Is religion under threat of being pushed aside in today's societies

Abstract

One wonders first of all: Who is threatening whom? Is religion under threat of being pushed aside or is the opposite the case: Is religion a threat to our contemporary society, as many will argue these days? Is religion, in particular the christian religion in Europe on the way out? And if so: so what? Is this something we should feel troubled about? What does that mean for the norms and values which are usually associated with those religions? Is that a threat or is this on the contrary a liberation? If religion is something good on the other hand: what could be done to keep it, to get it back again? I would like to divide my presentation in the following way: 1. First of all I would like to deal briefly with the question "Is religion a threat to our societies?" 2. Secondly I will try to tackle the main question of my presentation: "Is there a threat that religion will be pushed aside?" This is the issue which is usually indicated with the term secularisation. I would like to deal with the possible causes: "Is it unwillingness, indifference, or ignorance?" 3. And in the third place - this of course suggests and already presupposes that my answer to the second question is in the affirmative - I would like to address the question what could be done about the devaluation of religion in our societies. In this context, I would like to consider to what extent is it possible to communicate the Gospel in relationship to or in connection with art, literature and music. 4. In the last section, I will draw my conclusion.