Agnostics probably will soon hold sway

Mark Dawson, Editor of Wanganui Chronicle WGG 23Apr13 - Mark Dawson WGP 26Jun14 -

AS terrorist acts litter the Middle East, Asia, Africa and now - all too frequently - Europe, some geo-political commentators would have us in a global conflict between Christianity and Islam. A sort of Crusades II.

This, of course, does a disservice to religion in general which - alongside its attempts to explain the inexplicable - very often promotes caring and support for the less fortunate.

Whether one is of the faith or not, it is hard to deny the numerous good works done in the name of God.

The violence perpetrated by Islamic fundamentalists and Christian-leaning governments in the West are aberrations on the long history of noble servitude. But still, the current wave of destruction is worryingly impacting on us all.

So should we feel trepidation with the recent news that Muslims are expected to make up 30 per cent of the world's population by 2050? This fastest-growing religion will soon match the Christian multitudes - predicted to slip to 31 per cent. Maybe the even numbers will see them nullify one another at their extremes. One can but hope.

One of the strange things about religious belief in New Zealand is that as its audience steadily declines, the number of denominations seems to grow in equal proportion.

There are the stalwarts of Catholicism, Presbyterianism, Methodism etc, but all now with a variety of offshoots. Baptists and Mormons are ticking over and there are the newcomers like the Destiny Church and the Victory Church. In Wanganui we even have the Equippers Church, which was a new one on me.

How come so many for so increasingly few? We can all have our theories.

But in view of the many horrors that have been done in His name, perhaps we should not be unhappy that by 2050 New Zealand is anticipated to be one of only three countries in the world (stand up France and Holland) where non-believers will outnumber all the faithful of whatever religion.