The FUTURE

[Dustypuppy]

What do you believe lies ahead for Paganism and The world religions in general?x

[Toby Stimpson]

Much the same as what we already see...Paganism will remain a small religion, Christinaity will remain at over 1.5 Billion members...but I think there may be a more tolerance among all Faiths and a lot more learning, atleast in the west.

Namaste

Tobias

[Mouse]

Depends how far in the future you mean.. Nothing stays the same right? Anything could happen. For pagans in general, I can't see anything that good happening any time soon. There are too many fruit loops claiming paganism for general society to take us seriously. I think the Catholic church will continue to lose power, and churches like hillsong will continue to grow in popularity, unless one of the other churches manages to cut them off. (There's a fair bit of debate between denominations about the "jesus is my homeboy" stuff)
Other world religions, I'm not so sure. I think Islam will grow in strength in Australia, but slowly, and mostly in the cities. I think everything else will stay more or less the same.
I'm willing to bet that in 500 years Christanity wont be the mainstream religion, and if it is, it will be only a shadow of what it is now.

[brymble]

i believe that the past is an illusion and the future is a fantasy. i have gaia now as she has me, and that's what matters.

[Cain]

Not good times. There seems to be a religious resurgence in the world of late, and the bigger religions have the resources smaller ones could only hope for. That and a generally negative attitude to pagan religions do not make the future look bright.

[LadyCelt]

What has the most people? Buddhism or Islam. i'd like to find statistics. But, I odn't know if its completely accurate cause I don't know if they do a sensus or what.

I think the world is growing more and more secular. I think Pagnism and Wicca will gain more popularity.

[Cain]

What has the most people? Buddhism or Islam. i'd like to find statistics. But, I odn't know if its completely accurate cause I don't know if they do a sensus or what.

I think the world is growing more and more secular. I think Pagnism and Wicca will gain more popularity.

Islam is the second largest religion on the planet, after Christianity. There are roughly 2 billion Christians and 1 billion Muslims. I can provide a link for this, should you want verification, but it would take some digging. I think Buddhism ranks 4th or 5th, just behind Hinduism.

[Redshire]

I think I am seeing a mentality shift in todays youth (18+) which makes them more open minded, and more Pagan than they know!

Personally, in the future I forsee a struggle. A nasty attempt by those who cling to outdated ideals trying to keep hold of their positions of power. There will be violence. There will probably be a length of time when it seems as though they have won. But the only constant is change, and the new school of thought will eventually have enough numbers to back it up and break free from the opressors.

Then the new era will begin. A new Age of Enlightenment, or Rennisance, if you will.

[Vincent Verthaine]

I think I am seeing a mentality shift in todays youth (18+) which makes them more open minded, and more Pagan than they know!

Personally, in the future I forsee a struggle. A nasty attempt by those who cling to outdated ideals trying to keep hold of their positions of power. There will be violence. There will probably be a length of time when it seems as though they have won. But the only constant is change, and the new school of thought will eventually have enough numbers to back it up and break free from the opressors.

Then the new era will begin. A new Age of Enlightenment, or Rennisance, if you will.
This is what we discordians call 'Going through the Aftermath'

We've been preparing for this for 40 years.
Going through Katrina was just a test run for me.

[Rurik]

Actually Paganism may see a comeback I think. I seem to remember reading somewhere that Wicca is the fastest growing religion in the US right now.

[Cain]

Actually Paganism may see a comeback I think. I seem to remember reading somewhere that Wicca is the fastest growing religion in the US right now.

Fastest in terms of gaining converts, yes. However, the Christians and Muslims seem to be having big families....

[Rurik]

That just means more kids who are likely to convert like me. ^_^

[Cain]

That just means more kids who are likely to convert like me. ^_^

Not necessarily. I think you will find that the majority of people stick with the religion into which they were born. This is especially true outside of large urban environments.

[Rurik]

:hehehehe: Actually I AM from outside a large urban environment, this place is as backwoods as you can get, we only have one bloody stoplight for the love of the goddess. :rant: Of course I'm probably an exception to most rules. I'm 18, male, love anything pink, cute, or Hello Kitty related. I'm Pagan despite being the son of a preacher, (Pentachostal) though I'm too afraid to tell him. Oh well, as a wise man once said, "Normallcy is over rated."

[Hangatyr 13]

:hehehehe: Actually I AM from outside a large urban environment, this place is as backwoods as you can get, we only have one bloody stoplight for the love of the goddess. :rant:I was raised in a community in North Carolina called "Back Swamp". It's in the outskirts of a small town called "Richlands", which has only one stoplight.

Of course I'm probably an exception to most rules. I'm 18, male, love anything pink, cute, or Hello Kitty related.:confused:

I'm Pagan despite being the son of a preacher, (Pentachostal) though I'm too afraid to tell him. Oh well, as a wise man once said, "Normallcy is over rated."Y'know, I went to boot camp with a Pentacoastal Wiccan, if that makes sense.

...

Asatru is growing at a rate of 11% per year. Many of us are from rural areas. You can say that we're the "rednecks" of the Pagan community, not that we're "Pagan", mind you. Asatru appeals even to more conservatively raised individuals because of it's respect for tradition and family. Asatru's morals and even many of it's traditions aren't that much different than those of rural America (anyone here ever been to a pig pickin'?). It won't be too long before it is in the mainstream where it belongs. The more we get the word out, the more accessable the Folkway will be.

Wicca is practically mainstream, and it's still growing fast. Unfortunately, there seem to be allot of wiccans getting on TV and making themselves (and to the public, the rest of the religion) look like a bunch of weirdos. I see the upward-climb of the religion grinding to a halt in the near future.

Fanatical Christanity seems to be on the rise, but it's my opinion that this is only a backlash to things like atheists who want to sue over the word "God" in the pledge of alliegence, "Holiday Trees", and of course fanatical Islam. It's only a backlash, and so, it's temporary. Just wait a little while, and you'll see Second-Hand Judeism recommence it's downward spiral.

Speaking about Second-Hand Judeism, I forgot to mention Kabbalah. Madonna's doing it, Britteny Spears is doing it. It's probably just a fad, but...

Last, but not least, Peyoteism: I happen to know some people in the Native American Church who think it's time to kick Jesus out of the NAC, just a neat little tidbit of information.