I would like to think that religions will quietly fade away as the worlds grows more democratic and more educated. But that is not possible because progress is being interrupted by coercion and violence.
Religions are on the run now, fighting back for their very existence. Democracy, education and western thinking are toxic to religions and they know this. So they are doing everything in their power to insulate their followers against it’s corrupting influence. Even if it means slaughtering them.
We have classic examples in the middle east and northern Africa of the extent they will go to protect their ground. Boko Haram is killing thousands of innocents in the name of Islam. And Syria and much of the middle east are happy to kill any one who slights their religious beliefs. Blasphemy laws are becoming more common and aggressive in an attempt to stifle western influence.
The religious police are everywhere in many forms, doing their best to stamp out any western influence and force the people to follow their interpretations of what is religiously correct.
Israel is trying to protect it’s self from cultural assimilation by limiting citizenship and discouraging marriage outside of the religion. They need a two state solution because the superior Muslim population would weaken their power in a democracy.
So they use force and coercion to keep the Palestinian people from organizing and exercising their natural rights.
Christianity has pretty much been diluted but there are still many pockets of resistance. Particularly here in the USA where being a conservative Christian still carries some political clout, and extremists views of the Christian Right get too much news coverage.
But for the most part cultural Christianity is coming inline with secular western thinking.
In a free and open society religions would die a peaceful and natural death. But they will continue to survive as long as they can stifle the flow of information and free choice through coercion and violence.