Will the decline in Christianity result in the demise of civilisation?

(Will the decline in Christianity result in the demise of civilisation?)




Hi, 60 + years ago I developed the following deceptively simple proposition which I am presenting here in the hope that, on the basis of understanding it, it will receive a just and honest, unbiased and rational consideration as to its merits, primarily, in regards to offering an explanation of the importance of "Christian" related religions to the development of, and to the survival of 'this sophisticated civilised society.

*It is not part of a religious debate. It has nothing to do with the veracity of The Bible, of God, of ones religious convictions or of Christianity per se*

The basis of the proposition is that this Sophisticated Civilised society exists only because of Roman Catholicism and Christianity and that Roman Catholicism and Christianity permeates, directly or indirectly, virtually every aspect of this Sophisticated Civilised society to the extent that the "religions" and society are so intertwined as to be inseparable.

The full understanding of this proposition will give one the key to answering most, if not all, of the philosophical questions of the day.

For something like 1500 years Roman Catholicism's domination, control and influence in European centres of power, which came out of the 'unification' of the hundreds of squabbling and fighting principalities, maintained an element of order (believe it or not) in Europe.

Over time, the part of Roman Catholicism's doctrine, which included the history of the Jews, namely the Ten Commandments, became incorporated into the Laws of most of the countries of Europe.

Partly due to England's break from Rome and in Germany, Martin Luther's Protestantism, and with the gradual sophistication of societies, the basics of the Ten Commandments eventually became an integral element in defining the justice of the Law's of the "Christianised" countries and eventually became the essence of 'The Laws of the land'/s which eventually became accepted by the proletariat, i.e. you and I, as being the norm. It is the laws emanating from Moses stone tablets via the religion of Roman Catholicism and via the tenets of Christianity and the concepts of Protestantism which has influenced you and I to be what we are. It is having grown up in an atmosphere of security and protection of benevolent laws which allows one the freedom to, within the bounds of, for example, decency and morality, to say what we want and to do what we want, it is the universal acceptance of these laws which has influenced us to expect from our neighbours the kind of decent and polite treatment that they would expect from us.


It is because we developed and grew up in this environment where the laws, the kind of morality, that have given us our concept of right and wrong, of honesty and dishonesty, etc which has allowed us, that is you and me as well as other people to evolve a psychological dependency on an expectation of us having a future, etcetera, etcetera.
I am sure that any reasonably intelligent person could extrapolate for themselves the importance of and the impact that Christianity has had on, directly and indirectly, developing moral or ethical values that they them selves might have. I am also sure that any reasonably intelligent person could not recognise that there is nobody unaffected by the influences of Christianity and its effects.

Consider what it is that has held the (westernised) Sophisticated "Christian" Civilised Societies that 'we' are all a part of together. Consider firstly from your own personal perspective the characteristic of you expecting others to adhere to the basic laws and the rules and values which have evolved out of the basic tenets of "Christianity". The laws, rules and taboos which have been the bonding meme of the society of tens of millions of free thinking individuals. The laws and rules that you have never really questioned, the ones that you have absorbed and which have become an integral part of your being, from being that young child and screaming "But that's not fair" to the maturity of becoming spontaneously distressed by the evil or immoral activity of others who do not respect the same values.

Now, and here is the nub, consider that we all, you, me and every person who we know and every person who we have ever known or met and every person who we have ever seen, and, every person who we have ever heard of and every person who lives or has lived in a Sophisticated Civilised Society; AND, Everything that you or I and any of these other people have ever done, thought, wanted or owned as well as every judgement and decision that you, I or they have ever made has been, or is, directly or indirectly influenced by or is the product of the tenets of Christianity and the Judaic ten Commandments irrespective whether you, I or they are conscious of the fact. It is because of these tenets that, Sophisticated Civilised Society exists. It is because of them that you, me and anyone else, whether you or I or they are clever or thick, intellectual or not, has the freedom to pander to their or our expectations of and enjoy the freedom, the security and protection that the society affords, irrespective of any contribution that any of us has made to it.

Denouncing the existence of the Christian/Judaic God by people, who claim an intellectual prowess, on the grounds that there is no proof of its existence is pretty bizarre when one considers that the proof of almost anything they claim to believe, unless they are very very old, will only be supported by the equivalent of 'science' journal snippets and hearsay and not by any physical fundamental research by themselves. (This to me begs the question of their intellectuality)
Surely I can't be the only one to cringe with embarrassment for them when I do hear or read misguided and false claims and premises which indicate a complete lack of understanding, not only of the history of the religion but more importantly, of its importance and role in the evolution of Mankind including them selves. This also includes the evolution of "science" as a academic discipline, given that for a thousand + years the worlds centres of academia, philosophy, science and record keeping were directly related to religious patronage of religious people in religious schools, colleges and universities.

My regards..arthur..

The decline of Christianity has already begun. Say hello to individualism and materialism!

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The decline of Christianity has already begun. Say hello to individualism and materialism!

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While agreeing with the sentiment of your statement, I don't know that the context is true? chrisainity was probably st its lowest point under Roman cultural aspect of putting them in the arena for sport killing & such. The Catholic rise to power in the middle ages (dark) would seem to be the high point in the power of the catholic church but does that truly reflect those (number) adhere to the principle (practice) of chritiainity?

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It certainly is not the best solution, and if there is a better one and people still hold onto Christianity, it becomes a hinderance, not an aid. If there was a better one a thousand years ago, then Christianity has been a hinderance for a thousand years.

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That statement has a very familiar ring to it . . Democracy is not the best form government but it is the best choice we have!
Perhaps we should seek a better form or to improve the form we have been stuck with by (our) the forefathers?

Funny thing I happen to be watching some reality show . . . a stock market report, they were saying how because of all the unemployment being high, Profits had increased
Right, companies have increased their profit because they have lowered their cost
Hmm, I forgot what I had meant tosay when I heard the statement had been such a shock to my sense of reality . . . I guess

The decline of christianity begun like 1700 years ago... still waiting it dies once and for all, but i gess it'll take its time...

so say, an ideology falls down... people will always find out a way to hold on another ideology, call it democracy, comunism, patriotism, racism, fascism or whatever you want.

And since, despite what christians believes, moral its not dependant on religion, I might say, well... who cares if christianity dies?

If there were a corelation between christianity and happiness or, christianity and good life, peace and prosperity, well... the most religious times in our history must've been the healthier and happier, but... obscurantism, remember?

So I'll say, since religion has done more harm than good... it can as well die, I don't give a f***.

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Say hello to individualism and materialism!

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well human beings are human beings, some are more individualists, some more Gandhi like... and so, even religious leaders were well known for their materialism, I don't see why it is so much of an issue.

Well... no ! This new generation of people, dont really care about religion, so I dont really think that civilization would suffer much. And yes materialism is taking over, money and power is our new religion. Besides as science is becoming more and more advanced, so really there is othing that could scare us, that would make us pray for gods help.