THE FUTURE IS COMING! PART II: RELIGION
As I mentioned in the previous publication (https://steemit.com/science/@mariolester/the-future-is-coming), the future seems to be coming, from the perspective of the technological advances we have seen in countless Hollywood films. It is not only a matter of scientific and technological advances, it is also a social and cultural issue; This being a central part of the changes a society must undergo in order to reach a deep cultural transformation.
Therefore, religion is one of the central causes of the customs, beliefs and actions of a society, even when they are strongly influenced by other factors, such as the economic one; However, religion is undergoing changes in the world society, where it emphasizes that one of the religions that has grown the most in recent years is Islam (Link 1).
LINK 1
http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-39279631/islam-the-world-s-fastest-growing-religion
However, what many futurists have predicted, the religion will go to low or critical levels (in number of believers), almost extinct, in the not too distant future; At this point we return to the scenarios, the pessimist, which the religion continues as a viral disease (the virus of the faith) that is spreading individual by individual in a population, or the optimist scenario, which the religion is extinguished, as a result of the understanding of human beings of nature and the functioning of the universe, or simply by the use of critical thinking as a way of life and the scientific method as the main tool to obtain knowledge.
Many may think that the existence of religion is not bad, it is good for its "altruistic" work, however, this is something that must be analyzed with a very critical eye, although it is not the intention of this article.
To reach the optimistic scenario, the ideal is to continue the work, which is arduous and complicated, of a better education, the more we educate ourselves the better our understanding of the world, however, if education is not given from a perspective of the critical thinking, then it is not a good education. Therefore, the scientific method, or simply the scientific perspective comes into play, if we only observe the religious beliefs of the biologists of the National Academy of Sciences (of the United States), we can see that 94% identify among atheists and agnostics, while only the remaining 6% identify with any religious belief (Figure 1).
Figure 1.
More optimistic is to observe, according to the social change between times, or between generations, such as the so-called Millennials (younger), a generation born between 1990 and 1996, with 36% of individuals who do not identify with any religious belief, or simply consider themselves atheists; in fact, it is clear, the increase in atheism between generations since those born in 1928 (Figure 2).
Figure 2.
The most obvious conclusion is that in modern times, thinking about religious beliefs is only understandable due to the spread of the faith virus in an intra-family way, since as mentioned, as we educate ourselves with a critical thinking approach, and we observe science revolutionizing our lives, there is no space for concepts of all powerful gods that somehow direct our lives, but even when these beliefs are capable of denying key scientific aspects, such as the Evolution theory (Figure 3), the which presents multiple evidences from multiple lines (genetics, zoology, embryology, biochemistry, geology, among others).
Figure 3.
The optimistic scenario of a future society without religion is becoming possible, although with a progressive and perhaps slow growth, mainly due to economic aspects, which make access to education scarce, and in some cases even privileged. If you are a person of FAITH, then it is better to go to church temples in cases of medical emergency, and not to medical centers, because if it is God who will help this emergency, the temple is better (although we know that this will not happen). ); If, on the other hand, you are a person who believes in science and its benefits, it is better to follow the road to the medical center, where science will surely be the only one capable of support the necessary help; many people in society are between the two extremes, that is, people of FAITH with a belief in science, those who say "GOD GUIDES THE PHYSICIAN'S HANDS", however, it is a matter of time before the end is oriented towards the science, because although some think otherwise, SCIENCE AND RELIGION ARE NOT RECONCILABLE OR COMPATIBLE.