Now Back to Religion

Another favorite topic of mine, religion, popped up on the radar screen the other day.

I saw this article in the news about religion losing its grip on the new generation. It is an interesting read. There are two things that I want to note, but first some background.

The article is by a professor of religious studies who has his class create their own new religions. According to the professor, Stephen Prothero, and another professor in the same business, J. Gordon Melton, there 40 to 50 new religions formed every year now.

The first note; The class creates their new religion, nearly all centered around something people do; drinking, eating, surfing the Internet, etc. One of Prothero's students points out that this is nothing more than "organized atheism." This, the student says, does not offer any explanation into why we are here, where we came from or where we go when we die.

So I guess is that what a religion is supposed to do then? To answer those questions of how we got here and where we are going? Isn't that what why we have science?

I believe that religion was the science of ancient civilizations. All of the major religions were formed before we had any real science thus they turned to religion to explain things they could not understand. I think we've moved past that though. Granted we are far from answering every question, we should be able to look back on history and say "Maybe religion wasn't exactly the right path."

I'm not saying that there is no "God." I don't think we know enough about how the Universe works to say that. But I do think our understanding of God is off a little. And I think that all current organized religions are no longer valid.

So we need something new, right? Why not turn to the "Church of Now." It is mentioned in the article as a religion that was created to explain today's world, one to supersede the old religions.

The whole thing was started as a documentary film project and it looks to be somewhat inactive. But I like the whole concept of a new religion. I hope that the recent media attention and the soon-to-be-released documentary will shed new light on the project.

I plan to post a few more times with my thoughts on religion. Hopefully that will generate some interesting dialog as it is a controversial subject.