There used to be a religion called Manichaeism practiced by millions of people in Europe, the Middle East, Iran, and China. It spread like wildfire. Today the religion has completely disappeared and not much is known about it. Do you think Christianity is heading in that direction?
There used to be a religion called Manichaeism practiced by millions of people in Europe, the Middle East, Iran...
Joseph White
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Caleb Hill
Towards disappearance? Yes.
Nobody knowing about it a few thousand years from now? Not unless our planet gets hit by an asteroid or some shit, there's too much information about it recorded by various people for and against it for that to happen.
Ryder Brown
Nah, evangelicals are always finding yet another tribe of illiterates in the Third World to spread their ideas to. Only in the West is Christianity on the decline. It's growing in China and Africa.
Will it disappear from the ranks of the Western economic and intellectual elite? It already has to a large extent, yet that doesn't even make a blip on the radar in terms of the total global adherents.
Gavin Rodriguez
>Do you think Christianity is heading in that direction?
Considering that Christianity is growing pretty strongly right now, not likely.
Luis Williams
>Today the religion has completely disappeared
Still exists in remote parts of China.
Logan Cruz
>In modern China, Manichaean groups are still active in southern provinces, especially in Quanzhou[5] and around the Cao'an, the only Manichaean temple that has survived until today.[6] There is a Chinese Manichaean Council with representatives in Tibet and Beijing.
Luis Bailey
Why is that?
Oliver Hernandez
It's growing pretty rapidly in Africa and Asia right now, and it's already got a strong grip on Latin America.
Now consider for a moment that Africa, Asia, and Latin America are experiencing far more population growth than the relatively atheistic Europe or USA. If anything I would say that atheism is sooner to die out than Christianity is, although the likelihood of either of those happening is remote.
Chase Clark
Nah. Not enough wars going on.
Religions traditionally faded out by its followers adapting a new one brought by their conquerors. Also they were (generally) localized.
Today its hard to imagine a culture coming in and stamping out all its religions while simultaneously converting its people into a similar one. Sure it happens on small scales and China made a fair go of it but in this modern age the major religions are pretty well established to stand for a thousand or so years although religions have a tendency to adapt to society these days rather than societies adapting to religion so I guess Christianity and such would still exist just it'd be almost unrecognizable to Christians today.
Adam Reyes
Atheism will die in a couple generations but Christ is eternal.
Caleb Jenkins
One of two things will happen to the places that are experiencing this growth in belief and population.
1.The growth of both of these things will gradually die out as these areas become wealthier and nation states become more accountable to their citizens.
OR
2.Climate Change and all it's secondary effects will destroy food production and social stability in these areas, eventually dramatically reducing their population.
Austin Foster
Jokes on you, atheism will never die.
Parker Clark
>The growth of both of these things will gradually die out as these areas become wealthier and nation states become more accountable to their citizens
Maybe, although we don't know whether it is the wealthiness that caused the decline of Christianity in Europe or just a cultural change that caused it. It could very well be that these nations will retain their Christianity even after becoming wealthier. Or maybe not, who knows.
>Climate Change and all it's secondary effects will destroy food production and social stability in these areas, eventually dramatically reducing their population.
True, but that would also drastically lower quality of life all around the world, which if your first point about wealthiness is true would end up opening up much of the world to Christianity again.
Lucas Wood
> opening up much of the world to Christianity
I am pretty sure you meant to Islam, brother.
Zachary Hernandez
Its already on the decline
Logan Long
>>True, but that would also drastically lower quality of life all around the world,
Not exactly, nations with established wealth, military power and technological know how will have a much a higher chance of getting through climate change relatively unscathed(food costs a bit more and is of lower quality, more severe weather will cause a certain amount of disruption as well, but the main problem will be keeping out refugees)the third world, or rather the developing world is going to get absolutely shit-hammered by this.
Aiden Sanchez
It is going to be a 'religion of Peace' world either way, Christ-cuck.
