In the event of a civilization-destroying apocalypse, where we got reduced to tribes again, I imagine religion would return pretty damn fast. It'd be real hard to go through the end of the world and not try to build some sacred meaning in order to cope.
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It would take so much less than a world-ending apocalypse. Look how quickly radical Islamic fundamentalism emerged over just decades. Or the resurgence in the Russian Orthodox Church.
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Yeah, I imagine in some parts of the country it would take as little as a few days without electricity.
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It would also mean an increased dependence on agriculture, which also leads to more religion because of dependence on natural events like precipitation; praying for rain, etc.
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There must be a system of meaning, internally and externally, and to achieve any interpersonal goals there must be an agreed system of meaning, and religion is the most basic. Outside of maybe raw language.
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Nah, in contrast to early man, we do not need gods to explain natural phenomena
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This hypothetical is essentially the plot of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
You may enjoy one of my favorite posts of the past couple years talking about precisely this (from )
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We can also witness this happen to some as they experience a kind of personal apocalypse, and they see their bodies and health begin to fail with age. Many are at least claimed, often by others close to them, to have turned back to the faith with a deathbed conversion.