Religion Declining, Secularism Surging

The following article was written by Phil Zuckerman, a Professor of Sociology and Secular Studies at Pitzer College in Claremont, California.

Religion Declining, Secularism Surging

An ongoing spate of recent studies - looking at various countries around the world - all show the same thing: religion is in decline. From Scandinavia to South America, and from Vancouver to Seoul, the world is experiencing an unprecedented wave of secularization. Indeed, as a recent National Geographic report confirms, the world’s newest religion is: No Religion. 

Consider the latest facts:

* For the first time in Norwegian history, there are more atheists and agnostics than believers in God. 

* For the first time in British history, there are now more atheists and agnostics than believers in God. And church attendance rates in the UK are at an all-time low, with less than 2% of British men and women attending church on any given Sunday.

* A recent survey found that 0% of Icelanders believe that God created the Earth. That’s correct: 0%. And whereas 20 years ago, 90% of Icelanders claimed to be religious, today less than 50% claim to be. 

* Nearly 70% of the Dutch are not affiliated with any religion, and approximately 700 Protestant churches and over 1,000 Catholic churches are expected to close within the next few years throughout the Netherlands, due to low attendance. 

* According to a recent Eurobarometer Poll, 19% of Spaniards, 24% of Danes, 26% of Slovenians, 27% of Germans and Belgians, 34% of Swedes, and 40% of the French, claim to not believe in “any sort of spirit, God, or life-force.”

* In the United States, somewhere between 23% and 28% of American adults have no religious affiliation, and these so-called “nones” are not only growing in number, but they are becoming increasingly secular in their behaviors and beliefs. 

* Among Millennials - Americans in their 20s - over 35% are non-religious, constituting the largest cohort of secular men and women in the nation’s history. 

* In Canada, back in 1991, 12% of adults stated “none,” when asked their religion - today that is up to 24%.

* In Australia, 15% of the population said they had no religion in 2001, and it is up to at least 22% today.

* In New Zealand, 30% of the population claimed no religion in 2001, but it had risen to 42% in 2013.

* In South America, 7% of men and women in Mexico, 8% in Brazil, 11% in Argentina, 12% in El Salvador, 16% in Chile, 18% in the Dominican Republic, and 37% in Uruguay are non-religious — the highest such rates of Latin American secularity ever recorded. 

* In Japan, about 70% of adults claimed to hold personal religious beliefs sixty years ago, but today, that figure is down to only about 20%; In 1970 there were 96,000 Buddhist temples throughout Japan, but in 2007, there were 75,866 - and around 20,000 of those were un-staffed, with no resident priest. In the 1950s, over 75% of Japanese households had a kamidana (Shinto altar), but by 2006 this was down to 44% nationwide, and only 26% in major cities.

* While 11% of South Koreans were atheists in 2005, that has increased to at least 15% as of late, and the percentage of South Koreans who described themselves as religious has dropped from 58% to 52% over the past decade.

* Over 50% of Chinese adults are secular (although in Communist dictatorships where religion is officially oppressed, valid information on people’s religiosity is always hard to come by). 

* In Africa, while religiosity remains high, there are none the less growing pockets of irreligion: over 5% of the those in Ghana claim to have no religion, and 9% of people in Madagascar and Tanzania, and 11% of people in Gabon and Swaziland are now non-religious. 

* Approximately 20% of Botswanans now claim to have no religion. 

* Over 20% of Jamaicans are now non-religious.

Many other nations contain significant populations of nonreligious people, such as Slovenia, Israel, Finland, Hungary, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, etc. — but a nation-by-nation breakdown is not possible here. Suffice it to say that most countries have experienced notable degrees of secularization over the past century, and for the first time in the world’s history, there are now many societies where being secular is more common than being religious. 

Although openly supporting atheism is sometimes punished in some Muslim-majority countries - in fact, in 13 Islamic nations, atheism is a crime warranting the death penalty— there are still numerous signs of growing secularism throughout the Muslim world, although reliable numbers are hard to come by. 

Finally, the sheer number of secular men and women on planet earth is unprecedented — according to the Pew Research Center’s latest estimates, there were over 1.1 billion non-religious people in the world in 2010, and that number is expected to increase to over 1.2 billion by the year 2020.

Will this tidal wave of secularization continue to wash over planet earth? 

Hard to say for sure.

On the one hand, we know that socialization is the number one engine that drives religiosity: children are raised to become religious by their religious parents. And thus, as more and more people stop being religious, it is quite likely that they won’t raise their children to be religious, and thus the inter-generational spread of religion will weaken in the decades ahead. Additionally, secularization is highly correlated with internet access and usage. And thus, as the web becomes more ubiquitous in more people’s lives, secularism will continue to grow. 

