*This article is free from all forms of artificial intelligence chatbot utilization*

The global numbers of those that are moving away from a religious faith is unprecedented. This includes believers in jesus christ, (a)god, allah, mohammed, mary, and more.

In fact, it is now projected that the once 90% christian america in the 1980’s will become a 35-40% christian america around 2070.

The world is increasingly turning to atheism, humanism, or just simply identifying (or rather not identifying) as “none”.

Any web search done on “religion/faith declining” will show the consensus of this data.

I was a devout “believer”, if you will, for nearly thirty years. Today, I am one of the many that have completely disassociated with any religion or faith-based ideology and happily exist as one of the “nones”.

For myself, my deconstruction process took several years and involved a lot of research and critical thinking.

Once fully breaking free, only then was I able to look back and see just how inaccurate, confining, and abusive the faith-based cage truly was/still is.

But before I lay out the major reasons why religious faith is declining around the world, let me first acknowledge its few positive attributes.

 

Some components of religious faith do have human benefits

Systematic brainwashing/indoctrination and confirmation bias has many believers convinced that the following positives are of supernatural involvement rather than scientific explanation.

However, those of us that are out of the faith cage understand these accurate realities:

• Actions within a religious faith like praying, singing, dancing, and absorbing sermons/messages/podcasts that reinforce one’s faith-driven life purpose releases a highly addictive, feel-good chemical called dopamine into the brain. Up until this discovery, these “internal hugs” were presumed as that from a different realm.
• Being involved in a faith-based church or mosque or other religious circle does provide opportunities for community and friendships. As a species, we do need like-minded socializing and support from one another. This is probably the most appealing aspect of religion, as this stabilizes mental health and contributes to longer life expectancy.
• There are some positive and proactive things that some believers or establishments do to help others in their community or abroad. Helping humanity, even if through a religious organization, does strengthen that community spirit, reinforce that faith-driven purpose, and again provide that dopamine that substantially improves well-being.

 

Even though all of the above can be discovered/experienced without a religious faith whatsoever, these are still notable beneficial effects of a religious lifestyle.

However, our world is coming to the realization that the negative attributes of a religious faith far outweigh the positives.

Let’s dive into four popular reasons why religious faith is rapidly declining around the world.

 

1) Accurate awareness is replacing imagination-driven ignorance

All spoken words and written words are 100% made up. That’s a universal fact.

Even here, I am using made-up words and symbols to explain other made-up words and symbols.

Literature like common religious books are merely a collection of human made-up words and made-up symbols used to communicate their stories, events, and the ideologies of their time.

All gods (approx now over 10,000) were made up by past human imagination. The same goes for concepts such as an afterlife, heaven, hell, angels, demons, sin, soul, and many more religious/faith-based terms.

None of it is any more real than mordor, sauron, valinor, orcs, elves, and the valor.

No gods (including yours if you’re a believer) are real.

It all only exists within one’s own imagination. And until evidence reveals otherwise, this will continue to be our collective, accurate reality.

With so much unknown in our early existence, we really had no other choice but to let our imaginations create artificial “answers” to the unknown based on the available knowledge at that time.

Early on, humans began creating these gods, doctrines, and supernatural/imagination-driven concepts to appease our wonder, curiosity, and even fear. These were understandable theories for structure and purpose for those that had no idea where the sun went at night.

Today, with our advancements in scientific discovery and the universal accessibility to updated information via the internet, we can now replace these past assumed “answers” with modern accuracy:

• Though the origin of life is unknown (and most likely will remain just that), we do now understand that the universe today is the byproduct of a violent journey of entropy. In addition, evolutionary biology is much more complex than the fantasy guesses from desert shepherds within a teeny tiny piece of barren land on a dot of a planet amidst a border-less cosmos.
• As mentioned in the intro, neuro-science has revealed to us that it is only dopamine causing “supernatural connection”, and it is confirmation bias and the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon/frequency illusion that keeps people believing that prayers get answered when in reality they do not. Preference/wishful thinking just happens for some and fails to come about for others, and visa versa at random. Scenario is the same with non-believers.
• With the rise of technology, cross cultural travel, and overall societal progression, we are now understanding that there is no absolute “way” and never has been an absolute “way”, and anyone claiming an absolute “way” remains naive and uneducated like our ancestors of the past.
• Today, with an awareness of the chaos that occurs outside our atmosphere in the cosmos, along with our planets’ natural disasters, disease, hostile circumstances and environments, social inequality, horrendous death and suffering alongside happiness and health clearly shows us that no one/no god is (or was) involved in our species existence, personal evolution, or within the happenings of our natural world.

