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Americans losing (religious) faith thanks to the Internet, according to study

A study conducted by Allen B. Downey, a computer scientist at the Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts, concludes that the Internet has led to a significant drop in religious affiliations over the past 20 years.

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windblowsagain3670d ago

Good, the it drops the better.

Religion is all bs.

Made up by men, to control men.

johny53670d ago (Edited 3670d ago )

Not only men but women and children too!

For at least 100,000 years if not more!

markte3670d ago

Religion will always exist. Your belief that religion is bs, is in fact, a religious statement.

It's worth noting, that the further we get away from "religion," the worse people become. That's not to say bad things have never happened in the name of religion. you'd be a fool to deny that.(the Crusades anyone?)

You'd also be a fool not to notice the decline in society since we have started to move away from religion.

frelyler3669d ago (Edited 3669d ago )

The worse we become? Really, okay name me one religion that has not incited violence or been the cause of a war. Religion and it's beleif system has claimed more lives than any other belief system in the history of man. People choose to be blind to that fact though. Also, society has always been bad. It's all subjective and relative to time. Go preach your bs elsewhere. I'll just preach the truth.

blackmanone3669d ago

frelyer, I completely agree, but let's not blame markte. He is blind to facts because his religion requires him to be so they can continue to collect off him.

SaffronCurse3669d ago

Our Society has no place for bigotry. Hope Religion gets vaporized so we could move on to more important matters.

ProjectVulcan3669d ago (Edited 3669d ago )

I believe that religion is not required for a person to have morality.

I also do not believe religion overall is a positive force for good on this planet.

Societal 'decline' is a broad and highly contentious subject, however there is possibly some evidence to support the idea more secular states may be beneficial to society and general happiness (Scandinavia is an interesting area of study). Although it is weak, it is worth noting.

Social sciences is a difficult field.

Bimkoblerutso3669d ago

Ironically, "internet atheism" has spawned some of the most ignorant, misinformed, spiteful little douchebags this side of the Westboro Baptist Church.

I am all for people having strong convictions, but this reactionary BS the internet likes to call "atheism" is NOT what I think of as conviction.

And keep in mind that I am a stern atheist.

bigrob9043669d ago

this comment is so full of wrong it's not even funny. how is stating that religion is bs a religious statement? i don't think you know what religion is if you believe that.

religion has been the cause of almost every war that has ever been fought. religion causes people to be bigots to people with different beliefs and so on. if you think society is declining then you don't know history. this is why school is important children.

thorstein3669d ago

Sorry buddy, but according to FBI.gov, as the years are going on we are living in one of the safest times in history.

That means, as religious affiliation and belief is declining, so too are violent crimes: rape, murder, assault, robbery, GTA

Further, teenage pregnancy has dropped as have abortions....

The fact is, religion isn't needed and neither are gods.

SITH3669d ago (Edited 3669d ago )

Reread what frelyler said, that is my response also to your stupid comment.

Religion was created by the ignorant to explain nature. That explanation led to people using it to control other men, women, and their children.

Everyone on this planet is born an atheist. Only those who can see through the bullshit of your fantasy leave it for reality and science where the real answers can be found.

Lord_Sloth3669d ago (Edited 3669d ago )

@frelyler

Jehovah's Witnesses have never been the cause of any wars.

Pretty sure Bhudism hasn't caused a war either though I could be wrong there.

Religion isn't a cause for war, stupid people driven by greed and control with no tolerance are.

The churches are an issue, religion in and of itself is not. No harm comes from believing that the world was engineered by a higher being. It's violently imposing those beliefs on others that is harmful.

I agree that the further society moves away from religious morals (not necessarily the belief itself) that the more deprave we as a society seem to be becoming.

TwistedMetal3669d ago

yep once you get rid of morals and values that religion brings what do you have left?

laws made by rich man who dont give a crap about everyone like religion does. good people, bad people are all they same to rich man. we all get crushed.

it then turns into a dog eat dog world.

the worst thing is people only follow the laws they want to. so dont come in here trying to act like things will be better without religion people

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 3669d ago
DCfan3669d ago

YOUR religion is edited by men, not mine. If you check history, there are like, i dunno, 10 versions of christian bible.

markte3669d ago

All the hate, blind assumptions, and attempts at belittling me, only prove my point.

The lack of education is evident as well. Not one of the unnecessarily hateful posts even attempted to realize their belief that religion is bad and needs to go away is, in fact, religion.

frelyler3669d ago

I feel sorry for you. My belief system is not a religion because I have not laid out a strict set of rules and tried to control you. I have merely asked for you to open your eyes and see the truth. No religion I have come across has attempted that, therefore my beliefs and assumptions based on facts is the farthest thing from religion. It is simply what I believe and I have not commanded anyone to do anything other than not be ignorant.

MysticStrummer3669d ago

"Not one of the unnecessarily hateful posts even attempted to realize their belief that religion is bad and needs to go away is, in fact, religion."

That belief doesn't fall under the definition of religion.

How's that?

As for this study, religious belief has been declining for a lot longer than the internet has even existed.

SITH3669d ago (Edited 3669d ago )

You are the dumbest fool in captivity.

