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Re: Is religion beneficial?
| quote: | Originally posted by Beat Blog
So, the question is thus: would humanity be better or worse off if religion had never been established? |
It would be worse off. And, I'm not saying this because I'm a pious follower of any religion (as I'm an atheist), but because religion is often unfairly criticised (and praised). We should step back for a moment and see what human life would be without religion.
Firstly, most forms of social arrangement would have probably failed right from the start. Religions have always been the pillars of most world views, as they knit societies together around some pricinciples that summarise what that society (or the people in that society) should be like. And, the most incredible thing about religion is that it adds a supernatural twist, so nothing is left unexplained and nothing can be disputed (although we know societies change and their religions adapt accordingly).
Being an atheist, I can imagine a society without religion quite easily. and I don't think this society would be a bad place to live at all. But, this would require all citizens to be extremely down to earth (i.e. they'd be content to see only what is there, and they would all find good reasons to live - and share their lives in harmony with others - based solely on this life.
As for the atrocities, it would be too simplistic to blame them solely on religion. What most critics fail to realise is that people actually believe that countries ~exist~ and that they're something worth dying for, for example.
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