Modern Technology, The Internet, and Atheism
Offline The availability of information, specifically religious information, through the Internet is something that the world has never seen before. As a result of the Internet there has been an increase of knowledge about religious doctrine on a scale that is unprecedented. In the past, religions primarily remained isolated to their region unless "crusaders" or "missionaries" brought the message to the unknown. Although now all it takes is a click to gain access to any religious doctrine you choose. With this increased availability of religious doctrine and information one would guess that religions across the world would be flourishing because more and more people are able to learn about them. Perhaps this is the case for a select few, but in my opinion, the exact opposite has started happening. The availability, it seems, has hindered individuals from becoming religious rather than encouraging it. The reason behind this is what I can't quite figure out: how does having more information about religious doctrine available result in an increased number of atheists/non-religious people?
I wish I had numbers on the number of atheists in the past compared to the number of atheists in the present. So I'm merely guessing that the amount of atheists in ancient history was less than the amount of atheists in todays world.
I've been pondering two possible reasons (there are surely more) they are:
1. The availability of religious doctrine on an unprecedented scale through the internet and other modern technologies has led to a large scale confusion about what religion to believe; your region which you live in no longer offers a set amount of possible religions you may choose to believe in.
2. The availability of religious doctrine has shown a common thread throughout all religion, their falsity.
I would like to hear your thoughts about this idea. Do you agree or feel it has some merit? Do you find it utterly and completely wrong? Do you have other possible reasons why an increase in the amount of information about religious doctrine would result in less religious believers? And of course, I would love to hear any other opinions which you may have about this topic.
note: Please also note that I would like to included the availability of information concerning other forms of belief such as deism, theism, pantheism, etc. in my topic. Thanks.
The implication that we should put Darwinism on trial overlooks the fact that Darwinism has always been on trial within the scientific community. -- From Finding Darwin's God by Kenneth R. Miller
Chaos and chance don't mean the absence of law and order, but rather the presence of order so complex that it lies beyond our abilities to grasp and describe it. -- From From Certainty to Uncertainty by F. David Peat
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interesting point jread.
i think the key is that not only religious doctrine is available... information in general is now only a click away. i think people tend to find information they want to agree with them in some ways.
many years ago it was rare that the average person would get a chance to say something and have thousands of people hear what they have to say. there seems to be more diverse and radical ideas, which is a good and bad thing.
i am not sure on your theories. there may have been more atheist than we think but they never said anything.
i would like to hear more on your topic for anyone who could add to it.
EDIT: took out "in some ways" in some areas.
May God bless us and give us the words to express our ideas in a creative and civil manner, while providing us an ear that we may truly hear each other, and a voice to clearly project our thoughts.
My guess is that the availability of this information makes it easier for people to compare and contrast various groups' religious views - specifically, to see how their religion compares to dozens of other, "false" religions.
Good night, funny man, and thanks for the laughter.
I understand that the Internet has a general influence. Although for my purposes here, I'm trying to narrow the scope to one aspect of the Internet's influence.
In my opinion, the sharing of ideas is never a bad thing. There may be bad ideas, but that is up to us to discover.
Quite possible. Although, if that was the case, then my point in todays world would merely adapt and focus how more people are openly atheist rather than hidden and quiet. I must concede though, I don't know the Internet or technology would encourage people to be open about their atheism.
The implication that we should put Darwinism on trial overlooks the fact that Darwinism has always been on trial within the scientific community. -- From Finding Darwin's God by Kenneth R. Miller
Chaos and chance don't mean the absence of law and order, but rather the presence of order so complex that it lies beyond our abilities to grasp and describe it. -- From From Certainty to Uncertainty by F. David Peat