Changes

China, with its large population and lack of reliable data on religious switching, [http://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/main-factors-driving-population-growth/#the-potential-impact-of-religious-switching-in-china is something of a wild card] when it comes to the future of world religion. This is especially true for the religiously unaffiliated population; more than half of the world’s people who do not identify with any religion live in China (roughly 700 million).

China, with its large population and lack of reliable data on religious switching, [http://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/main-factors-driving-population-growth/#the-potential-impact-of-religious-switching-in-china is something of a wild card] when it comes to the future of world religion. This is especially true for the religiously unaffiliated population; more than half of the world’s people who do not identify with any religion live in China (roughly 700 million).

Some experts believe the Christian population in China is rising while the religiously unaffiliated population is falling. If this is true – and the trend continues – religious “nones” could decline as a share of the world’s population even more than the Pew Research Center study projects.<ref>[http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/03/why-people-with-no-religion-are-projected-to-decline-as-a-share-of-the-worlds-population/ Why people with no religion are projected to decline as a share of the world’s population], Pew Forum</ref>}}

Some experts believe the Christian population in China is rising while the religiously unaffiliated population is falling. If this is true – and the trend continues – religious “nones” could decline as a share of the world’s population even more than the Pew Research Center study projects.<ref>[https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/03/why-people-with-no-religion-are-projected-to-decline-as-a-share-of-the-worlds-population/ Why people with no religion are projected to decline as a share of the world’s population], Pew Forum</ref>}}

[[Eric Kaufmann]] told a secular audience in Australia: "The trends that are happening worldwide inevitably in an age of globalization are going to affect us."<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NtvDErEmBY Shall the religious inherit the earth - Festival of Dangerous Ideas - Eric Kaufmann]</ref>  Furthermore, Kaufmann also argues that secularization may reverse itself significantly earlier than 2050 in the West due to religious immigration and a religious population which is increasingly resistant to secularization in Europe.<ref>*[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/08/european-christian-immigration-will.html European immigration will pour Christian creationists into Europe]

[[Eric Kaufmann]] told a secular audience in Australia: "The trends that are happening worldwide inevitably in an age of globalization are going to affect us."<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NtvDErEmBY Shall the religious inherit the earth - Festival of Dangerous Ideas - Eric Kaufmann]</ref>  Furthermore, Kaufmann also argues that secularization may reverse itself significantly earlier than 2050 in the West due to religious immigration and a religious population which is increasingly resistant to secularization in Europe.<ref>*[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/08/european-christian-immigration-will.html European immigration will pour Christian creationists into Europe]

In 2004, the ''American Journal of Psychiatry'' reported:  

In 2004, the ''American Journal of Psychiatry'' reported:  

{{cquote|Religiously unaffiliated subjects had significantly more lifetime suicide attempts and more first-degree relatives who committed suicide than subjects who endorsed a religious affiliation. Unaffiliated subjects were younger, less often married, less often had children, and had less contact with family members. Furthermore, subjects with no religious affiliation perceived fewer reasons for living, particularly fewer moral objections to suicide. In terms of clinical characteristics, religiously unaffiliated subjects had more lifetime impulsivity, aggression, and past substance use disorder. No differences in the level of subjective and objective depression, hopelessness, or stressful life events were found.<ref>[http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleID=177228 Religious affiliation and suicide attempts]</ref><ref>[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15569904 Religious affiliation and suicide attempts]</ref>}}

{{cquote|Religiously unaffiliated subjects had significantly more lifetime suicide attempts and more first-degree relatives who committed suicide than subjects who endorsed a religious affiliation. Unaffiliated subjects were younger, less often married, less often had children, and had less contact with family members. Furthermore, subjects with no religious affiliation perceived fewer reasons for living, particularly fewer moral objections to suicide. In terms of clinical characteristics, religiously unaffiliated subjects had more lifetime impulsivity, aggression, and past substance use disorder. No differences in the level of subjective and objective depression, hopelessness, or stressful life events were found.<ref>[http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleID=177228 Religious affiliation and suicide attempts]</ref><ref>[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15569904 Religious affiliation and suicide attempts]</ref>}}

== Decline of Asian atheism ==

== Decline of Asian atheism ==