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What would the world be like without religion?

RandomINTP

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So, I've been wondering how the world would be like if religion would've never existed.
Now let's see...
If there was no faith in "God", people wouldn't have wasted their money building churches and donating to slimers who are just money hungry.
If there was no admiration of "God", people wouldn't have fought wars over trying to prove a point that cannot be proven.
If there was no belief in "God", people would have been more independent and technologically further advanced than now. There's a reason why technology drastically advanced in the 19th century and not sooner. Because people stopped believing in "God" and started to think. Innovation is a beautiful thing.

"God" is a mere concept of humanity, nothing more than a theory. "God" is just as real as the big bang.
Humans are stupid to blindly follow something they can't even prove to themselves that it's real.
Even more stupid is, that some become terrorists and kill people just to prove a pointless point.
Also, killing people in the name of "God" is a contradiction in itself, since, according to the bible, "thou shalt not kill".
So, since they are killing people, they are going against themselves and therefore making them nothing more than stupid terrorists.

Thoughts?
 

Xander

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Depending upon your definition of the term "religion" this may or may not be possible as the term can be applied to any traditionalistic set of thinking considered unquestionable in its value by the supporters of that theory.

Going with a more classical definition, would it not just be replaced by some other set of thinking that the common man wasn't capable of getting past and so capitulated to in the vein of "if you can't beat them, join them"?
 

tinker683

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I suspect it would be much like it is now, only people people would fighting over some other idiotic ideology.
 

Totenkindly

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So, I've been wondering how the world would be like if religion would've never existed.
Now let's see...
If there was no faith in "God", people wouldn't have wasted their money building churches and donating to slimers who are just money hungry.
If there was no admiration of "God", people wouldn't have fought wars over trying to prove a point that cannot be proven.

As others have said, people would just replace it with a belief in something else and fight over the same things.

If there was no belief in "God", people would have been more independent and technologically further advanced than now. There's a reason why technology drastically advanced in the 19th century and not sooner. Because people stopped believing in "God" and started to think. Innovation is a beautiful thing.

The idea that the universe had rules and made sense was partly driven (at least in Europe) by a belief in a god that created the world and made sensible rules.

The Egyptians were very advanced for their time and still believed in gods. In fact, all of the early cultures believed in gods.

etc.

"God" is a mere concept of humanity, nothing more than a theory. "God" is just as real as the big bang.
Humans are stupid to blindly follow something they can't even prove to themselves that it's real.
Even more stupid is, that some become terrorists and kill people just to prove a pointless point.
Also, killing people in the name of "God" is a contradiction in itself, since, according to the bible, "thou shalt not kill".
So, since they are killing people, they are going against themselves and therefore making them nothing more than stupid terrorists.
Thoughts?

My thought is that you are equating religion = Christianity (you refer to "god" but then also to the "Bible"); however, Christianity is not the only religion. If you want to make a better argument about religion's influence on humanity, you can't equate religion to just Christianity.
 

Julius_Van_Der_Beak

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As others have said, people would just replace it with a belief in something else and fight over the same things.

Yes.

Here's the preserved body of a saint in a church in Philadelphia:

neumann-shrine.jpg


Here's the body of Lenin. Keep in mind that Communism was an atheist philosophy and was wholly devoted to a materialistic understanding of the world. (Calm down folks, I'm not saying atheism leads to purges.)

latest


In China, we get the same thing. I'm not sure if this is still a thing there now or not, but it definitely was at one point in the past. This book essentially assumed a level of reference often reserved for texts like the Quran, Bible and Torah.


i
Quotations_from_Chairman_Mao_Tse-Tung_bilingual.JPG


If you ask me, there's a very similar psychology at place here. It's yet another reason why I see the debate about theism vs. atheism as being irrelevant. Yes, religion has played a role in social prejudices, historically speaking, but that's not the root of the problem. The root of the problem is psychological; people distrust and fear things they don't understand, and that can happen whether you believe in God or not.

There are more important problems in our world than metaphysics.
 

RandomINTP

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As others have said, people would just replace it with a belief in something else and fight over the same things.
People are so stupid I'm afraid you're right. According to the bible, after Moses came back with the 10 commandments, the folk made a golden calf to pray to. This just sounds too stupid to be made up. And why do I have a feeling, that golden calf is responsible for cows being considered holy in India (by hinduists)?

The idea that the universe had rules and made sense was partly driven (at least in Europe) by a belief in a god that created the world and made sensible rules.
That's what the majority of humanity wanted to believe, so the churches gave the people what they wanted in order to manipulate them. Later the government realized this and now religion is a part of various countries' national cultures. If you don't believe me, ask yourself, why IS religion a part of modern culture?

The Egyptians were very advanced for their time and still believed in gods. In fact, all of the early cultures believed in gods.
etc.
They were advanced indeed, but they believed in gods because they thought it made sense. Most of the other cultures don't work like that.

My thought is that you are equating religion = Christianity (you refer to "god" but then also to the "Bible"); however, Christianity is not the only religion. If you want to make a better argument about religion's influence on humanity, you can't equate religion to just Christianity.
Of course not. That was just one example of people being so stupid that they decieve themselves.
Also, I'm pretty sure Moses was seen as a prophet by muslims too.
 

uumlau

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GK Chesterton is often quoted as saying, "When a man stops believing in God he doesn’t then believe in nothing, he believes anything."

The quote doesn't appear to be his words, but a paraphrase of them
When Man Ceases to Worship God

Regardless of its source, it is poignant enough to provoke thought. I know way too many people who blindly trust in "science" just as others trust in religion.
 

