It wouldn't be very good for religious people! Religion isn't all bad, it does lots of good things too! Practically every religion encourages charity work and taking care of less fortunate people. Also, religious people tend to live longer so it's good for you. So no, I really don't think (despite all the problems there have been) that the world would be a better place without religion.

Yes, I think so, but I would not like to justify it right now. if you would like to talk to me about it, email me @ nerds2011@hotmail.com

Maybe instead of no religion we just need to be tolerant of other people's religion.

We can point to a whole lot of suffering that has been caused in the name of religion. We can slso point to a lot of human caused suffering that has nothing to do with religion. I would contend that it is not religion that is responsible for suffering. What is really responsible for the suffering is the tendency of some people to want to gain power over their fellow men and force them to do as they say. Most of the great religions of the world do not promote their people to force their religion off on others. They promote the idea of living with ones neighbors in peace. However, the power hungry people come along and corrupt these religions to server their own purposes. They twist their religions to teach their subjects to hate and fear their neighbors. If it were not religion, such people would use some other vehicle to control and oppress their populations and attempt to conquer their neighbors. So, don't be so quick to blame religion for the troubles in the world. When you get right down to it, religion is only the excuse used by evil people to spread their evil. They would still cause problems even if religion did not exist.

If there really is a God, and everybody chose to deny it and rebel, it seems to me that could not be a good thing. If spiritual things exist, discussing and debating what that means is surely better than denying that they exist. If there is no God and there are no spiritual things and we really are just piles of chemicals temporarily responding to environmental stimuli then there is no such thing as "better" or "worse" because none of it means anything. If you think or feel different, that is just because your chemicals and environmental stimuli are different from mine and what you believe you think and feel is just as meaningless as what I believe I think and feel. Which position sounds "better" to you? ____________________ A feedback says "...I'd rather live by my own reasoning and standards..." This does not refute my answer in any way. It looks like denial - essentially "I don't like this truth so I choose to ignore it." What you would rather do does not address whether it would be better if there were no religions. If human life is more than just chemical reactions, denying the reality of spiritual things is objectively wrong. If life is just chemical reactions, you preference is meaningless.

I know this won't make me very popular, but yes, I think it would be. I'm not suggesting that it would be a good idea to attempt to abolish religion or ban worship- people must be allowed to believe and practice whatever they wish. Even if it were possible to rid ourselves of religion, I don't think it would necessarily be a good idea to try- it would almost certainly involve a lot of violence and oppression, which would defeat the whole point of the exercise. However, I do think the world would be a better place if there had been no religion in the first place, or if everyone voluntarily came around to abandoning religion. I don't by any means think it would be perfect, some people are just bad people, same as some people are good. And good and bad actions would continue. However, I think the problem with religion is that it can encourage people who are intrinsically good to do bad things under the impression that they are doing the right things (God's will). Hence the Spanish Inquisition, the witch hunts in Britain, Europe and in Salem, the persecution of homosexuals, the widespread genocide of "heretics" since time immemorial. The recent Islamist extremist terrorist campaign. My personal opinion is that we would be better off striving to do good for the sake of humanity as a whole, not to please God or to ensure our place in some after life. I believe that religion encourages a too-rigid adherence to dogma- it encourages people to act a certain way because a holy scripture written thousands of years ago says that's what they should do, rather than thinking through the most advantageous and humanitarian way to act in the here and now based on the individual situation. The Bible says "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live"- spurring on the mass brutal murder of thousands of innocent women during the witch trials. Humanitarian thinking tells us that this is sheer needless cruelty, bloodlust and sadism. A lot of genocide is the result of dogmatic thinking. Another good example might be this answer- I am going to predict that it will be rated down thoughtlessly a few times simply because people read that it says I think the world would be better off without religion. Whereas an answer that says simply "No" might be rated up by people who are religious, despite the lack of valid explanation. Now I'm not saying that religion is all bad- a lot of good work has been done in the name of God- there are a lot of Christian and other religious charities. Many religions preach peace and love as an ideal. There are many people who take on board this element of religion whilst rejecting its nastier side and I applaud that. But I also think that these people would be just as good and kind without religion. I believe that good works would continue (there are many more charities with no religious affiliation than there are religious ones). But I also believe there would be less evil in the world commited in the name of good. There would still be wars, there would still be murders, there would still be sadists, but with god removed as excuse or justification, I think there would be less- the people who believe they do right in the eyes of God by persecuting homosexuals, by comitting acts of terrorism against those of other religions, by imposing the death penalty on unbelievers, by murdering abortionists and so on might be inclined to think twice about whether their actions actually make any sense. Instead good people would be able to use logic, reasoning and "do as you would be done by" philosophies to decide what the good and loving and moral action should be. You can never stop bad people from doing bad things- but I believe without religion we could stop good people from doing horrendous things. But like I say, it ain't gonna happen, the best we can do is live and let live. To force someone to give up religion is as bad as forcing them to practice it. Thom wrote: "You use words like good, bad and evil, but without an external moral authority these are arbitrary concepts about which people disagree" I actually believe the opposite. Religions give us different definitions of "good" and "evil" depending on which religion in particular we are talking about. Non-religious definitions of good and evil can be arrived at through using principles of "Do as you would be done by", and for more complex issues through discussion and reason which relies on our constantly evolving knowledge of humanity and the world around us, and on a rational compassionate thought process- as opposed to the dogmatic "written in stone" approach to morality encouraged by the majority of religions. It is striking that the majority of human beings, with a few minor exceptions with no particular religious/ secular bias, have very similar ideal regarding the basics of morality- that we should have respect for others, avoid violence, aggression and harsh words, be kind and generous to others- these are not exclusively religious principles, but humanitarian ones. Evil likewise, is the product of sadistic and violent minds- who are thankfully few and far between. And as often (if not more often) devoutly religious as they are secular. Unfortunately pain is also often caused in the name of good- because the perpetrator believes that by inflicting pain on one who does not believe as they do they will find favour with God. Sometimes the religion is an excuse for a sadistic and power-hungry individual, who would commit the same acts even without religion. Sometimes they are done with total and utter faith and "good" intention. There may be small variances between our perceptions of good or evil and how we see fit to deal with it- differences which are not solved by religion so much as emphasised by it (hence the multiple splits in Christian and Islamic denominations)- but certain moral absolutes straddle almost all cultures, religions and belief systems. These are the principles based on respect for others and the desire to make society a peaceful and pleasant place to live. This respect comes not from God, but from ourselves. It is essential to what makes us human. We do good because we believe it to be important not to cause pain to others, and to create the best society possible- God, in this instance, is fairly irrelevant. I have total respect for your beliefs, but I don't see how you can claim that there are no moral absolutes without religion, when moral absolutes are so core to our humanity. I don't believe in a God or an an afterlife- I do believe, like many other non-religious people- that its important to respect others and make sure they are comfortable and happy as possible in the one life they do have. I think its more important that we should all be able to live as peacefully as possible on earth in the here and the now that we are certain of, than to worry about the great unknown beyond. I always found it curious that people assumed that some form of religion should be necessary for concepts of right and wrong to be formed when in most cases right and wrong are fairly obvious if we consider what results in the greatest happiness for the greatest number. There is a world of difference between atheism and nihilism- but a lot of people seem to get them mixed up. The idea that someone who does not believe in God or an afterlife could still believe that human feelings are important, that we should try and do the right thing for its own sake, (not to ensure a place in heaven), and that there are clear obvious concepts of right and wrong in many cases, and that we could use non-religious bases to reach a consensus where the issue is not so clear cut seems to be strangely difficult for a lot of people to grasp. I can't understand why. Please don't take this as a personal attack. I know that lately some people have seen my attempts to explain my beliefs as an attack on religion or a desire to suppress it. Its not- I am happy to live alongside religious people and would not dream of attempting to stop them from expressing their beliefs. I do reserve my right to disagree. My aim here is to try and explain a concept which many non-atheists seem to find very difficult to grasp. I would expect a Christian to do the same were I to question their beliefs, which often seem strange to me. EDIT: smileitsemily: "I don't think that the question was what does lady fuschia believe in. LOL but, good for you every one needs something to believe in. So I guess you could call that your religion. maybe. :)" Valid point! I know that wasn't the question! But a question like this has to be answered with a certain element of "I believe" because its so subjective. I felt I had to add some more stuff following Thom's comment because I thought it was valid to qualify that good and evil aren't exclusively religious concepts, and the most readily available example was my own beliefs, which seem to be shared by a great many other non-religious people. I never understood why the religious claimed a monopoly on ethical reasoning.

