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"If the world didn't have religion..."

we would be SO better off. think about it. no holy war. no conflicts. no zealous arabics commiting martyry (sp?) and NO DECEIT.
the human race would forget about beliefs in mythical gods and things, and concentrate on living in a human economy...

what do you think?

Insane Bartender wrote:
If religion had
> never existed, we would likely still be fighting over scrapsof meat
> in caves, and mating rituals would consist of hitting the nearest
> female over the head with a club and dragging her back to your
> place.
-----

Ohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease

How about order and morality, which religion has undoubtedly enforced over the millenia?

Whether you believe that deities actually exist or not, it cannot be denied that religion has allowed those in power to better control their subjects by enforcing moral discipline, a behavioural blueprint and, quite frankly, the "fear of God". If religion had never existed, we would likely still be fighting over scrapsof meat in caves, and mating rituals would consist of hitting the nearest female over the head with a club and dragging her back to your place.

Sure, religion has caused war, famine, disease, pillaging, genocide and other attrocities, but its overall contribution to human society has been invaluable.

If we got rid of religion NOW, it would be a boon, but historically, it has been essential to our development as a species.

I completly agree with the beggining post.

Well, not completely, maybe if they had one we'd have a better quality of life, but right now there are too many!

UrkiE-UK wrote:
> i guess quite a number of the world wonders would not exist without
> religion, but that's about it.

Its also the backdrop of almost all civilization, not to mention philosophy and thus our social psyche. And before you criticize human progress from your armchair in the study just remember that as soon as an animal is sufficintly advanced then it is only a matter of time before they build relion to explain things. It is ineveitable and thus arguing about it, while intriging and entertaining will not solve the worlds problems past or present.

i guess quite a number of the world wonders would not exist without religion, but that's about it.

I know it sounds a bit odd but do you think that animals have a kinda religion of there own?

Surely if the world didnt have religion there would be hope at all and every single thing would fall.

Hang about, I'm not taking sides on whether mankind is good or not. TO summarize though (because that's what I like doing), mankind has made mistakes (some really bad ones too), and it has progressed.

Think of it as a sort of up-down graph as opposed to one that goes in a straight line (i.e. dead).

I agree education is certainly a major progress, but was there really any need to destroy so many living things in its path?

Undoubtedly, yes. But you're concentrating on the evolution of destructive possibilities; you have to remember that we have improved on many other aspects too, such as production, education, blah blah.