The rise and fall of Buddhism in the West

Jeffrey Kotyk of the Flower Ornament Depository 華嚴藏 blog has a fascinating piece up today about the recent decline in web searches for Buddhism. There he discusses statistical data showing that digital mentions of Buddhism is on the decline, and in a dramatic way:

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Hinduism has faced a similar fate in recent years.

But what about Abrahamic religions? Well, here’s a look:

These are the search results, but what do they tell us about what people are actually doing on the ground? Perhaps they are a predictor of things to come? It’s complex, of course. But have a look at Jeffrey’s great discussion of the topic and let us know what you think – is Buddhism on its way out? (Along with Hinduism and Judaism) Is the future all about Christianity and Islam? (this graph suggests that it’s not so clear) And Atheism? Have a look. (It’s curious that atheism took such a dive during the publishing career of Freidrich Neitzsche and following Karl Marx and Charles Darwin.)