The New Religion

Most of you have heard this quote in one form or another:

"If G-d did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him."

People who do not believe in G-d's existence are doing that very thing right now - inventing a new god for humanity. That new god will come to us in the form of a "super artificial intelligence".

In fact, he/she is mentioned in the Book of Revelation:

And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Revelation 13:14-15 KJV

Yes, the image of the beast which you will be forced to worship will be humanity's new god.

But will worship of that new god actually be a religion? Consider this:

The structural-functional approach to religion has its roots in Emile Durkheim's work on religion. Durkheim argued that religion is, in a sense, the celebration and even (self-) worship of human society. Given this approach, Durkheim proposed that religion has three major functions in society: it provides social cohesion to help maintain social solidarity through shared rituals and beliefs, social control to enforce religious-based morals and norms to help maintain conformity and control in society, and it offers meaning and purpose to answer any existential questions. Further, Durkheim placed himself in the positivist tradition, meaning that he thought of his study of society as dispassionate and scientific. He was deeply interested in the problem of what held complex modern societies together. Religion, he argued, was an expression of social cohesion.

Source - https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/religion-14/the-functionalist-perspective-on-religion-106/functions-of-religion-593-8141/

Let's focus our attention on Durkheim's three functions of religion:

• it provides social cohesion to help maintain social solidarity through shared rituals and beliefs,
• it provides social control to enforce religious-based morals and norms to help maintain conformity and control in society,
• and it offers meaning and purpose to answer any existential questions.

The "shared rituals and beliefs" of the new religion are becoming more apparent every day. Our children seem to share the belief that organized religions of the past are BS. Many of them participate in various shared rituals through social media which help maintain solidarity of the sort they desire, while treating the rituals and beliefs of "old school" religions as anathema.

Likewise, our children's new "morality" is creating norms acceptable to them which they use to maintain conformity and social control in the new society they are building. Anyone not conforming to those norms is shunned, trolled, driven to suicide, and sometimes even physically attacked. It is not a stretch to imagine that soon such norms will be enforced by additional coercive means including deadly violence.

Finally, the new religion will offer our children meaning and purpose to their lives in ways "old school" religions no longer can. Robotics, artificial intelligence, and other technology will offer them achievable (not just promised) immortality. Virtual reality and space travel will offer them new worlds to conquer and an achievable (not just promised) "heavenly" realm in which to dwell. They can actually become angels and/or demigods AND CHEAT DEATH without having to give up their wickedly carnal lifestyles or making the sort of sacrifices "old school" religions now require of them. They will exist to enjoy, and they will enjoy their existence.

What other answer could they possibly need or want?