Would the world be a better place without religion or is religion now needless and outmoded?

ZeusAres42

ZeusAres42 said:

Firstly, I would just like to say that I come from a strong religious background and used to be religious myself. However, based on all the things I know about science now, questioning my faith, realizing how somethings are just possible, etc I have begun to transition into a more secular world view. 

The idea of a creator god and/or religion concepts seems like a good idea and even comforting at times but the reason will no longer allow me to succumb to supernatural ideas. 

Furthermore, a lot of evil stuff in history has happened in the name of religion which could have been prevented had those people who committed those horrific acts not believed so strongly that what they are were doing in the name of supernatural (magical thinking) premises.

Also, no one needs religion or a belief in God to be a good person. All these needs is a simple thing called "empathy" which is biologically inherent in most human beings, as well as a good environment, upbringing, and education; not some outdated ideal. 

What do you think?

realizing how somethings are just possible, etc I have begun to transition into a more secular world view. 

Meant to say "Just not possible."

TKDB

Being anti religious is completely voluntary.

Being religious is completely voluntary.

And still, not one time, has God, Jesus, or Religion in general, ever been found guilty for the crimes that the inhumane humans, have committed against other humans, for humans hurting others in the names of their selfish selves.

Some humans, seem to have an identity problem, and hide behind Religion to give themselves a scapegoat, to make excuses for their inhumane actions, or committed crimes.

MayCaesar

I would say that it is more complicated. You see, religion is not necessarily a primary cause of certain historical and societal trends - rather, I see religion as a manifestation of more primary trends, as a response to certain societal and individual needs.

In the hypothetical history where religion has never existed, the ideological vacuum would be filled by other, non-religious ideologies and philosophies. Instead of believing in gods, people could, say, believe in certain philosophical principles, in their view, absolute in this Universe.

We would not have Zoroastrianism or Islam, but we would have, say, various forms of communism or nihilism. Without religion, our history probably would not have been much different. The details would change, the general events and trends would not.

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Do we need religion nowadays? The answer is the same: religion is people's response to a certain demand. We may do without religion, but it does not mean that the vacuum will not be filled by something similar in nature.

When the demand goes away, then religion will go away. Until then, any attempt to remove religion from our world will result in substitution of apples with pears, with the same outcome for most parties involved.

Plaffelvohfen

I think religion is philosophical suicide and that it's detrimental to human progress... Faith is the voluntary rejection of reason... 

So yes, the world would be a better place without religions...

billbatard

Religion can be a comfort but mostly divides and causes wars

AlofRI

I agree that religion, in general, has not been found guilty of the crimes that the inhumane humans have committed. The crimes are always blamed on the inhumane humans that DO the crimes ….. in the name of one god or another. Just like "It's not nice to blame Mother Nature" … It's not nice to blame any other, (or other's), god. Still, in wars between Christian and Muslim countries, each claim the other's "god" is false, the other's "teachings" are false and the other's actions are against THEIR "god". Thus, THEY must be crushed.  As long as we have different religions … and never the twain shall meet … we will not have world peace. Religion causes us to hate others we wouldn't normally hate.  A few quotes I completely believe in:

"Men never commit evil so fully and joyfully as when they do it for religious convictions." Blaise Pascal

"Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things, but for good people to do evil things, that takes religion." Steven weinberg

"The truths of religion are never so well understood as by those who have lost the power to reason."  Voltaire"

"Religious bondage shackles the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise, every expanded prospect."  James Madison

Society will vote, and act, to protect themselves, family, friends. The vast majority will always go the "humane way" … unless they are driven by religious convictions, then, it's "Katy bar the door" as the old saying goes. Society must make the rules, not the ones Thomas Pain referred to when he said:
 "Belief in a cruel god makes a cruel man!"