On the other hand, religious people have more kids than secular people. And those nations today with the highest birthrates are the most religious, while those nations today with the lowest birthrates tend to be among the most secular - so demographically, in terms of who has more babies, the religious have the breeding advantage. And this is why, according to Pew’s latest predictions, the growth of secularity will most likely level off within a few decades, while Islam will continue to grow, becoming the world’s largest religion by 2050. 

But for now, churches are closing across the world, faith is fading, and those men and women who live their lives according to secular values and humanist principles are on the rise.

Follow Phil Zuckerman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/twitter.com/phi

The Prophet Jonah

Jonah, one of the twelve Minor Prophets, was somewhat of a rebellious prophet who first ignored God's command to dutifully preach against the sins of the people of Nineveh. In failing to do so, God caused the ancient prophet to end up in the belly of a whale for three days. After such an event, Jonah predicted certain territories would be recovered during the reign of Jeroboam II (c/786-746), yet God changed his mind and allowed the city of Nineveh to prosper.

The Rebellious Prophet

Jonah's beginnings are a little sketchy, but has been revered as one of the prophets from the Kingdom of Israel by Christianity, Judaism and Islam. This ancient prophet is identified as the son of Amittai (mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25 and Jonah 1:1) and his story begins in Gath-hepher, a settlement north of Nazareth.

When commanded by God to go to the city of Nineveh to prophesy against their "great wickedness", Jonah became frightened and fled the "presence of the Lord" by going to Jaffa instead. (Jonah 1:1-2) At Jaffa [aka: Joffa or Joppe] Jonah boarded a ship and set sail for Tarshish, which was in the opposite direction. (Jonah 1:3)

"Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship." ~ Jonah 1:4-5

Jonah, while aboard the ship to Tarshish, continued to hide from the Lord in the lowest bowels of the vessel. Above, the frightened crew looked to their Captain for guidance, who in turn went to question the stranger that had boarded his ship and remained below deck.

"The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.” ~ Jonah 1:6

The crew grew restless awaiting their captain's return and drew lots to see who was responsible for the sudden doom they were facing. The lot was cast to Jonah. (Jonah 1:7-8)

In the Belly of the Whale

When the men of the ship heard that Jonah was of Hebrew lineage, they became sore afraid. But, the ancient prophet, feeling guilty for not obeying God, told the ship's crew to throw him overboard and they would be saved. (Jonah 1:9-14). At first they were hesitate to do such a deed, then changed their mind when the seas grew even rougher and they threw Jonah into the sea, which instantly calmed. The Captain and his crew became believers in the Hebrew god that day. (Jonah 1:15-16).

"Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." ~ Jonah 1:17

For the three days that Jonah was inside the whale Jonah held a continual prayer vigil. (Jonah 2:1-8) He implored and cried unto the God of the Hebrews to receive his thanks for being chosen as a special messenger and now knew his destiny was to proclaim that "Salvation comes from the Lord". (Jonah 2:9)

 "And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land." ~ Jonah 2:10

Jonah's Message from the Lord

Being a reluctant prophet, Jonah did not truly understand the entire concept of God's plan when he first began his quest to Nineveh to do God's bidding.

"Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” ~ Jonah 3:4

The prophet from Gath-Hepher felt very confident in proclaiming God's word to the sinners of Nineveh. And, therefore, became angry when the God did not follow through with his threat to bring destruction upon the people. Instead the God of the Hebrews showed compassion when the Ninevites turned from their evil ways and believed His decree. (Jonah 3:10) The ancient prophet became confused by God's change of heart, considering Nineveh was an enemy of his home country, Israel; soon after, Jonah left the city that God had spared. Being alone, he prayed unto the God of his fathers, trying to understand and clarify God's mercy to the people of Nineveh. (Jonah 4:1-3) Jonah was perturbed about this. He made himself a shelter from the sun, which he hoped would help him find the answers he seeked. God provided him with a shady plant to provide some reprieve from the heat. Jonah had appreciated the coolness the Lord provided and became happy once again knowing the Lord would take care of him.  Yet the next morning when the plant had withered away and the sun scorched his skin, Jonah again became angry. (Jonah 4:8-9)

"But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?” ~ Jonah 4:10-11

The Christian Perspective

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus makes a direct reference to the Prophet Jonah when he is asked for a miraculous sign by the Pharisees. Jesus says that the sign will be the sign of Jonah. What Jesus is implying here is that Jonah's restoration after three days inside the whale prefigures His own resurrection. 

"For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here." ~ Matthew 12:40-41

When it finally dawned on Jonah that God would save those whom believed upon him and came to accept such a conclusion, the ancient prophet finally understood the plan God had presented him.