And you must have not have read the article. Or you completely, and utterly failed to comprehend this lovely little piece that contradicts your very stupid statement, "College education decreases the chance of religious affiliation, and the prevalence of college eduction is increasing. The fraction of people in the U.S. with 16 or more years of education was 17.4% in the 1980s, 24.4% in the 1990s and 27.2% in the 2000s."

In other words, the stupid cling to religion, the educated cling to reality and science. Education allows people to identify religion is fantasy, and reality is truth.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3669d ago
FreestyleBarnacle3670d ago

The original article actually states that there is no causal link between the internet and religion. Way to go sub-editors.

Speed-Racer3670d ago

There's a link between Internet usage and education but there also seems to be a third unexplained factor. Both the article and research paper state that.

FreestyleBarnacle3670d ago

That as may be but my point is that the title speaks of a link while the article does not. I surmised that whoever wrote the title had not read the article.

Speed-Racer3670d ago

Well, while there may seem to be an additional factor, the Internet has played a significant role in shifts away from religion. You can see a sudden spike of those choosing to be non-religious at the same time when the Internet started to gain popularity. The stats do show that the Internet plays a huge role and given that these studies are never dead on, I won't discredit the title entirely.

FreestyleBarnacle3670d ago

"Religious upbringing is by far the strongest explanatory variable, and it seems likely that, in fact, religious upbringing causes religious affiliation."
I guess I title referring to the strongest explanatory variable would not have generated as much interest...

Speed-Racer3670d ago

It would be the most accurate statement but I do believe that most journalists are limited to the amount of words and characters in their headlines for SEO purposes. They also get truncated on sharing sites like Facebook and Twitter, so I could understand why it's not as descriptive.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3670d ago
MEsoJD3670d ago

Awesome! Religion isn't free from criticism on the net. In fact, it feels like it goes to die.

blackmanone3669d ago

I hope he gets here before Winter. Mutha's taking FOREVER

FragMnTagM3669d ago

Ask him if we can have summer please. Lol.

I will ask my imaginary friend as well.

D3athc3ll3669d ago

The Bible said this would happen. People will become less religious.

They think they are smart and look down at us Christians, thinking we are dumb and uneducated.

It is clear that the end is not too far. Might be in my lifetime, hope so!!

Just want to see them faces when it happens! Sadly i would feel bad for them and not happy.... Guess I wont know how I will feel. lets wait and see. See who was wrong and who was right. Can't wait!!

Ps.: God exists, and He will not be mocked by small ants like we are!

blackmanone3669d ago

Oh D3, you make it too easy... Just wow.

yezz3669d ago

@D3athc3ll

"It is clear that the end is not too far.Might be in my lifetime, hope so!!"

How is it any clearer now than it was 100 years ago and why would you want the world to end? Such a strange thing to say.

Blasphemy3669d ago

people have been waiting for over 2k years for jesus to return and "save" us all from what i don't know. news flash its never happening. only you can save yourself.

WitWolfy3669d ago (Edited 3669d ago )

Dude dont be a douche and question other people's beliefs. Much like I wont question your reasons for being gay, if you are.

God does exist IMO.. There is no way to prove or disprove he exist, so dont even try..

Even Albert Einstein said something in the lines of that there has to be a higher power that created all that is in the Universe It cant just like be like POOOF!!! it had to be created.

True story.

yezz3669d ago (Edited 3669d ago )

@WitWolfy

Yes, I can't prove that your god exists but neither can you prove that the other thousands exist. Do you believe in other gods, probably not.. The same reason you don't believe in them is why I don't believe in any of them. I know this is very cliche but you can't claim otherwise.

If it had to be created then who created the creator? Because it cant just be like POOF...

FlameBaitGod3669d ago (Edited 3669d ago )

This is all predicted, the good shall be bad and the bad shall be good. They will target Christians as if they where terrorist. People here are so uneducated that just because high ranking people have used religion as an scapegoat for war doesn't mean that religion is about that.

Religion has morals, a lot which we have lost. You just have to look at what every war has been really about and its always power, money, greed but of course they wont say that... IT WAS RELIGION THAT TOLD ME TO DO IT! and people actually believe and start stereotyping religion with war and death.

IF anyone thinks that we are doing better than we where a few years ago they seriously need to educate them self's and look at statistics.

Everything now is about hate and jealousy. Just look at the dumbest things that people used to do but indicated they actually cared, like letting people pass on the rode, opening doors, saying enjoy, helping people on the rode with a flat tire. I use to see that a lot before and now rarely that happens. I even waited for a mom who had 3 kids and was opening the door for her(waited like 25 secs till she came), she passes and not even a thank you LOL... like seriously what has happened to our world

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 3669d ago
mohuzas3669d ago

How fitting that an article with a headline like that gets acompanied by anti-religious posts :P

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Twitter Blue problems? How to sign up for verification despite error messages

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EvilCackle496d ago (Edited 496d ago )

Good thing I signed up at launch so people know I'm the real evilcackle

CurrentDigital496d ago

Huge loss for those who don't know where else to spend their surplus $8 a month

SwiderMan495d ago

Still haven't been approved for Twitter Blue :/

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study abroad is the chance to find yourself while acquiring a comprehension of an alternate culture. Being in another spot without help from anyone else can overpower on occasion.

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