Ian Jamieson wrote: >> Correct. "Religion" shrinking refers to number of people who are >> religious. Since the population is increasing, and since people >> here are coming up with whacky definitions of what "religion" means, >> I don't see how to answer that (and it isn't a subject that intrusts >> me). I'm saying that the domain over which the superhuman and >> supernatural has control tends to get smaller as man's knowledge >> increases. > > Sorry, been out of the list for a while but I had to reply to > this late as it is. I think there is a certain irony implied in the > fact that as we become a more 'advanced' society we see more and more > people medically treating themselves with 'old world' techniques, > i.e. acupuncture, faith healing, healing touch, herbal remedies, etc. > Is this due to lack of faith in 'science' or 'scientific humankind' > or a search for something larger, something that can't be seen or > 'logiced'. I'd file that concept under 'Human belief is one of (if not the) the most powerful of the human forces' That is if you believe in subjective reality - or is it if you believe my subjective reality?