science-and-religionThere are probably two schools of thought in atheism. The first is that we need a world without religion at all, and the other is that religion is pathologically benign as long as it is kept in private.
In which world would you think it’d be better living, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each view? Do you think that in a world without religion there will be less suffering, hatred or wars, or do you suppose that it’s part of the human nature and taking religion out of the equation wouldn’t have changed much?
I know that there is no concrete answer and it is subjective (perhaps it’s more fitting of a community wiki), but I strongly feel that this is very relevant to the topic of atheism, especially today when many people are bothered by the outspoken atheists in the world.
Of course it would be a better place. Scientific advancement would be faster, debates about real issues would happen and people just might base their self worth on integrity rather than matching up to some retarded book of magic rules.
How much pain and misery would we avoid? How much more effort would we put into the sciences? Without bible-based brick walls in the way of progress, I don’t even know. I don’t think we can really imagine the ramifications more than to say what would be better.
I would hope for it, but I’m not naive. Humans seem to have an near infinite capacity for self-deception, and even where they are successful in chasing away the delusion of theism, they will replace it with an ersatz, such as have been Communism, Randism/Hayek-Free-Marketism, and a host of other non-theistic religions.
I often worry that religion is something that, as a species, we will have to evolve out of, not simply grow out of. At the very least, our culture will have to evolve out of it.
It would be a much better place. No doubt. However……. I expect there would be so many people in the world that we would suffer in other ways. I think that the quality of life would be much better but I wonder if Religion puts the brakes on things like genetic enhancement which would further compound the population growth problem
The art would be much better, music would be by far better.
If you view religion as a branch of tribalism/kinship/gang membership, then the question is moot because you will never get away from people associating and affiliating with others as they see it benefits them.
From association, you move to self-promoting and power seeking, in-group/out-group prejudice and repression.
Would the world be a better place without tribalism, clubs, gangs and group superiority claims?
I think that the idea of a world without religion is akin to the idea of a world without disease. Ideal, beautiful, desirable, but probably unattainable.
In my mind, it is desirable because, as many have said, religion brings about so much suffering. But, again, the human mind is hardwired to mimic what it perceives from its adult minds (that’s how we learn), and the religion meme uses this to thrive. We are “imperfect”, to put it that way, in the sense that what allows us to learn and become intelligent, complex beings is also what makes us weak. But, like with disease, some of us have “better health”, and are better than others at fighting the illness and winning the battle.
I wish humans could find a way to overcome religion at some future time, without compromising their ability to grow and expand.
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