Well, religion seems to give people a purpose and hope in life, so it's a good thing to have religion. But, so many people seem so damn extreme about their religions that they get blinded by it, and become pains in the ass. If people just studied their religion, and stopped shoving it in everyone elses faces it would be fine

I dont have a religion and my life is just fine.while everybody else is praying,im having fun with my friends.

I don't think so that it would be better without religion. Then people wouldn't have any hope. That's what religion is when you get down to it. And some people really need that hope, that something that says that they matter.

religion keeps people in order.. to scare them and to put them straight.. it was meant to control and keep control.. It just that some people became fanatic and started to start wars and took advantage of what religion was meant to do. There are different religions and none of them were meant to harm and all of them taught you to love your neighbor.. people are bad, not religion.. They all teach the same love and compassion.. It's just that some take it too far.. but that's like all thigns we do.. religion is just a form of government.. we just don't see it that way anymore.. because now.. "art" doesn't rule the people.. money does.. i'd try to explain art but i have to leave lol

There are many "religions". There's only one God! Give me God!

Religion is the living of life based upon what is learned from the Author of life, including, but not limited to, humility, charity, and compassion. Would it be better without that? No. No, it wouldn't.

Oh yes, definitely. When more human beings start turning to their brains and to reason, instead of theories of other entities/beliefs, we would slowly emerge from an eon of immense control, repression, stilted, backwards moving, ignorance and plain old BS, that has held back the human race for many thousands of years. We could then begin to embrace a genuine trust, belief and faith in ourselves, develop our immense yet latent and underused intelligence and re-learn all those abilities, skills and gifts that we once had. It is inevitable that such a development will happen, given the human history of the last 500 years. I partly understand why religion became an attraction for many people - that something/someone else, more powerful and knowing than us, is in control of the world other than our pithy selves - but it is just another control mechanism that was devised and expertly utilised by a small group of control and power-crazed "leaders" against ignorant and uneducated people a very long time ago. We no longer are such people and slowly, but surely, we will emerge from this crippling and anti-human funk.

God did not created religion, man did. God came at different time in different forms (Avtar) to save the earth. Humans followed their idols and created a religion out of them. HIS family was divided and is still divided. The only common thing in each one of us and in every religion is HUMANITY, thus Humanity is the constant that relates all and that binds us together. A human without Humanity is an animal. So... if we have lived up to be a good human, we have lived every religion man created in the eyes of God.

All religions are created about or around God..... To say whether we should have religion or not, I believe if we have lived up to be a good human, we truly do not care if we lived within a religion or without one...

Pretty much everything I could say on this has been said, but also...if you enjoy mythology, that is something you would probably not have if religion never existed. Myths are derived from people's beliefs.

Yes. It gets in the way of scentific progress, and without that, we can't do much of anything.

i really think it would be better, there would not be war because of religions, and i hope you question means since the birth of jesus or since the beginning of time...