Carson Johnson
Pretty sure some form of atheism has existed long before Christ mate.
Samuel Gomez
Fair point. Islam is a rather decent example of a religion that just doesn't budge no matter what the conditions of its nation is. Can't beat unwavering fanaticism.
But, it's also not wise to assume that Christianity will not change as well. Christianity often takes on aspects of the culture that adopts it, and visa versa. The Africans have not been nearly so pacifistic with their Christianity as the west has, and we can see examples of Christian militias forming to fight against Muslim militias.
How this will affect Christianity in Latin America (which is becoming increasingly Evangelical) and China, I can't say. But I look forward to seeing the results.
Nicholas Cook
Only relatively speaking. Growth in religious belief in general is mostly confined to developing nations, the developed world is becoming less religious by contrast.
Liam Nguyen
Who cares? It will return again in a time of crisis. Certain religion can be lost and thus hysterically tries to survive at any cost, but the denial of atheism is always within the grasp of skeptical mind.
Jeremiah Bailey
Thats nonsense. Turkish Islam is far different to regular Islam.
I've never met a turk who didn't drink or smoke
Jose Bell
I think he means in terms of people believing in it to some extent or another. I could be wrong though.
Jose Baker
>not much is known about it
Yes, a good deal is known about it. Fragments of the Cologne Mani Codex and Shabuhrgan were preserved.
Aiden Robinson
What is it about Islam that grabs entire populations and doesn't let go? I was raised by a Lutheran mother and a Muslim father, I don't practice either religions, but I was certainly raised in Islam, my father is devoutly religious, and oddly enough, he's the one who introduced me to eastern religions and philosophy.
Muslims call Jews and Christians "people of the book" because they are all worshiping the same god, and their texts are largely the same. As far as I can tell the only mortal sin Christians commit is believing that Jesus was the son of God, and not a prophet like Noah or Abraham etc. So wtf? They believe the same shit, but hate each other. Why is Islam growing exponentially faster than Christianity?
Ryan Scott
>atheism
>dying
hahahaed
Cameron Rogers
your mom is a race traitor.
Anthony Watson
Why did it disappear?
Brandon Foster
Yet thei still openly call for the death of atheists on the streets of their most "western" city: youtube.com
Taking personal freedoms to indulge in sinful pleasures is not the same as being a non-fanatical person.
Liam Cruz
There's an islamic revival happening since a few decades. Same stuff but with christianity went down in the 19th century. It's not about the book or the prophet but other factors that surround people who belong to the religion
Samuel Ramirez
Go back to your containment board /pol/
My mother is a saint. Unlike yours, who I came in last night.
Jeremiah Evans
>Can't beat unwavering fanaticism.
I wonder if it's more that you can't beat a religion that doubles as a civic system without drastic and contemporaneous social, legal and cultural reforms.
Most Muslims don't live in Islamic societies. Indonesia has a secular government and more Muslims in it than the whole ME. But one of the running stories about Islam and society in secular, Muslim majority countries like Indonesia and Malaysia is a hardening of Islamic policy, a shift in bias toward Sharia law and growing Islamo-nationalist movements in politics. One example is in family law. A Muslim parent can seek a divorce and child custody from a Sharia court rather than a secular one. Previously, the non-Muslim parent would get a fair hearing for their case and had recourse to state laws. But now the Sharia courts are instituting policies of giving custody to Muslims out-of-hand, and making it infinitely easier for a man to divorce his wife than the other way around. A husband literally has only to say "I divorce you" three times and that is binding. Women don't have any option like that, and secular courts can do little to help in Islamic-leaning provinces.
People who are afraid of Sharia in the West are retarded. But it's extremely alarming to see a hardening of Islamic lines in previously secular countries, suggesting that Islam is only going to grow stronger as a function of state in the most populous Muslim countries in the near future even as the Saudi crown prince is softening Wahhabism to placate an increasingly affluent, cosmopolitan population. In both respects, these are trends of populism to watch carefully.
Nathaniel Russell
T. Mutt