if religion didnt exist Nellie92: i seriously think that without any kind of religion the world would be such a better place.differences between people and missunderstandings would be less and i bet that half of the wars that has accurd in history(and probably in the future)would had been alot less without religion since it has a tendensy to be a reason for people to start an argument.  Chilean_Nelson: So true. Imagine, a world with no religion. Imagine no suicide bombers, no 9/11, no 7/7, no Crusades, no witch-hunts, no Gunpowder Plot, no Kashmir dispute, no Indo/Pakistan partition, no Israel/Palestine wars, no Serb/Croat/Muslim massacres, no Northern Ireland 'troubles'. Imagine no Taliban blowing up ancient statues, lashing women for showing an inch of skin, or publicly beheading blasphemers and apostates. Imagine no persecutions of the Jews - no Jews to persecute indeed, for without religion they would long ago have intermarried with the surrounding populations. To sum up, yes, the world would be a better place. voulitsa: well, as a matter of fact, i raised up in a very strict religious family in which we 'forced' to worship a Strict Holy father....That's i hate Him and All about Him......Now am a bit confused...sometime i believe, sometime no, but now when i choose to believe in such different surcoumstances although migh hate Him, somehow i feel that i'm wrong no matter what.... but i think it's a matter of trustness or something like this... Well from yr point of view seems to me you are right...That in the name of God many wars raised up and many many many ppl killed but also there are also some few amazing ppl like Florence Nightingale, Eric Dunan, .Raul Faullerau, Albert Schweitzer, couple Curie, Louis Paster... and many others who believed in some Deep Human Values which originate from H. Bbl.... these ppl make me doubt about many things....Were they really Crazy? Is it cause they believed in a True Deep human God Father and in his most Valuable say 'Love each other to Death' or 'i came here to service not to be served'.... i dont know what to suppose...i wanna really somehow can meet them and ask which is their valuable secret who lead them to death cause they were believing what they trully believed and worshiped....That's also make me think that maybe we are wrong...that Their God is the real God who inspired them to service Humanity with self sacrifise.... well..dont know what is better...to exist or not to exist.... Really dont know....thank u guys anyway....  LiptonCambell: I think, historically, religion was a good thing, and culturally and community wise, it has often been a positive influence. Do I think the world would be better if religion went away? Sure. But we'd lose alot of truly great things..... hope_joy80: the world will be the same whether if there is religion or not but religion controls people... some people can not be good without religion, others can be good without it.. to be honest.. religion helps the world to be a better pleace.  (Post deleted by staff ) hope_joy80: unfortunately, religious conflicts could be a result of a fundamentalism. yeah.. that's a good point! (Edited by hope_joy80) (Post deleted by staff ) LiptonCambell: I'm not convinced that crazy people will stop being crazy if religion didn't exist. The problem isn't "people have access to provocative, inflammatory writings"- its that people act out in violence. CoIin: With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil — that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg  EraseThisFace: I don't agree. Why is religion used as a fuel for hate, extremism, and violence at times? The common thread is fear. Fear can be packaged in many ways, but religion has been one of its primary vehicles.  Geoff: "Religious" conflicts are rarely caused by religion. The causes are far more often other things, occasionally boiling down to a pure 'us and them'. However, once religion is involved these conflicts often degenerate into the most atrocious (used in its literal sense) debacles. No crime is too base when carried out in the name of God. So while religion generally doesn't /cause/ wars, it does make them a damn sight worse. Geoff: Even so, religion is often just the excuse rather than the actual cause. At a more fundamental level, the problem with religion is that it is very powerful. It is as powerful as love, but much easier to manipulate. One man or woman in the right place can tug on the threads of religious bigotry/guilt/fear/hatred and start a war that kills thousands, even millions. I think it is that power that most frightens me about religion. It isn't just used to start wars, it can be used to subvert education systems, instigate riots, and witch-hunts - both literal witch-hunts and hunts for anyone else outside the religious mainstream; believers of other faiths, atheists, homosexuals, adulterers, free-thinkers, commies. But under it all, it is people seeking to get off on the power-trip of an us-and-them conflict. Religion, regardless of professed intent and motive, is often nothing more than a way of defining the teams. Djinnaya: The most frightening thing is that so many people willingly let themselves be manipulated without realising it. I should know this first hand, since I was once one of them. voulitsa: Djinnaya: same here...can understand very well cause i grew up in a deep manipulated way 'religious' club Crocodilia: It wasn't until I broke through the shell that I realised that I was a crocodile and not a chicken. Lucifera: My wisest decision in life has been to leave religion behind. I wasted enough years worshiping a god that turned out to be created in our image instead of the other way around. CoIin: @ Lucifera If God made us in his image, we have certainly returned the compliment. - Voltaire Magicspell: There is a great paradox buried somewhere in the sand here and it is related to the seemingly schizophrenic nature of God. He allegedly claims to have created men in his image and at the same time also that his nature is beyond human comprehension. So is he really human-like or not? CoIin: God is transcendental. He is totally beyond human understanding. Or so I'm told. Just before they tell me lots more about Him. It often seems like everyone knows more than me. But that's ok. "I know that I know nothing" - Socrates CoIin: If religion didn't exist, I might be able to go the supermarket without being hassled by Mormon missionaries. I mean, I'm sure these kids mean well, but I don't remember offering advice to 45 year-olds on the meaning of life when I was 20 and covered in zits. So much for humility. | Religion Chat Room 32 People Chatting Similar Conversations |