Health & Medicine

Could Religion Completely Disappear by 2041?

Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Aug 06, 2013 03:29 PM EDT

A new study actually suggests that religion will no longer be around by the year 2041.

Author and biopsychologist Nigel Barber believes that in many developed countries, religion seems to be drowning out as a thing of the past.

Based on his findings, he concludes that the whole concept could indeed completely disappear by 2041, discussing the why and how in his new book "Why Atheism Will Replace Religion."

"Atheists are heavily concentrated in economically developed countries," he writes, according to his new book.

One of the book's central points is that religion is likely to decrease as personal wealth increases, with the belief that people don't need supernatural influences when the world and material possessions are providing their needs for them.

His study looked at 137 countries, finding that atheism increases in more well-developed areas. Countries with more equal-distribution also tended to have more atheists.

The theory of his studies also dismisses the possibility that religious groups will continue to dominate Atheistic ones because they tend to reproduce more frequently. "Yet, noisy as they can be, such groups are tiny minorities of the global population and they will become even more marginalized as global prosperity increases and standards of living improve," he writes, via the website OpposivingViews.com.

He concludes with the thought that as women become more integrated into the workplace, they will be having less children, religious or not.

What do you think? 

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