Thames Valley’s Bahá’í Community has said that the results of a study using census data from nine countries which shows that religion is set for extinction there is just part of the natural cycle of the world.

The study, reported on the BBC News website today (Tuesday 22 March), found a steady rise in those claiming no religious affiliation. It looked at census data stretching back a century from countries in which the census asked about religious affiliation. The American Physical Society meeting in Dallas, US, heard that religion is expected to all but die out altogether in those countries.

Shawn Khorassani, a West Berkshire Bahá’í, said: “This is just part of the natural order of things – Bahá’u’lláh said that the world would eventually get fed up with religion. People would recognise that religion can be the cause of some of the world’s problems and that they would reject it.

“But Bahá’u’lláh said that eventually people would realise that everything becomes worse without it and that they can not live without a moral compass. That is when the Bahá’í Faith will shine.”