Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York - Is Religion Dying Out?

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Gaffar, who was born in Turkey, was disturbed by the idea of a vengeful God, as taught by his religion. His wife, Hediye, began to question her religion when she was just nine years old. I was taught to believe in fate, she said. As an orphan, I wondered, What have I done to deserve this? I often cried all night. By age 15, in my heart I had abandoned my religion.

HAVE you given up on organized religion? If so, you are far from alone. In many countries the number of people who describe themselves as not religious is growinga trend that suggests an uncertain future for institutional religion. Some of those lands are shown here.

AUSTRALIA

Polls indicate that nearly 50 percent of the population say they are not religious. Another 10 percent claim to be convinced atheists. In 2010, a clergyman lamented that the last 40 years or so has seen a wholesale abandonment of the Christian faith.

FRANCE

Only 37 percent of the people polled claimed to be religious. The rest were either atheists or simply not religious. In some parts of this once Catholic stronghold, Catholicism is in a state of near-collapse, said the magazine The Economist.

IRELAND

The Irish seem to be losing their faith en masse. Nearly 45 percent of respondents said they are not religious, and another 10 percent claimed to be atheists. Percentagewise, Ireland was among the top ten atheist populations. News reports are talking about the end of Catholic Ireland.

JAPAN

Just 16 percent of Japanese polled claimed to be religious; 62 percent were either not religious or atheists.

SOUTH AFRICA

Between 2005 and 2012, the number of South African respondents who said they were religious fell by 19 percent.

TUNISIA

In 2013, about 60 percent of Tunisians polled said that they no longer attend mosques but instead pray at home. The reason given was the violent ideology promoted there.

UNITED STATES

Since 2005, the number of people claiming to be religious fell by 13 percent. About 1 in 5 respondents had no religious affiliation. For adults under the age of 30, the ratio was 1 in 3. Thousands of churches close their doors each year.

VIETNAM

Between 2005 and 2012, the number of respondents professing to be religious fell from 53 percent to just 30 percent.

Statistics for all countries except Tunisia are taken from the 2012 Global Index of Religion and Atheism, published by Gallup International. Polls involved 57 countries, representing over 73 percent of the worlds population.

People are becoming disillusioned with organized religion for a variety of reasons. These include religiously motivated or religiously sanctioned violence and terror, sex scandals involving religious leaders, and more subtle factors, which may be taking a bigger toll. The latter include the following:

• Material prosperity: The richer you get, the less religious you define yourself, says the Global Index of Religion and Atheism. That observation is significant because in many lands, material prosperity has risen dramatically. In some places, people enjoy a standard of living that would have made the greatest king of two hundred years ago turn green with envy, says John V. C. Nye, a professor of economics.

  WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS: The Bible foretold that in the last days, love of money and pleasures would supplant love of God and neighbor. (.

• Religious traditions and morality: Many people, especially the young, view organized religion as irrelevant and out of touch. Others have lost confidence in religion. If you look at the way the churches have behaved over the centuries, said Tim Maguire, media officer for Humanist Society Scotland, people have turned away from them because they no longer believe in them as a moral arbiter.

  WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS: Regarding false teachers, Jesus Christ warned: By their fruits you will recognize them.... Every good tree produces fine fruit, but every rotten tree produces worthless fruit. () Today, however, many people feel spiritually starved.

• Religion and money: According to the Pew Research Center, a lot of people feel that religion puts too much emphasis on money. Adding to the problem, some religious dignitariesunlike their flocksenjoy lavish lifestyles. For example, in one German city where many churchgoers struggle to make ends meet, the bishop has been accused of living in great luxury. This lifestyle has offended many local Catholics. Also, a report in GEO magazine says that in Nigeria, where 100 million people live on less than one euro per day, the flamboyant lifestyles of some pastors is beginning to become a problem.

  WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS: The Bible writer Paul wrote: We are not making profit from the word of God. (.

In harmony with those principles, Jehovahs Witnesses do not charge for their literature or for Bible instruction. Nor do they tithe or take up collections at their meetings. Instead, needed funds are supplied through private voluntary donations..

Not many decades ago, the present plight of organized religion would have been hard to imagine. God, however, foresaw this development and announced it in advance in the Bible. Using symbolic language, God likened all religion that is unfaithful to him to a flamboyant prostitute named Babylon the Great..

That symbol is fitting because false religion, while claiming fidelity to God, has consorted with the rulers of the world to gain power and wealth. The kings of the earth... committed sexual immorality with her, says .

Mighty Babylon fell when its protective watersa moat fed by the Euphrates Riverwere dried up, opening the way for an army of Medes and Persians to conquer the city. (.

Babylon the Great too sits on many waters. These, the Bible tells us, mean peoples and crowdsthe millions who support false religion. (