a world without religion?

A Free Thought I had this morning at breakfast over my Nutri Grain was... "What would a world without religion be like?"

Would there be peace?
If not would it be more possible?

Think about it,
-Thousands of wars would have been prevented
-we wouldn't have had World War 2
-the Fight over Jeruselem
-Al-Queda's differences at the moment with the Western world
-No yearly time
-Would we have a gap in our lives?
-Would we put our beliefs in....<cringe>...politicians?
-The differences we have with everyone would dramatically fall!
-If you think about it every civilization has a religion, is it possible to live without one as a society? .....I'm rambling

What are all your thoughts?

 

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World War 2 would still have happened

 

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This thread will probably be moved to the religion forum as it doesnt seem like a free thought.

But anywho.

Nope. Religion isnt the start of every war. Actually Im sure in many incidents (this cannot be proven) religion has actually made people stop and think "Hey, is this wrong?"

Huh? Are you smokin crack? We would of had WWII but no jews would of been harmed. WW2 was about reclaiming German land and returning the German people to greatness.

Your right about this. But there would be no J-City.

Yeah, instead it would all be about money. You know, oil? Oh wait... It already is.

No gift giving? I dont think that I could or would want to live in a world without a christmas.

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Im sorry I dont understand.

No. They'd be dead along with the rest of us.

Nope. Somebody would still say "Hey! Look at that guy he's black."

Nope. You cant live with it and you cant live without it. Religion is what holds most countries/people together a long time ago. Im sure that religion has started many a many war but you would still need it to make a society.

 

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Actually Counsler, this is true. Many, many wars in previous centuries started because of Religion. Just look at the Holy Crusades as an obvious example

We'd have more belief in ourselves and in science

 

Nope. Maybe the Holy Crusades wouldnt of happend but Vietnam and Korea still would have. A world without religion would have less wars, but only because everyone would be the same. A world without any governments would mean no war, but more rape/murder/death for all of us.

 

Most wars have many contributing factors economics, xenophobia, religion, politics, etc. Religion has definetly been one of them but most wars need several things working in conjunction to break-out. The primary factor of most wars is usually based in economics, religion gets used by authority to whip the masses into a frenzy of support. People who are used to obeying authority generally continue to do so even when the commands they are obeying go against their morals. There were some very interesting and damaging studies done about this around the middle of the last century... until they were banned.

~Raithere

 

Good thread.

Without religion then of course there would be widespread peace and probably no wars at all.

The basic tenet of every religion is that there is a life beyond death. The idea of gods or reincarnation are secondary to this basic requirement. All the rules and dogma of religions are there to ensure you meet the requirement of entering the afterlife.

If religions did not exist then presumably the idea of an afterlife (supernatural realm) would not exist or would have been rejected. This implies that humans would have been even more stupid than they are now to have never conceived the idea of an afterlife, or are significantly more rational to have rejected it early.

The result is that humans would assume that death means the cessation of existence and that the life you have is all you have. This in turn would mean that life would become incredibly precious and to be protected at all costs. The idea that someone would volunteer to give up his or her life for a political cause would be absurd. And any attempt to coerce people into fighting would lead to widespread revolt.

Religious people are willing to go to war because they believe there is a paradise waiting for them on the other side if they should die in battle. Remove that belief and there would be overwhelming reluctance to risk ones life. Wars would simply not occur because there would be no soldiers, or an inadequate number to make wars effective.

 

Uh, this IS the religion forum.

He didn't say EVERY war. He said "thousands" of wars. And in THAT he's probably correct. In fact, it's probably been more common for the religious to say, "Hey, this is right" based on their religion than for them to say "Hey, is this wrong?".

MAYBE you're correct. But the more I read the history, the more I think aciescomplio may be correct. Hitler was a religious fanatic, and that fueled his ambitions.

I know I don't need christmas as an excuse to give gifts

He/she didn't say ALL differences would fall. I believe it was "would dramatically fall". In which case YEP, that's true.

I can't agree that you NEED it to make a society. Individuals seem to NEED it to distract them from fear of the unknown. But as far as I can tell it hasn't created a HEALTHY society yet. Or a PEACELOVING society for that matter.

 

It was in Free Thoughts before, its been moved to religion.

Thousands of wars? I doubt that there have been a thousand wars, if Im wrong then please correct me. Maybe there have been a thousand battles but not thousands of wars. Well, people, even without religion, will still find something to fight over. Whether or not its God or Gold, they will fight over it.

Hitler was a religious fanatic, but power over people fuels everyone.

Christmas is an excuse to give people gifts. Without it most people wouldnt know when to give gifts. Although I wish that we could do that anytime of the year.

Yeah, I agree with that. But there would still be so many difference. If everyone was black then Im sure there would be less wars. If everyone was stupid then there would be no wars.

Most societies were formed because all of these people had something in common. Religion helped them do that, or maybe race. Who knows?!

 

A world without religion would be, relatively, quickly united- in my opinion. Religion, I think, is the fundamental antagonistic force that is holding the human race from our ultimate goal of utopia. Back in older times, separation of nations was nessesary for survival. Today, our continued separation, based in religion and deep cultural differences, only causes war and poverty. The earth's resources could easily be shared with people all over the world, but this will never happen untill we unite under one government absent of religion.

 

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A world without religion is a world without faith. May I conclude that what you are saying is it would be a better place, given the examples you have listed? Lets put it bluntly. You think this world and the people around you care little or none at all right now? You think the world is a cold, uncaring place because things don't always go your way? What would the world be without religion/faith? In that world yours and everyone elses life would mean nothing. Your future and hopes would be TOTALLY enslaved to those few who have power. You may say, what are you talking about? It's that way today. What would the world be without faith/religion? This can be said. Mankind would be nothing but an animal for the slaughter. My freind, you would not last five minutes in that world.

Gino

 

"everyone would be the same" -- not; religions do not make people different, but are the result of ancient wonderings about "why is, are, etc." and the inevitable conclusions of serious thought, observation and experience. Today we are seeing the result of three basic religions and their core differences that will always be at odds (fighting when possible): three religions that come from the same source ; each destined (Torah, Koran, Bible)by "god" to rule the world -- Islam, the religion of the physical man; Christianity, the religion of the emotional man; and Judism, the religion of the intellectual man. No? the same three distinct traits and religious results can be found in greater Asia also . . . . as well as in other forums

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...

If there wasn't a God than we wouldn't be here.

 

Dan,

Welcome to sciforums.

An unsupported assertion is the same as saying nothing.

Prove it if you seek credibility.

 

religion served as a "gathering place" for early thinkers. morality, sciences, civilization was built under its auspices. (my prose sucks)

now its tired and old and there are lots more fun things to take its place.

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Religion sells fear, fear of hell or fear of not having an afterlife.
This is no way to make people live in harmony with each other, Religion is like saying ''love each other- OR ELSE!!!'.
People should be able to love eachother without fear of retribution for their actions.

We need a new religion, one without fear, without preachers and without believers.

 

...will be the same. we will just find new and improved methods to screw ourselves. the "utopia" being sought after here, would only work if the question is rephrased

eg:a world without humans? what would it be like? no hate, avarice, murder........

 

moonman,

Yes, although it isn't a religion, otherwise it is known as Secular Humanism.

http://www.secularhumanism.com/

Enjoy.

 

I was kinda trying to create a quote there.

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(I guess you have to be famous first)

The religion part is not supposed to be literal but more poetic rather.
Thx for the link. Interesting.

 

gino

show me..
my ball and chains
my shackles
my cuffs

show me how i am enslaved

ps: i live in usa