The Unexpected Decline of Religion in the 21st Century
Since the beginning of human civilization, religion has served as a cornerstone for nearly all of human society. Their religious beliefs dictated their choices and ideas, and castes and social hierarchies revolved around such beliefs. In ancient Greece, gods were seen as deities of immense power that required offerings. In France during the 1700s, the clergy held a disproportionate amount of authority over the French people. Yet when looking at the 21st century, it seems that religion is a shell of its previous self. Atheism, the belief that there is no God, and agnosticism, doubt over the existence of a God, have risen in religion's place and are projected to grow in popularity in the coming years.
A study by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan American think tank, on the religious demography of the U.S. illustrates this phenomenon. In 2007, a surveyed 16 percent of the population identified as non-religious, while a contrasting 29 percent identified themselves as religious in 2021. This trend becomes even starker when looking at the 2014 General Sociological Survey, which estimated that a mere 6 percent of the U.S were not religious in 1991. In the last three decades, the atheist and agnostic population has nearly quintupled in size. Furthermore, the Pew Research center predicts that the non-religious population would rise up to 52 percent by 2070.
Such unprecedented change has led many to wonder what led to the rise in atheism. A popular notion is that people simply have less leisure time than before to partake in religion. Moreover, there is a much greater range of interests that people can enjoy, which would consequently mean less time for practicing religion. However, while the amount of free time people have has decreased since the 1980s according to data from the OECD, the difference is minimal when considering the magnitude of the rise of atheism. In addition, plenty of interests existed in eras where religion was a domineering factor. All this proves is that religion has become less important than these interests, not necessarily that this led to the decline of religion.
A more plausible theory that explains the rise of atheism is that with the world heavily governed by scientific and logical thought, people are no longer predisposed to rely on religion as a source of their truth. This is because without understanding or knowledge, many are susceptible to making up their own reasons to explain or understand something, namely religion. For example, one of the most alluring reasons for practicing Christianity is the answer that it has for the afterlife, which has yet to be answered scientifically. Furthermore, many religions that died out were founded in scientifically proven anomalies, such as myths of the Greek and Roman gods.
However, atheism has not risen simply because of an increase of innovation or knowledge. Both the scientific and industrial revolutions led to utter transformations of life, but they left minimal impacts on religion compared to the digital revolution. Rather, the significance of a change lies more in how it changes the information accessible to the people. With the internet available to even the most rural of places, billions have all the information they could ever need at their fingertips. Education as well has played its part, with more accessible and proper education allowing people to think critically and rely on evidence instead of faith.
Impoverished areas that lack an accessible education or source of information also generally have higher rates of religion. Gregory Paul, an American freelance researcher, concluded in a 2009 study to CBC news that "religion is most able to thrive in seriously dysfunctional societies." When people find themselves lost or struggling, they revert to religion because it appears to have all the answers.
Yet, this is not all to say that religion is incorrect or unjustified. Religion to many offers a place of sanctuary and comfort, and it can help shape cultures and identities. While complete reliance on a belief may not be wise, a set of beliefs that one abides by can be an enormous benefit to an individual. All this is to say is that as information and technology progress, religion is bound to change. As scientific knowledge becomes more widespread in the coming years, the very roots of religion may be turned over.