HDC Weekly Debate: Does religion still matter today as it did about 40 years ago?
 

Well, does it?

And why?

I think it depends on who you ask. To me, no, it's not as important as it was, say, when I was a child. The only thing that was open on Sundays back then was gas stations and churches. NOTHING else was open, not even grocery stores. But then, I'm not as religious as I used to be. I think a lot of that has to do with the horrible experience I had at the last church I went to. There are times when I miss the ceremonies, especially at Christmas time. I also miss the sense of community. But that last church left such a bad taste in my mouth, I don't think I'll ever go to church again.

I still believe in God, and that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but I'll honor them in my own way.

Whether or not you're a believer, it will always be important. It's just that religion changes to suit the times. Plus, when you say "religion", that can mean anything from specifically theistic beliefs to more vague spirituality. It's been a part of human nature as a whole, though, and I think it always will be.

Of course it's still important. It's always going to be important. It's a driving force in a lot of peoples lives and even those that aren't overly religious or even religious at all always seem to talk about it and acknowledge it. It must be important if were having this conversation.

yes,i still pray to satan every day

I choose science over religion.

well i follow zen buddhism so i say yes. if there was no religion and people did not believe in god then there would be more violence then there is now. i just believe in the here and now.

I think it's equally important to those who perceive it that way.
Some people follow a structured religion, I do not.
I follow a code of ethics and live my life in a way that I believe to be basically good...so for me, if that fits into any given religion sure, ok.

I don't know about this...many conflicts have arisen on account of belief systems being challenged or opposed by others.
Just IMO, this would only be correct if there happened to be some kind of universal religion. Which there never will be.
That said, who knows - we've never (at least not for a LONG time) lived in a time where there has been one religion, or no religion.

I think it matters, if it matters to you.

Even if there were one world religion, there'd still be plenty of different approaches and interpretations to that religion, and still plenty of conflict. It's the relative subtleties within and between religions that cause a lot of violence. It's the difference between peace and jihadism, for example.
Emo Phillips has a great bit related to this, actually:

Religion is definatley dying out and has been in a steady decline for some time. Even practising religious people tend to cherry pick what they want to believe and how they want to believe. It's really just a case of the way people are educated. Most European countries tend not to have a heavy religious structure within schools anymore, the same can be said for Australia, Japan, Canada and probably plenty of other countries too... Often countries/ areas with heavy poverty and low education tend to rely more heavily on religious education and teachings. As long as there is poverty and inequality in the world religion will continue to be a part of our world but its certainly not as relevant as it was 40 years ago.