>> I agree that religion may very well become a memetic dead end. I do think
that it has evolved well over the years, but that the environment will change
too rapidly. Looking at society from 40 years ago, religion was probably
evolved near to it's utmost virulence. <<
What is it about 40 years ago that makes you say this? Perhaps from the point
of view of a western secularist in America this might appear to be true, but I
am curious to hear why. I think that there is the possibility of other
religious waves that have yet to break into our cultural matrix, and that we
have a tendency to ignore.
I can think of one right now, and that is Islam. I think that once the
millenial hysteria of our Christian fundmentalists subsides, that Islam might
be the perfect receptacle to gather the disillusioned. It has already made
significant inroads into our minority population, at just about the same time
that fundamentalist Christians have made greater efforts to integrate
minorities into their culture.
One might say that our cultural environment has changed too much to accomodate
Islam, but Islam, more than our own fundamentalists, has proved capable of
changing cultural environments more than they have changed Islam. If you can
forgive a metaphor here, from the perspective of a predominately Christian
culture, Islam is the soul of fundamentalism.
In Christianity, they argue about whether the Bible is to be interpreted
literally. In Islam they do not have the same kind of arguments about the
Koran. In Christianity there is a sense that there is no choice but to co-
exist with secularism. In Islam there is no such sentiment.
Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world and it has traditionally
recruited most of its members from Christian populations. Indeed that was the
initial source of its first converts. We here in secular America tend to
dismiss Islam as something from another world, and many cannot imagine Islam
getting a foothold in America. The reality is that it already has.
When Islam begins to wane world-wide, I may begin to believe that we have
passed the most virulent phases of religious fervor. Until that happens I
couldn't imagine that religion is finished with the world, and ready to take a
backseat to secularism. Christianity may be thrashing its way toward decline,
but it may have served to pave the way for the newest world religion.
-Jake