Very interesting report by Pew Research Center on The Future of World Religions.
The religious profile of the world is primarily driven by differences in fertility rates and the size of youth populations among the world’s major religions. By 2050, the number of Muslims will nearly equal the number of Christians around the world. In Europe, they will make up 10% of the overall population. Atheists, agnostics and other people who do not affiliate with any religion will make up a declining share of the world’s total population.
Interestingly, religious switching—from the religion in which one grew up to another religion or with no religion—is expected to have only a modest global effect.
Let’s face it: What we have between our ears has little to do with our supposed rational nature. Years of history and progress have not fundamentally changed our innermost beliefs and core ideas, and according to the projections, the future doesn’t look too different. Let’s not expect that our most fundamental conflicts change any time soon.
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Featured Image: Jules-Alexis Muenier – La Leçon de catéchisme
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