The Jewish Perspective

According to Jewish tradition, Jonah was the boy brought back to life by Elijah the Prophet, and shares many of his characteristics (in particular, his desire for "strict judgment"). Another prominent idea in Judaism concerning Jonah is the ability to repent and be forgiven by God. Even though the prophet refused to ask the people of Nineveh to repent in the beginning, he soon learned the truth he was seeking was all about forgiveness to begin with. It did not matter that Nineveh was the enemy of Israel: God showed mercy. 

The phrase in Jonah 3:1, "and the word of God came unto Jonah the second time," is interpreted by Rabbi Akiba to imply that God spoke only twice to him; therefore the "word of God" to him in 2 Kings 14:25 has no reference to a prophecy which Jonah delivered in the days of Jeroboam II., but must be taken in the sense that [as at Nineveh] Jonah's words changed evil to good, so under Jeroboam, Israel experienced a change of fortune (Yevamot 98a)

The Islamic Perspective 

In Islam, Yunus (Jonah) is revered as prophet who was faithful to God and delivered His message. The story's similarities in the Hebrew narrative are almost the same as in the holy Islamic Bible (Qur'an). In Muslim tradition, the ancient prophet came from the Tribe of Benjamin and was the only Minor Prophet mentioned by name in the Qur'an.

"So also was Yunus among those sent (by Us). When he ran away (like a slave from captivity) to the ship (fully) laden, He (agreed to) cast lots, and he was condemned: Then the big Fish did swallow him, and he had done acts worthy of blame. Had it not been that he (repented and) glorified Allah, He would certainly have remained inside the Fish till the Day of Resurrection."— Qur'an, chapter 37 (As-Saaffat), verse 139–144

Jonah was mentioned by the Prophet Muhammad on various occasions. One of the sayings of Muhammad, in the collection of Imam Bukhari, states that the Islamic prophet said, "One should not say that I am better than Yunus".  This is understood by both mainstream Muslims and historians to have been stated by Muhammad to emphasize the notion of equality between all the prophets and the law of making no distinction between any of the messengers.

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 Interesting Tidbits

• At the present time, Nineveh's location is marked by excavations of five gates, parts of walls on four sides, and two large mounds: the hill of Kuyunjik and hill of Nabi Yunus.

• On Nabi Yunus there was a shrine dedicated to the prophet Jonah, which was revered by both Muslims and Christians, as it was believed to hold Jonah's tomb. .

• The town of Gath-hepher has retained its name to this day. It is near the Gallilean Arab town of Mashhad, where a monument for Jonah [Nebi Yunes] still exists.

• In the city of Ashdod the light-tower hill is called Givat-Yonah, on the holy Muslim site of Nebi Yunes, which according to traditions of the three monotheistic Abrahamic religions, is the site where Jonah was thrown by the large fish.

• The city of Jaffa has a main street named after Jonah. The ancient port of Jaffa is still intact and functional. Archeological diggings found that the port was functioning at this location as early as 300 BC.

• Jonah's burial place according to the Jewish tradition is in the village of his birth, Gath-hepher, in the Galilee region of Israel. 

• Another sanctuary and mosque called Nebi Yunes is in the Palestinian West Bank town of Halhul, 5 km (3.1 mi) north of Hebron. Muslim tradition has it that this is the burial site of Jonah the prophet

• The sanctuary of Jama Naballa Jonas is another place that, according to Christian and Muslim tradition, claims to be Jonah's grave, near the city of Mosul (present-day Iraq), near the ancient remnants of Nineveh. On July 24, 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) destroyed the masjid, near Mosul, containing the tomb as part of a campaign to destroy religious sanctuaries it deemed to be idolatrous.

The Fall of Lucifer

In the very beginning, before Adam and Eve were created, Lucifer (Satan) was able to enter into every living thing that God had ever created. The Creator allowed this because He was full of love, and wanted his angels to be able to experience what it would be like to be a bird or a tiger or even a flower. The following article comes from Christianity.com and touches upon the fall of Lucifer when he overstepped the boundaries of God's love.

How Did Lucifer Fall and Become Satan?

by Ron Rhodes, President of Reasoning from the Scriptures Ministries

The story of Lucifer’s fall is described in two key Old Testament chapters—Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14. 

Let’s briefly look at both of these.

It would seem from the context of Ezekiel 28 that the first ten verses of this chapter are dealing with a human leader. Then, starting in verse 11 and on through verse 19, Lucifer is the focus of discussion.

What is the rationale for the conclusion that these latter verses refer to the fall of Lucifer? Whereas the first ten verses in this chapter speak about the ruler of Tyre (who was condemned for claiming to be a god though he was just a man), the discussion moves to the king of Tyre starting in verse 11. Many scholars believe that though there was a human “ruler” of Tyre, the real “king” of Tyre was Satan, for it was he who was ultimately at work in this anti-God city and it was he who worked through the human ruler of the city.

