ANSWERS: 26
  • The latter part of your question contradicts the first part. If EVERYONE ceased to believe in dieties, the "fear of God" would no longer exist.
  • Ehh..They would be fine just like the rest of us people.
  • Set free from a fear of god they might choose to not obey society's rules. But then they would face the man-made judgment for breaking those rules/laws and be locked up in prison.
  • Societies rules are no longer based upon a fear of god. If everyone ceased to believe in deities the only people who would have to change their lives in any way would be the people getting rich off the believers backs and the true crazies who actually believe god(s) exist.
  • G'day Pukapants, Thank you for your question. Presumably, they would go to jail. I don't think there are many people who do this in any case. Regards
  • It'd probably even out with all the killing in "God's" name stopping
  • nothing? simple aint it?
  • Unless they had absolutely no remorse for doing terrible things, like the DC Sniper guy, I'm sure they'd still behave themselves. Almost everyone has a conscience...
  • That logic is supposing that atheists run amok on society,and refuse to obey society's rules because they do not believe in a deity. I have not seen that happen.Many nations,in Europe have a high percentage of atheists but are very law biding.
  • It wouldn't have the blindest bit of difference as such people dont exist.... people who are so on the edge of anarchy tend not to be devioutly religious.
  • Some would re-adjust their reasoning; the others would end up in a prison...hopefully. Lest we forget, a high percentage of society`s law breakers do fear a god...but it never stopped them from becoming law breakers.
  • I think you can safely say that fear of prison would do just as good a Job. People who wern't prevously criminals, wouldn't suddenly just start commiting crime. It's called self control, you apply it to every aspect of your life, and it's NOT a quality unique to religious people. You don't NEED religion to tell you what's right or wrong, because it's basic common sense!
  • I doubt there are any who obey society's rules only because of the "fear of God" and therefore they would be zero change.
  • Society does dictate rules and social norms, but I also think most people have an innate sense of right and wrong to some degree. I think there is only a small percentage of people who follow the rules with the fear of God their only motivation. Still, if all dieties were proven not to exist and this was accepted by all, I think it would have a massive impact. Many look to the higher power of their faith to define their ethics and morals, to give direction and meaning to their lives, and as a source of comfort in times of crisis and turmoil. If this was lost, I think the resulting devestation, panic, anger, and confusion many would feel would have a huge effect - religion is such an integral part of so many people's lives and, at least in the short term, they would feel all was lost, nothing mattered, and chaos and anarchy would reign. Just think of all the questions just on AB alone that ask us non-believers questions around how ethics, morals, love for fellow man, etc... are possible with no God - how can someone who doesn't believe possess these qualities or abilities. It would take some time for many to see the light!
  • I would hope that they, like atheists, would develop their own set of ethics. Our own moral sense is, to a large extent, inbuilt; it is designed for us as a social animal to work together. One would hope there wouldn't actually be too much of a difference.
  • Agnostic answering. They would have to shift over to fear of society's retribution. +5
  • It is my opinion that the concept of God is a construct to justify rules that most of us want to obey (give or take a bit). I believe that humans are inherently sociable animals and are willing to obey the rules of society - provided everybody else does, which they doubt. The construct of "God" provides a simple rule set which all can obey. Therefore in the absence of a God, people will have to think a bit deeper about the rules they obey, and whether others will obey them. To put it another way, I don't think there are many people who obey the rules "because of fear of God". But that is the formula they use to explain what they cannot otherwise put into words. Actually, they do it because they want to be "good people".
  • They'd soon learn to obey society's rules because of the "Fear of getting their collective Arses shot off".
  • They would either learn to "fear" men, or they would pay the consequences.
  • They would be locked up or executed, thereby improving the quality of the gene pool by inhibiting defective thinkers from reproducing (the exact opposite of the present situation where the brain donors are encouraged to breed to excess).
  • With all the question on here about "can atheists love?" "How does an atheist comfort a dying child?" etc wouldn't it be sad if it were proven that all your religion had taught you was fear!? Yet another reason to disbelieve the god squad crap!
  • I think they would quickly discover that they have something called a conscience. That, or their fear of God will be replaced with a fear of the law.
  • I like to think people are a little better than that. Most people are good because they want to be, not because anyone else does. Or so I hope.
  • People don't obey society's rules out of fear of god. They do it out of fear of punishment from society (jail, ostracism, physical harm). There are some rules that are in religion but not in law (ZOMG you ate meat on Friday!) that might be given up in your hypothetical, but all in all nothing would change. Most people pretty much sleepwalk through their lives doing what they're told.
  • People don't obey societys rules because of their fear of god they obey societys rules cause thier fear of going to prison or jail if they dont. thats why we have police
  • That is one of the cheif reasons we have the laws of man concerning country state and city. You break them you do time and worse.

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