A world without religion.

[Requiem of the Exodus]

Here is the thread I found in ED (Extended Discussion), and I thought it was a great topic for this guild. I'm new here, so if it has been done before I'm sorry. So, what are your opinions of the question "Would a world without religion be a better place?"  

[Eccentric Detective]

I usually say that yes, it would be a better world.
But then, people aren't evil because they believe/don't believe in a god.
However, it would do much to the cause of science (stem cell research anyone?) if religion was nonexistent.
I tend to stop limiting other people's beliefs when it doesn't harm me or a fellow human being anymore.

In general, I think it could go either way. Certainly I don't like having religions preached if there's no good reason to follow them. Some take comfort in their religion. Some are harmed by it (such as the numerous religious homosexual/bisexual of the populace).

Go ahead and have it, if it doesn't harm you or me!


And welcome to the guild, by the way.  

[Prince Rilian]

Better.
^poll answer  

[Requiem of the Exodus]

Rilian Sharp

Better.
^poll answer

I'll fix that  

[Ayumila]

I know South Park is a complete piss-take, but they got the episode Go God Go! pretty damn right.
It basically said that if we got rid of religion (and we were all atheist) we'd get into wars about who was the better atheist and who was more dedicated towards proving the non-existence of God, which is how the world would be like without religion.
People are perfect. We're never going to get along fully. We may have a black president in America now and we may even have given homosexuals the right to adopt but (lets pretend that no one argues against those last two points) that doesn't mean there won't be other things so argue about.
The world sucks. Get used to it.  

[brainnsoup]

I think religion is a great thing.
It provides people with a reason to live and consequesnces for doing wrong.
Some people need to believe in a god to be able to get out of bed every morning.
And most religions encourage people to be good people.

However, I think orginized religion is the greatest evil out there.
It brainwashes people since childhood and, since they are brainwashed, people are willing to do anything that a religious leader says because of the belief that they speak God's will and disobeying them is disobeying God.
It's slavery.

Without orginized religion though, people would still take advantage of others and still be just as manipulative and evil.
So honestly I don't think it would make much of a difference except that people are probably happier with religion.
What would make the world a better place is if people could just think for themselves a little more.  

[B1g_crunch]

So. BEAUTIFUL. crying crying crying crying crying crying  

[Mrithyu]

I think it would be rather similar since humans do like to fight and compete, but they might compete for who could give the most rights to their citizens rather than who has the better God/s  

[dl1371]

i think it would be almost the same becuz without religion we would probably find something else to argue about cuz thats how humans are  

[Captain_Shinzo]

Humans like to find the differences in one another and exploit it.
I think less war would happen without religion because that would be a common idea of everyone.
We have matured out of race and culture so religion is just that last step.  

[alteregoivy]

I really really want to just say, "Oh yes, the world would be much better without religion!" but the truth is that there would be other problems.

Some things would be better. Actually, a lot of things would be better.

But Nationalism, for example, generally doesn't have a whole lot to do with religion, and it's been the cause of many a war.

And money. Money is the root of a lot of evil in this world, regardless of religion.  

[Captain_Shinzo]

Nationalism is actually caused by religion at times.
In Africa long ago,Europeans stepped foot upon these lands in hope of gaining wealth, settlements, and spreading their religion.
Each of the three would be involved with religion in some way though I will not speak of it.
The Africans, very pissed at what kind of s**t storm these Europeans have caused, gained a sense of Nationalism later in the future and revolted.
In this case, it was good because they were fighting for what was right.
If they didn't, they would STILL be slaves and have more deaths because of the boundaries of the Europeans did not match their own.
Religion was involved because they were very violent about it.
Infact, people were serious about religion from the 1600s - 1800s.
People were killed and there were gang wars with religions.
Alot of people died.
However, you have a point in a way.
Although, a world without religion is better then a world without war.
( Considering you don't need a war to kill. )  

[Raticiel]

I'm afraid a world without religion is something impossible as long as there are people. It lies deep within human nature to search for something transcendental. It could be slightly different if people were immortal, because it's probably the fear of death which made people of so many isolated cultures making up mythologies and cults. It's a complicated anthropological problem and I guess it still hasn't been resolved.

Also, without religion there wouldn't be science and we couldn't be able to chat here like this blaugh  

[Boston Sports Fan]

IMO religion is just like racism. Without racism the world would be a better place, the same goes for religion.  

[Captain_Shinzo]

Raticiel

I'm afraid a world without religion is something impossible as long as there are people. It lies deep within human nature to search for something transcendental. It could be slightly different if people were immortal, because it's probably the fear of death which made people of so many isolated cultures making up mythologies and cults. It's a complicated anthropological problem and I guess it still hasn't been resolved.

Also, without religion there wouldn't be science and we couldn't be able to chat here like this blaugh

Not exactly. Even if the greatest of scientist were Christian doesn't mean we wouldn't have science. That is a large assumption that may or may not happen if this variable was destroyed.