New Study: Religious Affiliation Is At An All Time Low Because No One Believes In Fairy Tales Anymore
I meant to write this last week when Max cheered these new findings. I figured a lazy Canadian Thanksgiving Monday would be better suited to celebrating with him.
The world is catching on: We’re shifting away from religious fairy tales. And it turns out that dedicating your life on earth to hateful cut-and-paste ideologies parading around as your ticket to eternal life isn’t so cool after all.
Axios: There’s a global, fast-growing population of people without a religion. That’s according to a new AP-NORC Poll.
Why it matters: Religion has long been a powerful force in society, touching politics, art and daily life. The rise of nonbelievers and people with no religious affiliation is diminishing its influence.
By the numbers: 3 in 10 U.S. adults said they had no religious affiliation.
- About half of them identify as atheist or agnostic, and the other half say their religion is “nothing in particular.”
The shift away from religion is even starker among younger adults, with 43% of 18- to 29-year-old Americans responding “none,” when asked which religion they follow.
- But fewer than 20% of U.S. adults over 60 are “nones.”
The trend is gaining momentum across the world, AP reports from several countries:
- In Japan, 70% of people in Japan say they have nonreligious feelings.
- Nearly 80% of Italians say they’re Catholic. But most view it as a tradition, with fewer than 20% attending services weekly.
- Israel, a country with about 7 million Jews, is remarkably nonreligious: Just 33% said they practiced “traditional” religious worship. Conflict between secular and ultra-religious Israelis has grown in recent years.
Yes, but: Public rejection of religion is harder for nonbelievers in many other countries.
- In India, which has a long history of nonreligious movements, most atheists keep quiet about religion.
- In some areas, like northern Nigeria, it can even be risky and even dangerous to be publicly atheist or agnostic, AP notes.
The bottom line: Organized religion remains a key source of community for many Americans, with two-thirds of U.S. adults identifying as Christian, according to Pew Research Center.
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As recently as the 1990s, that share was 90%.
You Gotta Have FAITH. Or it doesn’t work:
Millennials and Gen Z are smarter than us. Not smarter than me, but smarter than most of us. They know 1+1 = 2 so 0 + 0 = 0.
That’s where faith comes in.
A word used to describe every artificial religion and everything that doesn’t line up or exist in manufactured religion (they are all manufactured), a firm belief in religion based on apprehension instead of ANY fact or proof whatsoever. “FAITH” is used to explain the unexplainable in man-made religion.
It’s also used to dehumanize anyone in said “FAITH” should they dare ask questions about the virgin birth, hatred of LGBTQs, Noah’s ark, The Rapture, or tithing 10% of your net worth. The same “faith” is required to shove a pipe bomb up your ass or kidnap Israeli families from their homes on a lazy Sunday in the name of Allah (they think they’re getting virgins).
Faith is the joke excuse every theological asshole uses to inspire a call to action based on no empirical proof. Or so says Oxford:
Faith And Fear, Baby
There are only a few reasons why anyone would adopt religion as an operating system. Fearing death is the biggest.
When you’re dumb, it’s even more complex and scares the shit out of you. Processing death isn’t fun, so thousands of years ago, we invented religion to help us take advantage of that fear, inventing afterlife clubs and a set of rules to live by that required ZERO critical thought. Just blind “FAITH.” Your reward? A lifetime of miracles on a shit planet you’re incentivized to hate, and everlasting life full of clouds and virgins or whatever that faith says happens when you die. We never questioned it because we didn’t have the internet.
Millennials and Gen-Z grew up with Google, so they’ve been able to get answers to questions that used to require “FAITH.” I grew up in a time when you had to take your family’s word for it, and my family wouldn’t allow specific books/movies/reading material in the house if it weren’t church/creation related.
Today, kids can google questions like “Is it scientifically possible for a man to rise from the dead after getting sealed in a cave for three days after being brutally murdered?” OR “Show me pictures of Virgins in the afterlife.” They’re not scared because they have knowledge some of us didn’t.
The kids are brighter, thanks to Google and Snapchat. That’s why they have no respect for politics or authority. Deal with it.
Memento Mori
“Remember Death.” I’m getting that tattooed on my chest this year. It’s Latin.
We all die. Regardless of your religious affiliation, we all die.
Death is the next part of life, but not a single person, dead or alive, can attest to what that might be. It doesn’t prevent the Pope from pretending, though. They need the illusion of an afterlife to afford all that awesome shit. So do Abrahamic faiths. That is why they forbid you from using your ability to reason. It’s why faith-based schools exist. To make you test your “faith” in the pure creationist afterlife bullshit, they feed you by preventing you from reading or seeing anything that might make you question something. Anything. Like death. Which WILL happen.
“Memento Mori” reminds me to use my time best and this life experience because death is 100% certain. The afterlife? Not so much. That’s what makes my life so worthwhile. The idea is that my time is finite, and I get to respond to life in a way that ensures my life experience is a good experience. Not one I throw away for a magical afterlife. I like this world and the people in it. I’m not biding my time until I experience this supernatural afterlife faith-based religions promise. I’m enjoying this experience. Not hiding from it. THAT’S “Memento Mori.”
If the afterlife DOES exist, I’ll be the first guy to admit I’m wrong, but I have all the proof, and man-made “FAITH” based religion has none. Zero. There is no evidence of their belief in something 100% unprovable. I can 100% prove you will die. And after that, who knows?
Maybe there are virgins. Perhaps we’re playing 18 with Payne Stewart in the clouds over Pinehurst #2. I think there’s something. I don’t know what it is, nor am I a big enough asshole to pretend I do it for influence, money, or fame.
No one knows what’s next. That’s what makes it so exciting.
In short, fewer of us believe in fairytales thanks to the World Wide Web. Amen.
Dean Blundell
Dean Blundell is a Canadian radio personality. Best known as a longtime morning host on CFNY-FM (The Edge) in Toronto, Ontario. In 2015 he was named the new morning host on sports radio station CJCL (Sportsnet 590 The Fan). Dean started his career in radio in 2001 and for nearly 20 years been entertaining the radio audience. Dean’s newest venture is the launch of his site and podcast which is gaining tremendous momentum across North America.
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