blog can honestly claim to know that the world would be better without religion.”
Given the ‘honesty’ attribute is of the person not the claim, then one can certainly be honest and yet be incorrect. If the ‘honesty’ is an attribute of the claim, and taken to mean that the claim is made without the desire to mislead and is based on some sort of evidence, then unless you know each person commenting on the blog, you can’t honestly make that statement.
But let me put you out of your misery. Recollect any religious conflict you have ever heard of. The common point is that religion is involved in each one, by definition. These conflicts would not have occurred (as religious conflicts) if religion did not exist. Therefore, in that respect, the world would be better off without religion. If you want to argue broader ramifications, then we are back to discussing the sky fairy and how people can go to magic happy land when they croak.

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