A lot pf people have been leaving churches recently. That doesn't mean they have accepted reality. Just look at Fox News viewers.

The people who brainwash their kids from infancy are not going to stop, Nor are they going to stop trying to outbreed sane people.
And I'm afraid we're living in a pocket of peace at the moment. When the next global disaster strikes, a lot of people will probably flock around the smoothest con-man with the most emotionally rewarding fairy-tale on sale.

With the progression of science yes, but where science is struggling to quantify the "mind", where it resides, why are they so different etc, maybe something else, more scientific, will take religion's place.

In civilised parts of the world, not US.

Best way is understanding,the more understanding about bible ect the more people will turn from church

Yeah yeah yeah there is still people going to church on Sunday. Half of them don't want to be there and the other half don't even know why they are there.... Numbers keep running thin week in week out. It will take a while but they will become a thing of the past. Think about it, we are arrogant enough to want to get rid of Columbus, Confederate flag and statues....religion is next. The writing is on the wall.

It indeed is actually. I got dragged into this question the other day in my world history class and ended up researching it. I was pleasantly surprised at the large increase in the last generation. It's not enough to make us a majority or anything but it most certainly has increased at a very fast rate within the last 10 or so years.

I think the world is becoming more atheist, but at a slow pace. Only 50 % of the USAs citizens believe in god. That was I heard at one time Ten years ago I think it was around 60 % Hopefully one day it will be down to zero.

Not around Northern Florida. Almost everyone around me seems to exploit their faith. I mean it's getting exhausting coming from Miami and moving to the Bible belt I guess and everyone seems to be in you about going to hell if you don't accept Jesus as your Savior. But I'm a good person. Not good enough for them. Lol!

Unfortunately religions are expanding.....

It takes time for these social changes. When they talk about it becoming more atheist, it's by a percent or two over probably a 5 yr span (random guess). Roll that back to the 1950's and there are a hell of alot fewer atheists. Roll it forward to 2050, and there are a hell of alot more. These social changes take a long time...it's measured in generations.

If you remove religion and leave people ignorant, you have achieved nothing.

It’s tricky. Religion has been intertwined with established power. The problem with religion is that all religions are not factual, but more than that, it’s the fact that once they grow, they start to try and gain power. In many Middle Eastern countries there is almost no difference between government and established religion. In many countries within the Russian empire (also mostly in the Middle East) governments also use religion to ensure stability and control. In the Westerner world, most countries put into law the separation between churches and state. In the Western world religions seem to be declining, but there are exceptions. There are also new religions or absurd ideas gaining followers. In third world countries religions are growing in many underdeveloped countries. In many Asian countries (Russia, China, North Korea...) they have replaced religion with other forms of dominance. In China and Russia, now that it’s a little easier, many people are becoming religious. To me, a secular population that enjoys no freedom, is just as bad or even worse than a religious population even if the belief makes no sense. Yes, truth is important, but freedom is even more important. So the focus shouldn’t be on the augmenting number of atheists only, since that is good only if matched with freedom. I’d rather have a world of people free to believe in crazy things, than a world of enslaved atheist people. Ideally atheism is a consequence of freedom and secular states, not always. In many European free countries, despite growth of atheism, there is a growth of superstition, woo-woo, and other nonsensical beliefs. The key is education. logic and reason. If you take religion away without educating people, you may have outcomes that are worse than a religion. At least with established religions, you know what crazy stuff people believe, rather than having no idea what kind of crazy, dangerous stuff people will replace religion with. Many fortune tellers, charlatans, and pseudo religious figures make millions in Europe. The real enemy of religion is education. The sectors of the population that are more likely to let go of religion AND superstition AND woo-woo are the most educated people.

I repeat: If you remove religion and leave people ignorant, you have achieved nothing. Some new absurdity will replace religion.

Since I think you identify an increase int he number of atheists with progress, it’s important to understand that “more atheists” doesn’t necessarily mean the world is moving in that direction. In the future I think eventually religions will die out as a consequence of less and less ignorance.

So the real question is: is the world becoming less and less ignorant and consequently less religious?

Answer: Not sure. People are still pretty darn ignorant and it’s not getting much better.

Good question (haha autocorrect made it god question.. love that).

From personal experiences I feel that atheism is not necessarily increasing but the willingness and ability of atheist to vocalise their own beliefs has become more widespread. The platforms available for discussion compared to only 20 years ago has allowed for discussion to take place that simply wasn't possible before. As a 90s teen I was educated in a COE junior school but never felt the religious aspects of the school to be overtly forced on me and was able to learn of Christian History as a subject rather than a doctrine. In senior school we were taught RE and exposed to other religions in school. I find it interesting then and now that atheism was not really taught about on any level during this time.

