Would the world be better off or worse if there were no religion?

Without religion would there be less hate, figthing and fanatics willing to do crazy things for their religion?
Or is religion an important part of what hold our society together and keeps people from acting solely on impulse and keeps us (most of us) in check?

*Yeah I just had to go and botch the spelling in the title. 😛

Imagine - John Lennon. Nuff said.

P.S. I think the world would be exactly the same. That said I also think people should get to believe in what they want. I've always been agnostic, but I'm slowly learning about different faiths thanks to a friend.

If Religion didn't exist, Arabs would use some other reason to beat their wives and Atheists would find some other reason to think they're better than non-Atheists and people who eat meat. It's simply human nature to have an "us vs. them" mentality.

I think it would be worst.There will be alot of crime and hate towards others and no one would get along with each other.This whole world would be a mess.

Originally posted by Sai1
Without religion would there be less hate, figthing and fanatics willing to do crazy things for their religion?
Or is religion an important part of what hold our society together and keeps people from acting solely on impulse and keeps us (most of us) in check?

*Yeah I just had to go and botch the spelling in the title. 😛

The problems of the world would only change. Religion is not the cause of evil in the world. Religion is a vehicle that can do good or evil depending on people are doing with it. The source of evil in the world is humans, not religion.

Well religion was invented in order to control the masses so take that as you will.

Originally posted by Liberator
Well religion was invented in order to control the masses so take that as you will.

I don't believe that. I think religion was first invented for the same reason science exists today; the need to understand the natural world. Religion was later (when is unknown) corrupted to control the masses.

the problems with "religion" are not of a religious nature, but stem from the very basic in-group/out-group tendencies of human psychology

if the question was: "would the world be a better place if people found no reason to draw distinctive groups while dealing with personal identity?", of course, but as has been mentioned, religious strife is mearly a product of these issues, not the cause. doing away with religion would not solve anything

I love how all of you guys basically said what I said. I love being superior/Christian.

Originally posted by ADarksideJedi
There will be alot of crime and hate towards others and no one would get along with each other.

Look around, follow the news a bit, you just described today.

Originally posted by RE: Blaxican
I love how all of you guys basically said what I said. I love being superior/Christian.

You said something? 😕

😛

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
I don't believe that. I think religion was first invented for the same reason science exists today; the need to understand the natural world. Religion was later (when is unknown) corrupted to control the masses.

true enough.like you said,the source for evil is humans,not religion.Its all in how you were brought up.I myself am not religious but i turned out to be someone you can trust and its because of my upbringing by my parents and the people i was around,teaching me of right from wrong.

Originally posted by inimalist
the problems with "religion" are not of a religious nature, but stem from the very basic in-group/out-group tendencies of human psychology

if the question was: "would the world be a better place if people found no reason to draw distinctive groups while dealing with personal identity?", of course, but as has been mentioned, religious strife is mearly a product of these issues, not the cause. doing away with religion would not solve anything

This. I'd throw in some personal caveats, because I do think the world would be slightly better sans (organized) religion. But the improvements would be minor. Religion is a product of human nature. It's goods and ills are our own, and wouldn't disappear with religion.

Yes, the world would be better off with no religion. I don't think necessarily because of any properties of religion itself, but there are definitely policies in most religions that negatively impact the world.

If what we define now as religion were gone, we'd eventually manufacture some new organization with which to base our life around. Like Disney.

I follow the news every day.and the world is bad but it would be worst.Anyway it keeps the world balence.

Originally posted by RE: Blaxican
I love how all of you guys basically said what I said. I love being superior/Christian.

You're not a Christian to begin with, you're a Jehovah Witness.

Superior, has yet to be seen.

Originally posted by Robtard
You're not a Christian to begin with, you're a Jehovah Witness.

Superior, has yet to be seen.

He's a JW? I never knew that. So he's one of those annoying black people who knock on your front door at 8am to spread the good word.

You've been handed Watch Tower pamphlets too, I see.

I've never had them come to my door though; I'd gladly invite them in and discuss what they're peddling.

Originally posted by Robtard
You've been handed Watch Tower pamphlets too, I see.

I've never had them come to my door though; I'd gladly invite them in and discuss what they're peddling.

Funny story:

Are you familiar with the I-8? Its the main artery between Phoenix and San Diego; it leads straight from one city to the other. Well anyways, several years back when I was a trucker, I was driving to SD and I had to use the bathroom, so I stopped at that rest-stop outside Alpine, CA, where the brown desert starts to turn into really green terrain. Standing in front of the bathrooms were about 30 well-dressed black people of both genders. I couldn't tell if they were part of a funeral procession, or heading to some kind of rally. But then they were handing out the Watch Tower, and it all made sense. I talked to one of them for a little bit, but then I had to go because I was on a schedule.

It was the only time in my life I ever saw a large religious group who chose to do their prostelyzing at a highway rest-stop.