I think as religions grow more and more fractious, more people will join the category of irreligious and non-religious. To simplify it greatly, say you have some popular religious sect called Whateverism. Somewhere in the doctrine of Whateverism, it's unclear how followers should respond to moral dilemma X, so argument breaks out and fails to be resolved. The Church of Whateverism splits into two factions, with some people following one faction and some following the other, and a third group of followers who become disillusioned with the whole thing because it failed to provide a clear and consistent worldview.
I also agree with this. In the past, people may have stuck with the religion they were raised in simply because they were never exposed to alternate ideas that they liked. These days, it seems very unusual NOT to be bombarded with strange new ideas all the time, so more and more people have the opportunity to change their minds. And, of course, atheism, agnosticism, and plain old I-don't-give-a-rat's-ass-ism are among these ideas being circulated, so people are joining their ranks as well.
So I suppose my answer to #1 is that it is a trend. As for #2, I don't know.
Quote from: Cramulus on March 09, 2009, 02:38:37 PMChristianity is going to get more fragmented and conflicted. People with fringe beliefs, due to the information age, will be able to find each other and make themselves into legitimate factions. And as those factions gain legitimacy, they will no longer seem so fringe. The borders of acceptability will get blurrier (or more eroded, depending on how you look at it) until the whole gestalt picture of Christianity includes weird stuff like my friend the Celtic-Christian-New-Age Witch.
I also agree with this. In the past, people may have stuck with the religion they were raised in simply because they were never exposed to alternate ideas that they liked. These days, it seems very unusual NOT to be bombarded with strange new ideas all the time, so more and more people have the opportunity to change their minds. And, of course, atheism, agnosticism, and plain old I-don't-give-a-rat's-ass-ism are among these ideas being circulated, so people are joining their ranks as well.
So I suppose my answer to #1 is that it is a trend. As for #2, I don't know.