From a global perspective I think society is becoming increasingly impatient with idealogies that preach segregation instead of inclusion and that we are making small steps towards what would be a secular utopia. Whether or not atheism would be included as a form of religion/belief would be interesting to see.

This is one of a couple of articles I read this week. It’s goes straight to the point. [npr.org]

I cannot find the other, unfortunately. But, it discussed religion’s decline in the West but it’s growth in Africa.

[agnostic.com]

This is an issue this needs to be unpacked a lot. There are a lot of trends going on, I believe.

• there are a lot of people who are coming out clearly as non religious or even anti religious, as we see on this site.
• this coming out seems to be broadly global, but is more evident in some countries and continents than others, like Europe and the US. But when look at Muslim countries, it's a different story, due to overt socialisation, and the pressure to adhere to their religion.
• there are a lot of people who are somewhat secretly non or anti religious, but for various reasons don't come out publicly. Fear, being spurned, discriminated against, and other reasons.
• there is also a large and I think growing group of people who are simply non religious, sometimes called apatheists, who just don't care about religion, bless them. Younger age groups are identified here, and what what I've read this growing apathetic attitude towards religion worries formalised religions a very great deal, more than identified atheism, I read.
• finally, and I think this is often not appreciated in my view, there are a great many who called themselves religious, even go to church maybe, but in their hearts don't really believe it. It's habit, identity and ritual mainly. They hang on, and rationalise it in many ways, but they're not really believers.

So, there are a lot of trends and counter trends going on. The poster asks if the world is becoming more atheist, but I think he means non religious. The answer depends on how one reads these trends.

I think the answer is yes but we are also becoming more polarized.

I think that more people are coming to the logical conclusion that there are not gods, no higher power

At the same time, people who do believe are moving to a more radicalized version of their religions.

The evengelical Christians, the ultra Orthodox Jews, the fundamentalist Muslims have all taken their religions to extreme interpretations.

I sure hope so.

Two steps forward, 1 step back. Perhaps more like 100/97.

Too often, religion is a pilar of tyranny. Trump, Putin, Saudi Arabia...

One thing many Americans and Europeans as well as other "advanced" cultures like Japan I think fail to really consider is the fact large swathes of the world are still far behind us in terms of freedom, education and other factors that drive people to leave behind religion. Most of Central America and South America are very much still under the sway of the Catholic Church, while ostensibly non religious nations like Russia are steeped in Orthodox religion and both state, cultural and religious xenophobia is rampant, as is misogyny. If anything the rise of the Internet and the decline of religion in America is being matched and viscously opposed by religious extremism made possible as a force for influence and real opposition by politicians and the dominant white male population who see it as the bedrock of their past and present if eroding power. It is depressing to me that the increasing visibility of reason based science and sociology only cements many peoples resistance to the very things that make there life possible and improves it day by day. You can not make people drink you can only hand them the water. These same people drank the kool-aid. My nephew asked me why so many people voted for Trump and I told him one of the greatest flaws in Liberal and Intellectual circles is their inability in understanding a simple truth; talking down to people only pisses them off and makes them resist you no matter what you are selling them. What I would like to see in liberal America and even within the community of non believers here is a recognition of the reality that God or no God, belief in something bigger then ourselves is both the opiate and the salve to the masses. And the only true way to reach them is to replace it slowly over time with something better. What that is? I think perhaps a serious attempt to construct some kind of global movement embodying the best aspects of morality universal to all people separate from cultural, religious or nationalistic concerns. The biggest hurdle to this of course is people giving up material comfort for the cause of humanity not due to the promise of a ever after but rather the love of the here and now. Not to mention opposition from those same influences which of course irrelevant to its intent would be seen as a threat to be hobbled or destroyed. Me I am betting on NASA's 20 year plan and our great grand children in the void of space and the dunes of Mars finding through will and necessity finding a better way.

no, i don't think so. anyway even if it were, it could be a temporary, normal fluctuation.

g

I agree with your observation.

If you spend a bit of time and study population growth, global warming (positive feedback loops) and the earth's carrying capacity, you may also share my fear we will again encounter the rise of the crisis cult. I had hoped to be dead by natural causes before civilization reaches that point but at our current vector, I'm not holding my breath.

I can't and won't speak for the world, but I am about as A-theist as one can get.