Posted by:
Gay Philosopher
(
)
Date: August 31, 2011 09:22PM
Hi Omen,
That's an interesting question.
I think that religion will exist in various forms, but that Christianity and Islam will have gone extinct and become mythology, much as we deem Greek religion to be mythological from today's perspective. In other words, the stories of Christianity and Islam will be studied for their literary value, but certainly not accepted literally.
I think that Buddhism will persist in various forms because it's visually interesting and it actually (to everyone's surprise) has a technique--meditation--that has positive health effects in many people. I also believe that new religions will arise that align themselves closely with science, technology, and the environment. They'll be utopian, with cult leaders, but cult leaders grounded in science who profess a utopian vision that doesn't invoke White Fathers in the Sky, but instead appeal to common values that unite the community toward a mission or overarching goal.
States (countries) come and go. They have a life cycle. So to humans. So does software. Similarly, I believe that religions have a life cycle: inception, suppression, toleration, growth, persecution, decline, and extinction. I think that Christianity and Islam are experiencing persecution from rationality-based perspectives, namely those of science and technology. Eventually, these religions will decline, and within one millennium, go extinct.
If you want to see what future religions might be like, look at existing high-tech cults today.
Regards,
Steve