First Slide
What will happen to religion in the next century or so?
I was not alive a hundred years ago, but I am sure nobody then could foretell the milestones made by different religions today. Perhaps the best example of how religious practices have changed lies in the use of the multimedia platform to access devotees across the globe.
Similarly, today, it is impossible to know what will happen to religion in two hundred years unless someone creates a time machine by then and decides to use it to determine what happens to Christianity, Islam and other religious beliefs.
Personally, I hold that religion evolves with culture and as people change so will their religious convictions.
Second Slide
First, it is important to note that contemporary religions, as we know them, have undergone multiple changes in the past years.
For example, in the documentation of his years in bondage, Frederick Douglass informs his readers on how Christianity formed the foundation on which slavery thrived in the United States. However, that was in the nineteenth century, and such ideologies do not persist in the current-day United States because as the country’s traditions changed so did religion.
Hence, just as in the case of Christianity in the United States, other religions have undergone changes based on changing perceptions of life and for that reason, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism are no different.
Third Slide
The first possible scenario is the emergence of a “king of religions.”
One religion will dominate the rest and become the epitome of all societies in every nation of the world.
Naturally, just as people will no longer have the luxury to choose what religion to follow; atheists will have to believe in something lest they face the law.
In other words, the concept of one religion will rid people the chance to choose a religion and will force them to devote in one.
Hence, other religions will fade away to make room for the “king”. On that note, cultures also face a similar fate when a superior one emerges.
Fourth Slide
The second possibility encompasses the death of religion.
Imagine a world in which nobody cares about the belief in a superior being and the practices put in place as a sign of devotion become outdated.
The immediate outcome would be religion no longer being a determinant factor in matters concerning morality. Pastors and Sheikhs will no longer have the power to reprimand adulterers and communities will have a different basis for moral actions.
The St. Peter’s Basilica could be a historical site for those seeking to learn about Christianity.
Sixth Slide
Third, religious practices will become so rare that people would converge every year to commemorate their ancestors’ practices.
That means, every day allocated for religious purposes will become a single day of “ancient” practices.
Seventh Slide
In the fourth scenario, religion will become tolerable in societies.
Forget the Facebook posts that urge you to like a status or picture lest you go to hell.
If religions go down the fourth path, such actions will be punishable by law because one would be forcing his ideologies down another person’s throat.
In turn, religious practices would be similar to drinking expensive wine in the morning. It is acceptable if nobody finds out but the minute your neighbors know you become an automatic alcoholic.
Eighth Slide
Finally, no mentioned possibilities will matter if a zombie apocalypse hits. Those with brains will be targets and the rest will most likely act as decoys as the former group escapes.
Conclusion
Charles Darwin was the first theorist to document the possibility of religion being an evolving phenomenon. Apparently, as Pleins writes in The Evolving God, Darwin suspected that cultures influenced religious convictions after encountering different tribes while aboard the HMS Beagle between 1831 and 1836.
For example, in Chile, an earthquake was a sign of witchcraft (Pleins 15) while the natives of New Zealand threatened to kill and eat the people aboard the HMS Beagle if they dared land on their shores (Pleins 8). Meanwhile, the South Americans used Christianity to justify wars that were clearly because of communal rivalry as the communities sought to gain power through bloodshed (Pleins 21).
The incidents proved to Darwin that in comparison to his homeland, the native tribes had a different understanding of Christianity and their lack of civilization played a hand.
The five hypothetical scenarios reflect personal thoughts of how religion will change.
Works Cited
Pleins, J. David. The Evolving God: Charles Darwin on the Naturalness of Religion. 1st. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2013. Print.
