Are Humans Naturally Religious or Not


This is an argument as old as humans. If children and adults are never indoctrinated with religious thoughts do the thoughts enter most of their minds anyway? Or, is "teaching'", i.e., indoctrination, necessary for religion (any religion) to survive from one generation to the next?

The link is by an atheist who discussed a 2019 book by a believer. The name of the book is Atheist Overreach. I recall reading other reviews of it. The author believes the growth of secularism will somehow drive those on the fence into the arms of Christianity. This will happen because of some trait humans are born with. Atheism, the author believes, will trigger the natural inclination to believe in spiritual beings like the Christian God and Jesus.

Christian denominations do not seem to believe this natural inborn desire to be religious. Denominations spend millions of dollars on youth programs. A great experiment would be to stop all of these programs and see what happens--will the number of believers remain unchanged or drop? 

It may well be that the "natural" state of human mind is not religious. There is no secular organization with the equivalent of the Christian Sunday Schools, Bible camps or youth outreach. There is, or was, one atheist summer camp but I don't know if it is still going. It was out gunned by the thousands of church camps. Yet, youth are leaving the faith in large numbers and while a few return later that number is falling also. This trend seems to hint at a "natural" inclination to not believe in religions and their super natural cast of characters. I don't think it is conclusive evidence but it calls into question any natural pull toward religion.

Often I read on religious sites preachers telling everyone the country is in need of a "religious revival." I guess they imagine some sweeping and successful series of preaching and evangelism. This may have happened back in history but I would guess the table was set before the feast. For some reason the public was ready to join a bandwagon called the faith. With increased suspicion and skepticism I predict here and now there is no religious revival coming to us in the foreseeable future.

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