ZeusAres42

Chemisicist Peter Atkins says it best when he writes:

“[Religious belief is] outmoded and ridiculous. [Belief in gods was a] worn out but once useful crutch in mankind's journey towards truth. We consider the time has come for that crutch to be abandoned.

It is a vacuous answer... To say that 'God made the world' is simply a more or less sophisticated way of saying that we don't understand how the universe originated. A god, in so far as it is anything, is an admission of ignorance.

Religion utterly failed to provide an explanation of the biosphere other than that 'God made it all'. Then Darwin thundered over the horizon and in a few decades of observation and thought . . . arrived at an answer.

I regard teaching religion as purveying lies. I came here today to de-corrupt you all.”
― P.W. Atkins

What's worse is that you also have people with the mentality akin to cultism that take this fantasy idea to extremes and commit horrific acts all in the name of religion or for want of a better term - in the name of their delusions. 

And yes I agree a lot of evil has occurred in the name of communism as well as of fascism - both totalitarian extremes of the left and right. However, I think far more evil has occurred throughout history as a result of extreme versions of all different kinds of religion than of anything else.

Lastly, no one is debating about how religion came about or why some people might still become religious even today. What we are arguing is that it is now known that religion is no longer of any use in the quest for the truth about ourselves and our world which we live in, nor is it a prerequisite for human decency. It is now modern science based on empirical and objective evidence that fills the void in place of religion and/or cultism; plus I believe more and more people will become less religious as times moves on; they already are.  

TKDB

It's curious, not once, say between, 2015-2018, and even so far during this current year, have I yet to see anywhere on the local or nationwide news coverages, where the anti religious, made a substantial, and conscious effort to go to an actual religious building, and take their varied grievances, to any religious building in the United States, and state the same grievances to a religious building, and protest, the religious individuals, and the religious building in person, and then maybe to have a news crew show up, and video their anti religious protest, and have it appear on the local, and nationwide news feeds? 

I wonder why this lack of substantial, and conscious effort, for protesting religion, in real life, exists like it does? 

The world would be a better place, without terrorism doing what it does?

It would be a better place, without human rights violations?

It would be a better place, without the gun violence brutalities, that some humans keep waging against their innocent victim's?

It would be a better place, without some of man's self created drug addictions being in a sense pandered to, thus affecting the lives of the others around them?

It would be a better place, if say adoption was maybe utilized more than say abortion was utilized? 

The world would be a better place if some self exercised some self discipline, integrity, courtesy, self respect, respect, and some more social community practices, towards themselves, and others, and helped one another overall with some positive, and constructive ideals, the world could be a better place?

But maybe some of the current generation of humans, aren't quite ready to embrace the above basic ideals, and that awareness, could be embraced down the road in another say, 30-50 years from now, or maybe even in another century? 

AlofRI

I think few people have anything against religious buildings. I think few people have anything against the good that comes out of those buildings. However, it is not ALL good that comes out of those buildings. The disdain for other religions and "false gods" causes deaths in the world every day. NO religion is ever going to give up their "god", or their "instructions" from that god. People become so passionate about those gods and the instructions that they could be referred to as "weapons of war". I hate to say it, but, it has proven to be true for at least 20 centuries.

I agree with several things TKDB says above, but, they will not come about with weapons of war, even the ones in book or scroll form. They will only come about with intelligence, science, common sense and humane thinking. 

How many religious buildings in the U.S. and Europe have been destroyed, or centers of human destruction in the last few years? It's not because the perpetrators were all "non-believers", it was because they had a different belief, or it was because they hated another race OR religion, or both. Paraphrasing Ronald Reagan: Religion isn't the answer, religion is part of the problem. 

When I was last in Europe, they were turning some large cathedrals and churches into condos. To me that's akin to turning swords into plowshares! They aren't suppose to be houses of hate, but, they often are, OR are targets for the haters. I think we could all get along better if we removed some of the sources of hatred. The ones that don't MEAN to be, the ones that can't seem to help it because of a passionate belief. The religions.