Poll: Would the world be a better place without religion?

[jim_doki]

I can't say im happy this topic is still going...
its simple. religion creates hope, unity and inspiration. anything that ticks off all three gets my vote as something we need.

note i did not say God, or Allah, or Buddah, or whatever, i said religion. the devil, as it were, is in the details

 

[Dioxide45]

[/quote]Well the American revolution and the French revolution were both against monarchies, and monarchies are in part backed by "Divine Rite".[/quote]
I dont think so, I dont see the queen running around saying im queen because God wants me to be! One of the King Henrys, I think it was Henry VIII shut down Catholic Churches because they wouldnt give him money. I dont think God would want him to be King after that.

 

[mbv-]

gamers are probs not the best people to as about this kind of question

 

[Ares Tyr]

If Jews weren't Jews, to really think Hitler would have a problem?

Yes. It is commonly refered to as the first world war.

Indeed, Hitler scapegoated the Jews because they were a different ethnic group. His anti-semetism was focused more on racism. If you look at Nazi pamphlets, they usually depicted Jews as sub-human and physically/mentally inferior to the Aryan ideal, it rarely dealt with their religious differences from what I'm able to tell. Hitler also preached against blacks, middle-easterners, and other ethnic groups, calling them inferior genetically and mentally to the blue-eyed, blonde-haired Aryan people.

So yes, Hitler probably would've still persecuted the Jews.

 

[Ares Tyr]

Religion has been a fantastic way to enforce and bolster racism and classism though.

People just use religion as a tool to add to what they are preaching. People have been finding obscure lines in religious literature to serve their purposes and gain support amongst the religious population from as far back as organized religion. Without religion, there wouldn't be a religious base, and the people whom you'd have to win over with religious backing wouldn't need it.

So, yeah, religion does do that, but if it didnt exist, it just wouldn't matter. The non-existant religious people wouldn't need convincing to get behind what the racist leaders are spittin'.

 

[stompy]

Religion has been a fantastic way to enforce and bolster racism and classism though.

This is true. Except, it's more to do with how people manipulate religion. If one person interprets their holy text to kill all non-believers, then its that person's fault. No major religion promotes violence; it's only the way people understand the text that makes them cause violence.

In sort, its more a people thing than religious thing.

 

[The Iron Ninja]

This is true. Except, it's more to do with how people manipulate religion. If one person interprets their holy text to kill all non-believers, then its that person's fault. No major religion promotes violence; it's only the way people understand the text that makes them cause violence.

In sort, its more a people thing than religious thing.

So the real question the OP should have been asking is "Would the world be a better place without people?" and the answer is most definately yes. (No offence meant to us, but we suck)

 

[Ares Tyr]

People just use religion as a tool to add to what they are preaching. People have been finding obscure lines in religious literature to serve their purposes and gain support amongst the religious population from as far back as organized religion. Without religion, there wouldn't be a religious base, and the people whom you'd have to win over with religious backing wouldn't need it.

So, yeah, religion does do that, but if it didnt exist, it just wouldn't matter. The non-existant religious people wouldn't need convincing to get behind what the racist leaders are spittin'.

The problem you are describing is that you can take away religion, but ignorance and irrationality will remain.

But to give up striving for a secular world due to the above would be like firefighters giving up prevention campaigns because of the inherent realities of chemistry/physics or police officers quitting their jobs because of the inherent realities of the human condition.

That's my point exactly. You have to let humanity take responsibility for its own actions and nature eventually. There are just as many easily led and ignorant athiests as there are religious fanatics, so you can't blame religion for the wrongs of the world just because its been mis-used, mis-construed, and taken advatage of by people who wouldn't need it if it didn't exist to begin with.

This is true. Except, it's more to do with how people manipulate religion. If one person interprets their holy text to kill all non-believers, then its that person's fault. No major religion promotes violence; it's only the way people understand the text that makes them cause violence.

In sort, its more a people thing than religious thing.

So the real question the OP should have been asking is "Would the world be a better place without people?" and the answer is most definately yes. (No offence meant to us, but we suck)

Unfortunately you are correct, sir. But nothing is good without conflict, and humanity happens to play the role of the antagonist to the Earth and nature. So I'll play inside man for Earth.

 

[Ares Tyr]

That's my point exactly. You have to let humanity take responsibility for its own actions and nature eventually. There are just as many easily led and ignorant athiests as there are religious fanatics, so you can't blame religion for the wrongs of the world just because its been mis-used, mis-construed, and taken advatage of by people who wouldn't need it if it didn't exist to begin with.

The problem is that people don't it any longer. It was necessary for maintaining social structure when we were still dicking around as hunter-gatherers, but those living in a modern society filled with robust and self-sufficient cultures, have no need for religion.

Consider it the appendix of human cognition. Sure, we wouldn't have gotten here without it and many people continue to have one, but I can't think of one surgeon who wouldn't like to have them all disappear because of all the problems they cause in the modern world.

While I would like to see an end to religious conflicts and differences, I highly value spirituality and the concept of the soul. And while I don't use religion primarily as a means of justification of my actions, or to enforce my moral code, I still value my own spirituality as a means of mental enlightenment. The practice of my own spirituality really only involves meditation and giving up material things for a higher level of thought. And while I understand alot of people consider it a "spirituality" or "philosophy" over a religion, it would be ignorant and wrong of me to deny anyone else the right to believe in what they believe.

But again, I suppose the rise of spirituality and the fall of 'religion' is what I'd like to see in the future, rather than a completely soulless society. Whether you call what I believe a spirituality or religion is up to the observer, but I do believe in a "God" concept if you could call it that, and I believe in the soul, as well as karma. And that's not something I feel that I am foolish for believing in, and I hope that my fellow Escapist members do not consider me foolish for it either.

 

[Ares Tyr]

Spirituality != religion so it seems we agree.

I don't know what "!=" means.

Also I edited my post a little on the end.

 

[Ares Tyr]

!= = Not equal

Okay, then I suppose we once again agree. Big suprise.

 

[Sir Broccoli]

I'm saying yes.
I think people won't fight as much if there wasn't religion, sure they'd find something else to fight but i'm quite sure they'd fight less and i'm quite sure that it outweighs the good things about religion.
However, people kinda need religion. Science doesn't answer all questions in life while religion does. For some reason people need answers to everything...

 

[DannyDamage]

People should be allowed to follow whatever religion they want to, in their own homes. But once they come into public, people need to be able to separate state and religion.

I'm rather spiritual (and a little religious) but have much stronger beliefs than most christians in the UK, yet I'm seen as some kind of odd ball because I can't be pigeon-holed into one religious following.

I think if more people kept the two separate, there would be less prejudice between religious groups.