Nicodemus

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Regardless of its source, it is poignant enough to provoke thought. I know way too many people who blindly trust in "science" just as others trust in religion.
If they have to put their blind trust in something, science is certainly the better choice.
 

Poki

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GK Chesterton is often quoted as saying, "When a man stops believing in God he doesn’t then believe in nothing, he believes anything."

The quote doesn't appear to be his words, but a paraphrase of them
When Man Ceases to Worship God

Regardless of its source, it is poignant enough to provoke thought. I know way too many people who blindly trust in "science" just as others trust in religion.

People need something to believe in, that's how the average man is setup. They need to know why because they fear the unknown. Religion is one way to hold onto a "why". But you know what, it becomes a crutch, where you say one thing one day, then turn around and say something else the next as to why all in an attempt to satisfy self, to feel unconditional love, to make sense, etc. Its a form of control of ourselves, to soothe ourselves, , like sucking on a pacifier.To replace what we NEED with something, anything. I am not religious, but. Think its perfect for weaker people who need things to believe in and need why's just to continue on in life. So these people see the world as falling apart without it, when its nothing more then a projection of self if there wasn't religion.

What's the purpose of life? To live, too help others live, and the biggest reason for life is to enjoy it.

Believe in yourself, grow yourself, and push yourself.
 

Riva

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What do most people pray for?

Could not those what are being prayed for be gained from science (or advancement of it) and social networking?

Luck seems to be the only thing that science can't give you so far. But then there are affirmations - I am not talking about visualizations - that might get you so focused on something that you'd create your own luck.

But perhaps science might never solve it (luck) but God or religion doesn't seem to deliver luck as fast as many people on MOST occasions would want to either does he?

This is a good example of blind faith.

I don't know whether you were joking.

One could interpret what he said as an comparison between two options and selecting the better (or least evil) one.
 

Frosty

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I think that if religion were to just disappear, people would just find something new to fight about. At least with religion people can have some sort of faith and some sort of feeling of security and personal guidance for how to live their lives.
 

Showbread

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This is a good example of blind faith.

I think I agree? I don't think the average person understands science at all. They trust whatever pseudo-science is being broadcasted loudest and call it an educated decision. (Sorry if that wasn't what you were implying, it was just the thought I had when I read it.)

It's in human nature to categorize and makes groups of like minded individuals. We also like security and perceived certainty. I think even if the world was void of deity worship people would still clump together and defend the things they had in common with a tenacity similar to the way people defend religion.
 

ygolo

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One thing I feel compelled to add is that most scientists and engineers I know (and I know many) believe in God.

There are plenty of atheists in the mix, and none of the scientists I know subscribe to a literal interpretation of any religious text.

My feeling is that, for them, there is either a God similar to Spinoza's God, or a panentheistic version (where God is all of existence itself, including ourselves...see Schrodinger's epilog in "What is Life?"), or "God enough" (like in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I5mYDUARY4).

Perhaps some of the most famous scientists who advocate for education are indeed atheists. But I do not believe that is the majority position among scientists. I could be wrong though, I have not looked into it. Agnosticism is certainly more prevalent in my experience than atheism.
 

Jet Stream

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Much more orderly. Sweeping really. In a world of strictly physical beings, fully conscious of this at all times and with nothing to fall back post expiration, economic and social unity would soar. Like ants. Ugh, one can dream..
 

uumlau

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I think I agree? I don't think the average person understands science at all. They trust whatever pseudo-science is being broadcasted loudest and call it an educated decision. (Sorry if that wasn't what you were implying, it was just the thought I had when I read it.)
You're reading me pretty much as I intended. As a trained scientist, I see so much nonsense peddled as science it's really rather disheartening. And some of it is very widespread and endemic among real scientists, especially w/r to food, nutrition and medicine. How bad are saturated fats? Does salt really cause high blood pressure? Does the BMI have any valid meaning if you are exceptionally tall or short? Yet because all of these a common, standard knowledge, medical practitioners will advise a diet low in salt or saturated fats and want your BMI to be within acceptable limits even if that means being rather chubby (if you're short) or thin as a rail (if you're 6' or taller).

And that's just common stuff most normal people encounter. I see more of it at even deeper levels, e.g., talking about "wave function collapse" in quantum mechanics as if it were "spooky action at a distance" (Einstein's complaint a century ago) with quantum entanglement implying "communication" that is faster than light or even backwards in time, instead of just being a mathematical device that accurately predicts behavior.


One thing I feel compelled to add is that most scientists and engineers I know (and I know many) believe in God.

There are plenty of atheists in the mix, and none of the scientists I know subscribe to a literal interpretation of any religious text.

One survey I read about indicated that mathematicians and physicists were generally more likely to believe in God, while biologists were among the least likely to believe in God. The explanation for these results that made the most sense to me is that in math and physics, the universe is very ordered and follows very particular rules that are extremely reliable, so the notion that there is some kind of overarching metaphysical ORDER to the universe fits in their worldview. Heck, even the Big Bang fits in with creationism to a degree, as the physics (as we know it) indicates that the universe had to start out as light, literally. (I don't offer this as proof one way or the other, just saying that there actually isn't that much cognitive dissonance between a religious point of view and a rigorous mathematical/physical point of view.) Biologists, on the other hand, would appear to be very conscious of the evolution/creation debate, so studying biology and evolution would tend to have more cognitive dissonance with a religious point of view.
 
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