The religious shall inherit the earth? Yes says a new book.

A leading British political scientist has predicted the reversal of secularism around mid-century simply because religious people are more likely to marry and have more children than non-believers. In his new Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth? Demography and Politics in the Twenty-First Century book political sociologist Eric Kaufmann argues that growing birth-rates among religious believers, and falling birth-rates among secular couples are set to dramatically shift the political and demographic make-up of the West.

Mr Kaufmann says that "secular populations are static and heading for decline” while religious populations are multiplying, mostly because "the more religious people are, the more children they will have.”

He added that this is set to have political implications, as people of faith unite to defend human life and marriage.

Mercatornet.com wrote that the book “ may explain why leading secularists such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens are so strident in their campaign against religion: it is not a question of driving the last nails into the coffin of religion but of desperately trying to ward off the inevitable resurgence of religious faith as a factor in political life.”

Mr Kaufmann’s book comes at a time when the population of Europe is shrinking and the fertility rates of European countries continue to plunge. Ireland’s fertility rate, while one of the highest in Europe, is barely at replacement level.

To read an interview with Mr Kaufmann go to http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/shall_the_religious_inherit_the_earth/