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The Religious Landscape
Why do we find it necessary to explain our beliefs by contrasting them with the majority religions of this age? One part of the answer is that most of us had come to Heathenism after leaving one of the monotheistic religions. At this time – 2008 CE – the majority of new Heathens are former Christians. Granted that we have a second and even third generation that are being born into Heathenism, but their numbers are small. Even if we were to become a major religion by the end of this century, we would still be acquiring many members who had previously belonged to another religion.
Whether we remain a minor religion or become a major one, we will be dealing with monotheistic religious concepts for at least the next two hundred years. JudeoChristian concepts have become established norms within our society. They are staples of literature, entertainment and the vernacular lexicon. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to find a genre that does not contain some element of the conventional monotheistic beliefs. The only way to avoid them would be to isolate ourselves from society. As that is not a viable option, we will have to deal with them.
Another matter is our future place within the religious framework of our society. Our likely situation will be one of coexistence with the current crop of religions. The difference will be numbers and percentages. Some of them will grow and others will shrink. There will also be doctrinal changes among them. Already, a growing number of younger evangelical Christians are showing more tolerance to other faiths. The time may come when there is a greater mood of tolerance with even the most conservative sects. While it is hard to predict which sects will survive and which doctrines will prevail, we can be pretty sure that the other denominations will be with us for a long time.
