How the Internet Is Taking Away America’s Religion

[Warren Stupidity]

Using the Internet can destroy your faith. That’s the conclusion of a study showing that the dramatic drop in religious affiliation in the U.S. since 1990 is closely mirrored by the increase in Internet use.

That leaves him in little doubt that his conclusion is reasonable. “Internet use decreases the chance of religious affiliation,” he says.

But there is something else going on here too. Downey has found three factors—the drop in religious upbringing, the increase in college-level education and the increase in Internet use—that together explain about 50 percent of the drop in religious affiliation.

But what of the other 50 percent? In the data, the only factor that correlates with this is date of birth—people born later are less likely to have a religious affiliation. But as Downey points out, year of birth cannot be a causal factor. “So about half of the observed change remains unexplained,” he says.

So that leaves us with a mystery. The drop in religious upbringing and the increase in Internet use seem to be causing people to lose their faith. But something else about modern life that is not captured in this data is having an even bigger impact.

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/526111/how-the-internet-is-taking-away-americas-religion/

[hrmjustin]

1. interesting statistics.

I can see hoe this maybe true for some. I would never loose my faith but I see how some do.

It is not easy to be a believer.

[Warren Stupidity]

3. Clearly the internets is the work of Satan.

I'd keep my online time to a minimum if I were you.

[hrmjustin]

4. Well my faith is strong so he will have to bother someone else.

[rug]

2. It's also done wonders for porn and its habitués.

[Trillo]

11. Many websites point to Christianity as a big source of sexual repression.

[rug]

12. The internet has all sorts of websites.

http://www.reddit.com/r/NoFap/

[Trillo]

13. NoFap = celibacy

Celibacy is fundamental to many religions as far as priestly classes are concerned, even in Buddhism.

It might be worth pointing out that 1/2-to-1% of the population is asexual.

[rug]

14. It was started by Alexander Rhodes.

He's not a priest.

http://www.nofap.org/about/

He identifies as an atheist.

[Trillo]

15. But was it a choice, or a sexual orientation?

From your link, "Many fapstronauts report that NoFap’s programs have cured erectile dysfunction and delayed ejaculation, along with other sexual issues."

Bumc.bu.edu says, "In contrast to delayed ejaculation, early ejaculation difficulties are much more common and frequently seen in sexual medicine clinics."

[rug]

16. From a quick scan, it looks like a choice, a difficult choice.

Now, don't take this the wrong way but I'd rather not have a discussion with you about the religious or areligious ramifications of fapping. That website was merely an illustration of the dark corners of reddit, which itself is one of the dark corners of the internet.

[Trillo]

17. I don't take it any particular way, you are free to type or not type.

My point was merely that religions seem to have been big drivers of sexual repression. Your point seems to have been that the dark corners of the Internet have similar constructs. Perhaps it is tied together in the existence of folks who, regardless of religious belief or lack thereof, do not experience sexual attraction, and thus there is a possible explanation for such broad phenomenon. From my point of view, lack of sexual desire does seem to tie into the priestly class fairly well, seemingly better so than for atheists.

[goldent]

5. The "research" that led to this conclusion is precious.

And it really got me thinking. I've noticed that young people have taken to snowboarding over conventional skiing in every increasing numbers over the years, to the point where now the majority start snowboarding from the start (you might call them "cradle" snowboarders vs "converts&quot . I'm not saying this is causing the decline in religion, but you can't deny the facts.

[Warren Stupidity]

7. dose ijits at MIT, waddabuncha clowns.

[goldent]

8. I would have been surprised if this "research" came out of MIT

but it you check, I think you'll find it didn't.

[pangaia]

6. There is probably also a relationship between fewer "BELIEVERS,"

(what a really weird word) and global warming.

[bravenak]

9. I really thought i was alone in my lack of belief until i started internetting regularly.

It gave me the courage to come out of the closet, figuratively. Best thing ever.
I should personally thank Matt Dillihunty and the Atheist Experience. It's hard heing a black Atheist.

[TygrBright]

10. Nevertheless, correlation is STILL not causation. n/t

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

18. I'm remined of the statistics put out by the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Which links increase in global warming with the decrease in the number of pirates:



See http://metinmediamath.wordpress.com/2013/10/17/more-pirates-less-global-warming-wait-what/ for a writeup.

[Brettongarcia]

19. Possible causal link: access to (often) factual information, cuts into blind beliefs?