 

And the latter reality (of no god/allah/or similar title ever existing or being involved whatsoever) is a relieving fact and realization to our modern generation.

Why?

Hypothetically, if there was a god out there handing candy to some and rat poison to others and simply remaining idol while horrific atrocities occur, believers would be choosing to worship and pray to a narcissistic, abusive psychopath.

This cringe worthy and grotesque scene leads us into our second reason, which may be the most influential in the “faith no more” movement.

 

2) The premise of religious faith is shockingly abusive

• Believe or else be condemned/punished
• Worship me/it/your lord, master, savior above all else
• Your life is not your own, but rather mine
• Your body is not your own, but rather mine
• You are a slave to christ/muhammad/(insert whomever)
• You are broken and only through me/believing/obeying can you become whole/saved
• Only by this action/mindset/belief will you enter heaven, receive blessing, etc
• Shame, guilt, regret, judgement will come upon you if you do this action “sin”/think freely/believe anything other than my way

 

This is authoritarian, narcissistic, manipulative, perverted, horrifying psychological and emotional abuse to every degree.

But I’m not sure what’s more disturbing- that believers willingly worship this imaginary hypothetical psychopath? Or that believers have become so brainwashed that they will attempt to “explain” their god and twist this messed up scene into somehow being a relationship of “love” and “the way”?

I’ll never forget a reality that someone said to me that helped me leave faith for good:

“Why would any sane human choose to enter a church or mosque and worship a hypothetical god that stands idol while children are raped, starved, beaten, and exploited?”

Our generation’s response to that today? “That’s sick shit. No fucking thanks.”

For myself, I can’t even enter a church anymore. It’s too heartbreaking and frankly uncomfortable to see my species stoop to such a weak and desperate low. Really, it’s a strange kind of voluntary self-abuse, as no gods exist and none of it is actually real.

Observing those you love choose the cage when the door is wide open is the hardest part of getting out and looking back.

But our world is awakening.

We are becoming aware of the oppression and abusive rhetoric within religious faith and we are embracing more sane positions like atheism and humanism.

Even better, we don’t have to identify with anything! We can be a “none” and that’s perfectly fine.

We are taking pride in autonomy and taking ownership of our bodies, our lives, our decisions, our cognitive health, and our critical thinking.

 

3) Content of religious doctrine is outdated, misinterpreted, and irrelevant to modern life

The authors of books like the bible and quran were human, and as humans, they used their regional made-up words and symbols to document history and to communicate stories.

Their communication methods back in that time and culture were very different from how we communicate made-up words and made-up symbols today.

Speech and writing, while created from lung puffs and hand scribbles, is still very much an art. As with all human art, there have been periods where certain techniques and trends carried popularity before ultimately dying out and being replaced by different trends.

The humans that documented the history and stories within the bible and quran, for example, wrote and spoke in their popular artistic technique of the time- via the figurative language of simile, allegory, hyperbole, personification and metaphor.

One can research the definitions and usage of such techniques on their own time, but here is a summary of what they are:

Made-up ways to captivate and/or persuade an audience through different usage of already made-up words.

These techniques were an artistic way to embellish reality, like adding spices and flavor to a bland piece of food.

Animals didn’t and don’t speak in our same communication noises. Seas didn’t and don’t separate. Bushes didn’t and don’t resist fire and speak to us. Humans didn’t and don’t walk on water. Women didn’t and don’t spontaneously impregnate (unless parthenogenesis occurs which is super rare). Humans didn’t and don’t physically come back to life after death, be it your name jesus or bob.

Nothing occurred back then that is outside of the laws of nature that we understand and experience today.

