Religions in 2050

 

The Kaaba during Hajj
(Photo by Adli Wahid)

While many are wondering what 2025 has in store, Pew researchers are far ahead of the pack.

In a 2015 report semi-titled “The Future of World Religions,” the following predictions were made for the year 2050:  “The number of Muslims will nearly equal the number of Christians around the world…  Atheists,  agnostics and other people who do not affiliate with any religion - will make up a declining share of the world’s total population…  The global Buddhist population will be about the same size it was in 2010, while the Hindu and Jewish populations will be larger than they are today…  Four out of every 10 Christians in the world will live in sub-Saharan Africa.”

These predictions were based upon a projected continuation of then-current trends.  They are global in nature and may vary within particular countries.  For example, the number of non-religionists are expected to increase within nations such as France and the United States, whereas that number is expected to decrease worldwide.  “Fertility and mortality rates, international migration and patterns in conversion” were also taken into account.

Resources

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/04/02/religious-projections-2010-2050/

Next to Godliness

 

The Creation
(Painting by James Tissot)

Although the saying “Cleanliness is next to godliness” cannot be specifically found within the Bible, literal and symbolic references abound within both Testaments.

Leviticus includes instructions for bathing, laundering, handling corpses, and fighting against infectious disease. Deuteronomy offers tips on toileting etiquette.  In Acts, Paul speaks about washing sins away, and in Revelation "John says those who wash their robes are blessed.”

God Himself seems to favor a neat and orderly Creation.  He began scooping up the primordial soup right away in Genesis One.  He might as well have commanded, “A place for everything, and everything in its place!”

Humans also have a predilection for organizing chaos.  In his book Maps of Meaning, Dr. Jordan Peterson explains that our beliefs can be formed as a means of taming unruly passions.  Our brains are neurologically wired to support cherished categorizations.  Genesis 1:27 contends: “God created man in his own image.”

Resources

https://www.northheightscoc.org/me-looking-for-the-verse-that-says-cleanliness-is-next-to-godliness/

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2218102.Maps_of_Meaning

 

 

First Rule of Life

What NOT to Do
(Public Domain)

According to a bestselling book by Dr. Jordan Peterson, there are 12 rules for life.  At least that was the case until his sequel came out with 12 more.

Of all 24, the first seems the easiest.  So why not begin by focusing upon that?  If things go swimmingly well, perhaps the next 23 can fall gracefully by the wayside.

Let’s face it: “Fix your posture” is a breeze compared to God’s own first and foremost commandment.  Sitting up straight is way more doable than walking the straight and narrow.  Peterson points out that lobsters claw their way through life more successfully when manifesting a hardier stance.  So why not us?

He asserts that the “dominance detector” within our brains will know how droopy our shoulders might be.  Droopy shoulders may then result in droopy spirits, especially when coupled with many a droopy body part.  In conclusion: “To stand up straight with your shoulders back is to accept the terrible responsibility of life, with eyes wide open.”  So there!

Resources

https://readingraphics.com/book-summary-12-rules-for-life/

 

He Who Wrestles With Peterson

If you haven’t yet heard of Dr. Jordan Peterson,

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel
(Painting by Eugene Delacroix)

 chances are that you haven’t been wrestling with the media since 2010.

Peterson’s books have topped bestseller lists in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.  They’ve offered 24 rules to live by and psychologically interpreted key biblical stories.  Ever wonder just what landed Jonah within the whale?  Peterson will tell you that and so much more.

“Overthinker” Joseph Holmes has mixed feelings about these biblical approaches.  On the one hand, he praises Peterson's “contribution to the rise in young men’s return to Christianity.”  Peterson”s somewhat macho interpretation of “the Bible’s vision for life” begins with having to find “a woman,” and ends with needing to face “the utter catastrophe of life… without fear.”

This very interpretation is what then gives Holmes pause.  He believes that Peterson places too much emphasis upon human heroism and not enough emphasis upon God's grace.  Holmes concludes that Peterson is way more the interpreter than the scholar, and perhaps way more the poet than the religionist.

Resources

https://religionunplugged.com/news/2024/11/20/book-review-jordan-peterson-fails-to-wrestle-with-god-enough 

Is bigger better?

Mother Teresa and Friends
(Public Domain)

While some are devoutly caring for the least among us, others are frantically creating the world’s largest pair of jeans.  Could it be that surpassing the previous Guinness World Record for “massive pants” is what life is all about?

Competition is fine when it spurs folks on toward lofty goals.  Yet when more than 30 textile workers find nothing better to do than to adorn “a waist circumference of 190 feet, 10 inches” with a “3-foot, 94-inch stainless steel button,” then they might just have too much time on their hands.

Perhaps the “18,044 feet of denim fabric” could have been used to clothe those in proverbial rags.  Perhaps the 18 days that each worker spent could have been used to tend the sick. As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said, “Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions.“

Resources

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2024/10/16/Guinness-World-Records-largest-jeans/5731729100424/ 

Name that Blob

Ambergris
(Photo by Peter Kaminski)

Modern-day folks claim to know a lot about a lot, but every now and then they publicly admit defeat.

This is one of those now-and-then times. When asked, “What’s white and doughy and regularly washes up on Newfoundland shores in various shapes and sizes,” they've come up with a resounding “Who knows?”

Although some have attributed these blobs to a type of whale goo, others have called them a “mystery substance.”  Canadian officials have simply said that it’s “under investigation.”

Add this particular mystery to many another that remains impenetrable.  It’s nice to know that there are still some ways to stump the experts.

Resources

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2024/10/17/canada-mystery-white-blobs-Newfoundland-beaches/4311729195866/

Larger than Life

Hydrothermal Vent Tubeworms
(Public Domain)

Where there’s life there’s growth, even at the very bottom of the ocean.  Although scientists knew that microbes can thrive within such extreme conditions, they had little proof that anything larger could.

Yet fairly recently a “deep-sea expedition led by the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research” discovered a host of larger life forms around the Tica Vent “on the Eastern Pacific Rise tectonic barrier.”  This lower-than-low area was surprisingly replete with snails and tubeworms.

Such discoveries lend credence to theories about extraterrestrial life.  If life is this hardy on our third rock from the sun, perhaps it can also be found on the fourth one and beyond.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/scientists-peeked-underneath-seafloor-discovered-184538431.html