Religion

As we can see, people today are getting more religious and more pious. And it doesn't take a genius or a prime minister to realise this trend. However, it does seem that people are blaming the financial crisis for this trend. Claiming that with jobs and career at stake, people are looking for more spirituality to achieve self-actualisation and satisfaction. While there is some truth to that, this trend is not one that started after the Lehman brothers fell face first into the ground but has been brewing for a long time coming. Hence, i can only say that the financial crisis merely pushes this trend forward ever so slightly but it is definitely not the cause/source of it.
What I believe is the true cause of increasing religious zeal in recent times is actually the rise of a more vocal/aggressive atheist and secularist sect accompanied by the strong prejudiced mistrust of the deeply religious due to Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism.
You see, when people discriminate against the religious and start attacking their faith, accusing them of being inherently violent or illogical or inconsistent with science. There can only be two outcomes by the religious community, either they claim that they have been fools all their lives in believing a false god or they will have to fight these claims from the secular world. In either case, a lot of soul searching will be needed and as a result many believers have come out of it much more certain about their beliefs and much more zealous and fervent in their faith. Being religious is no longer about living out one's religious beliefs privately. Instead, one's religious belief now has to withstand public scrutiny.
I guess that when Richard Dawkins wrote the God Delusion and changed the once pacifist atheistic community to a more vocal one, he probably thought he had managed to prove once and for all that God was a delusion and kick-started the decline of religious institutions. Instead, what he achieved was to galvanise all religions and especially Christianity (which he targeted specifically) to become more zealous and grounded; increasing their ranks of the faithful. What Dawkins failed to realise is that Christians are not Christians because they studied the bible and through sheer intellectual argument and theological actualisation realise that Jesus Christ is God. No, Christians are Christians because Christianity helps one find one's purpose in their existence and answers the questions to the meaning to life. It teaches us right and wrong and helps us to deal with our own guilt of wronging others while helping us to forgive others who have wronged us. Its about sharing ones' worry and joys with one another. The bible and fellow Christians give us strength and encouragement when we are down and ultimately shows us that we are the beautiful children of God, teaching us to be satisfied with what we have and to appreciate all that is God's creation. You see, there is nothing scientific about Christianity (or any other religion) because science cannot understand spirituality. Likewise, the strength of Christianity is not based on scientific argument and as such, even the best scientific arguments can never debase it. In the end, the attacks from atheism and secularism against religion is what caused the increase in religious understanding and zeal that we see around us today.
Anyway, this is my opinion and may not be what you think. But to claim that people are more religious because they have nothing meaningful to live for after they have lost their job and hence decided to search for God is ridiculous. This trend started when there was great public debate about God's existence catalysed by the God Delusion which was long before the credit crunch even started and was growing strong even through the 2007 financial bubble. So this claim that financial woes equal spiritual gain is no doubt wrong. The reason why PM Lee's decision to discuss the rise of religiosity coincides with the financial crisis is simply because the financial crisis meant that he has no more money to start new government projects, he has nothing encouraging to tell Singaporeans yet and he needed to rally Singaporeans in time for an election which is due soon. Do take note that the aware saga which occurred conveniently during the financial crisis, has got absolutely no link to the financial crisis and would have happened even if Lehman Bro's was still alive and well.
Hmmm... Interesting train of thought there. I really did not expect to dwell so much into Christianity. =P