Magic and miracles didn’t all of a sudden occur within a tiny slot of time within a tiny desert region to then never happen again.

There is nothing “holy” about the humans and geographical locations mentioned in the bible and quran and any other religious book.

Outside of the figurative religious content mistakenly being taken literal by most believers, these religious books are full of misogyny, slavery, oppressive outdated cultural ways, superstitious black and white “life answers”, and several other concepts that have no relevance to our modern lifestyles.

These religious books are not a basis for morality and lifestyle guidelines. There is no such thing as “sin”.

This generation is becoming aware of the reality that acceptable morality and ethics have evolved over our existence. Actions or ideology that was once not accepted might now be accepted, and visa versa.

Education and awareness, the rise of empathy, scientific discovery, and societal progression and domestication dictate our moral standards, our “right and wrong”, for the time at hand.

And as everything does, moral expectations will evolve down the road as well.

 

4) Being paid to convince others that a fabricated theology is real is a con job

It is a pastors’/priests’/elders’/religious leaders’ job to:

• Provide a positive, upbeat (or even peaceful, tranquil) atmosphere to keep dopamine flowing
• Stick to the religious doctrine’s blueprint but modify/tweak content to remain relevant, easy to understand, and applicable to the audience
• Push fellowship, engagement, and music written with emo chords (to stir up emotion) to not only retain your congregation, but expand it
• Get yourself and your staff paid

 

But the entire theology is just as real as santa claus.

So then, here is the question that I have asked many of my fellow escapees from the faith cult-

What percentage of pastors/religious leaders out there know that everything is all based on misinformation, misinterpretation, emotion, and zero evidence?

How many are aware that neuro-science has now debunked faith with proven results of confirmation bias, the Baader–Meinhof revelation, and that it is only an avenue to dopamine that they are endorsing?

Some of my exvangelicals have answered that they guess that half of religious leaders probably know this reality deep down.

Personally, I guess around 20-30% are knowingly con artists, and the other 70-80% are unknowingly con artists that remain duped themselves.

It is every believers right to spend their money however they wish to continue to feel purpose, community, hope, and get those dopamine hits, even if their faith is all 100% based on emotion.

However, the problem lies with a large population that truly cannot afford to dish out a tithe (or any other religious monetary giveback). Yet many still do, and put themselves and others in further hardships to worship an imaginary friend.

At some point, those of us that have escaped need to call out this con job.

The vulnerable need to know that none of it is real. And if they still want to give money to what religious faith truly is (dopamine, community, etc), so be it. But they need to be aware of what’s accurate and be given a choice.

Just as no government will educate you on what you need to know to overthrow them is as no pastor or religious leader will admit that it is all made-up to lose their paycheck.

 

Alternatives to religious faith are abundant

Dan Barker has a popular quote:

“Asking ‘if there is no god, what is the purpose of life?’ is like asking, ‘if there is no master, who’s slave will I be?'”

Our life purpose is 100% up to us and it can be whatever we want it to be.

Those that grew up without being indoctrinated into a faith have most likely already established some of the alternatives below.

However, those that leave a faith will need to discover different ways to fill in that now empty dopamine, community, and purpose “hole”.

This process is similar to quitting alcohol or other addictive habits. Replacing the dopamine in healthier ways is imperative to mental health and reprogramming neuropathways.

To conclude, here are a few awesome alternatives to religious faith that will provide similar dopamine highs:

• Exercise a few times weekly
• Discover interesting hobbies
• Adventure travel
• Invest time in your community events
• Jump on the many neighborhood/community apps that provide human fellowship and activities
• Volunteer with humanitarian groups to help others
• Eat good food
• Have sex often
• Meditate often
• Start doing things/wearing things/learning things that were once frowned upon by outdated superstition
• Study evolutionary biology and our species history and how we’ve evolved from our ape ancestors
• Read on humanism, atheism, stoicism, and other perspectives and philosophy

 

And most of all, breathe in that peace knowing that you don’t have to know the beginning or the end, for no one does. Only dwell on the now, and on what you can see, hear, touch, smell and taste.

Only be concerned with how much you can remain open-minded, and experience the world as much as possible in this one incredible shot at existence.