Some have suggested that these verses may actually be dealing with a human king of Tyre who was empowered by Satan. Perhaps the historic king of Tyre was a tool of Satan, possibly even indwelt by him. In describing this king, Ezekiel also gives us glimpses of the superhuman creature, Satan, who was using, if not indwelling, him.

Now, there are things that are true of this “king” that—at least ultimately—cannot be said to be true of human beings. For example, the king is portrayed as having a different nature from man (he is a cherub, verse 14); he had a different position from man (he was blameless and sinless, verse 15); he was in a different realm from man (the holy mount of God, verses 13,14); he received a different judgment from man (he was cast out of the mountain of God and thrown to the earth, verse 16); and the superlatives used to describe him don’t seem to fit that of a normal human being (“full of wisdom,” “perfect in beauty,” and having “the seal of perfection,” verse 12 NASB).

Our text tells us that this king was a created being and left the creative hand of God in a perfect state (Ezekiel 28:12,15). And he remained perfect in his ways until iniquity was found in him (verse 15b). What was this iniquity? We read in verse 17, “Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor.” Lucifer apparently became so impressed with his own beauty, intelligence, power, and position that he began to desire for himself the honor and glory that belonged to God alone. The sin that corrupted Lucifer was self-generated pride.

Apparently, this represents the actual beginning of sin in the universe—preceding the fall of the human Adam by an indeterminate time. Sin originated in the free will of Lucifer in which—with full understanding of the issues involved—he chose to rebel against the Creator.

This mighty angelic being was rightfully judged by God: “I threw you to the earth” (Ezekiel 28:18). This doesn’t mean that Satan had no further access to heaven, for other Scripture verses clearly indicate that Satan maintained this access even after his fall (Job 1:6-12; Zechariah 3:1,2). However, Ezekiel 28:18 indicates that Satan was absolutely and completely cast out of God’s heavenly government and his place of authority (Luke 10:18).

Jordan P. · 

IMS at Walmart

I see two problems with the above article, Lucifer's name being changed and the question of Lucifer being referenced in Isaiah 14 at all. Starting with the latter, Isaiah specifically states in verse 12 about Lucifer falling from heaven, no questioning of God's is needed. And no where in the King James does it say Satan in Isaiah 12, so how was his name changed then? I would enjoy an explanation because I am confused, could some one explain please?

Like · Reply · Nov 30, 2012 11:26pm

Ron-Romona D. · 

Chippewa Lake, Michigan

The oppressor in verse 3 Refers to Satan the fallen Lucifer. in vs 12 where it says fallen from heaven morning star is a reference also to Satan. The Bible tells us to study to show ourselves approved..... I have been in church my whole life and not taken the time to study for myself. I have shown myself ignorant many time. therefore now before I speak I look for myself, I study, I look up references. I don't take the word of people, I go searching. I am seeking truth. Not that of a mans opinion. It take time to study it all... I certainally don't have the answers to all my questions. But I am finding truth in the Word of God if i keep it all in context.

Like · Reply · 10 · Apr 7, 2013 10:59am

Susan D.

Lucifer is actually a Latin word that means shining one or morning star. If you look at the original Hebrew in Isaiah 14:12, the angelic being that desired to usurp God's throne and worship in his heart was called bright as the morning star. Lucifer means light in Latin with the connotation of beauty. The Hebrew in Isaiah 14 also talks that this angel became proud with his own beauty. (cf EZ 28) Later Lucifer is referred to as the Devil which is the Greek for slanderer or liar, Satan means the accuser, he is also called the Destroyer, and the Dragon. Just as in the O.T. God has names such as: God the Almighty One, the One who Sees, the One who hears, the Provider... and these names give us a glimpse into the character of God, so do the different names for the Angel who fell. The Evil one, a lion seeking whom he may devour... and also, the translation of the word, is it Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic, or from the Latin or even in some translations today, the English etymology.

Like · Reply · 11 · Apr 10, 2013 10:53am

Kristi D. · 

Works at Retired

God often changed people's names, to more closely fit their new identites. Abram became Abraham (father of a multitude). Sarai was changed to Sarah (mother of many nations). Simon became Peter (small stone), and Saul (demanded or death) became Paul. If we contrast the meanings of Lucifer (beautiful morning star) and Satan (liar, destroyer, accuser and dragon), it appears God gave him a new identity after pride caused his fall from heaven. This appears to be completely consistent with God's method and reasons for renaming. Renaming was also applied to places and things. God bless you all!!

Like · Reply · 1 · May 15, 2016 11:20am

Before Genesis - Lucifer's Fall from Heaven