Now let me preface with I don't mean this or that particular religion I mean all of them. Also I feel the need to say that I am, generally, Christian by faith so my question is academic not a slight against any faith.

My question is, would the world be a better place sans religion? We have killed ALOT of people in the name of our chosen deity(whom I believe to be shaking his or her head at thinking we are idjits).

Would we still have all the same conflicts only based solely on culture or would it be easier to find middle ground. Let's face it, short of the hari krishna's we have killed lots of folks because of one "true" God or another.

So what say you? Again I am very spiritual and believe in God I just think it's arrogant to think that we humans can put him in a box so to speak.

So would we have largely the same conflicts without the religious crutch or would the world be a different place?

No.

Many of us humans base our morals on religion. Without morals where would we be? Now I realize that many conflicts have been started in the name of religion, but I think it would be worse if no one had a compass. Although I guess you could look at animals for a comparison, surely they don't have religion. Hmmm. Gets you thinking. Adam and Eve before the apple, they didn't know religion, all was good.

Yes, as long as all the people that can't behave without it were also gone.

Would the fact that humans as long as they have existed and in every tribe and tongue have had some kind of religion be a possible downer on your hypothetical?

And in the West today, religion is thriving, it's just called environmentalism, progressivism, socialism or whatever. Complete with holy writ and an eschatology.

EVERYBODY is religious.



It is not possible to be religion-less. Everybody has to choose which religion they will be a part of. I laugh when atheists proudly state that they are without any religion. If one understands what religion really is, they realize it is impossible.

So, of what religion will you be a participant? That's the only realistic question.

Science damn you!

The world would possibly be better. But would anyone be saved?

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace, you
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world, you
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

A way to consider this question is to look at animals. To the best of our knowledge, animals are free from religion. How animals live is void of so many wonderful aspects of human life. As an example, we know of no animals that create or appreciate art in its many forms. Yet, animals still kill, maim, and destroy. In most cases, animals kill for survival. In some cases, entire colonies of animals are wiped out by others. But, there are documented cases of animals that harm other animals without a need for sustenance.

So, evidence is available that freedom from a belief in God expressed as a religion does not automatically create a freedom from killing others.

Think about what pure logic would mean. You're essentially talking about Pagan Rome - they worshipped gods but it was pretty much viewed as a commercial transaction

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
No.

Had your answer at the first post.

I don't know about the world but the United States has not become a better place to live with the decline in people of faith. Whether there is a deity or not we were better off when most people believed there was and tried to act accordingly.

The Soviet Union was atheist. As is North Korea.

When man declares himself to be god he becomes his own moral arbiter. That may sound great to some at the individual level but will inevitably result in Stalin, Pol Pot, etc. Sound like something we'd want on a global scale?

I don't know if it would be better, but it is indisputable how much war and violence has been carried out in the name of religion. However, even without that motivator, people would find a reason to fight. There's also a big difference between religion and faith.

Without religion, there would be no society over which to ponder. We would have vanished long ago, and I do mean long ago. The heathens won't believe this, and that is no surprise.

quote:

Originally posted by bigwagon:
I don't know if it would be better, but it is indisputable how much war and violence has been carried out in the name of religion. However, even without that motivator, people would find a reason to fight. There's also a big difference between religion and faith.

Yep.

Lack of religion would not end greed, envy, and arrogance. People would just find different reasons to kill each other.

No need to speculate; we have social experiments on this, conducted for the first time in human history, just within the last century.
Maoist China, Stalinist Russia, and Cambodia under Pol Pot were all officially communist and officially atheist. Religion was heavily suppressed and practitioners persecuted and even executed.
The result was three genocides that make the Nazi-led holocaust "small" by comparison.

The idea that religion causes wars and killing is entirely a myth. Religions have all attempted to CURB mankind's baser instincts, but they have done so IMPERFECTLY. Hence, wars and killings still occur, even under the most peace-promoting of religions.

But in the absence of religion, we seem to get a very rapid slide into abject barbarism, and the perpetrators can "rationalize" why they are doing it: to bring about a Godless, communist Utopia.

This is why the much-touted "reason" is not a valid basis for an ethic or morality: a human mind can "rationalize" anything.

Points taken and overall that was my thought process that religion of any kind or not I guess there will always be some kind of asshole or another to screw things up for the rest of us justifications or not.

Again I was simply having a thought experiment if you will and certainly not advocating elimination of religion and certainly not faith.

I just have days where I picture Jesus/God rubbing the sides of his head sighing as he looks down on us thinking "you dumb shits".

Despite it being an unnatural act, humans haven't necessarily needed a reason or motive to kill another human being.

"I just enjoyed seeing them kick."