What would the world be like without religion?

[rov1100]

We could still retain our personal beliefs but without establishments and organised worshipping their would surely be less troubles in the world

[sandyRoe]

But if there was established and organized religion how would we know what to believe?

[birdie1971]

Why do you have to be told what to believe? Are you simply an empty vessel waiting to be filled up with 'belief' dictated to you by others?

[Razzle2011]

Tabula rasa.......says it all!............

[sandyRoe]

That should have been:
But if there was NO established and...

[sith123]

yes but we would all be lost, you cant just make up something on the spot and say i believe this as there would be more varying views and hence more conflict and violence. at least when a religion is established it has more members and you cannot just alter it to fit your beliefs. some do of course, but if there were no established religions there would be more conflict as everyone would be creating their own religion or beliefs to fit what they want.
this could have serious effects as in that case a murderer can alter his belief to say i can murder anyone as i believe this. so overall, i think a world without religion would be maybe peaceful in some aspects, but probably more violent.

[beso]

The main reason religion causes conflict is the insistence of their adherents that their beliefs should be taken seriously and above all others.

It wouldn't matter how man different religons there were if they were simply treated as personal delusions and ignored.

[jomifl]

Sandy, we wouldn't think we had to believe would we.

[Zacs-Master]

That's a bit like asking what would the world be like without air. People have opinions, those opinions turn into beliefs. If you believe in something strongly enough, you are bound to try to make others believe in them.

[jomifl]

We would just have to rely on plain old straightforward tribalism to justify our intolerance and atrocities. Failing that we could fall back on class war and political dogma. So, no problem really.

[naomi24]

Sith, //yes but we would all be lost//

You need others to tell you how to live, so you might be lost, but I wouldn't. In my opinion the world would be a far better place without religion.

[razza]

A lot bloody safer

[Elderman]

If the churches of today could come out with a joint condemnation of war . . . , which would mean that every member would be bound in conscience to be, like the Christians, a conscientious objector, peace might indeed be assured. But we know that this will never happen.

Because they been brainwashed. . . . The gospel of the Just War is a gospel that Jesus never taught. . . . There is nothing in the life or teaching of Jesus that would suggest that while it is illegitimate to incinerate people by war. (Matthew 15:9, 14)

[Mosaic]

'Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try...'

[naomi24]

Elderman, you didn't copy and paste the end of your final paragraph. You've cut it off mid-stream.

[jomifl]

^ divine intervention...

[EDDIE51]

Has any civilization ever not had some form of 'God' to explain the things they do not understand ?
I mean that for instance the Sun has been worshiped as a 'God' by a huge number of societys since prehistoric times. 'Nature Spirits' such as trees ,rivers, lakes etc would be another example of things that were worshiped. These examples predate any form of organised religion.

[beso]

According to the Bible, Jesus taught that the Old Testament was the word of His father, God. In doing so He and His minions inherited the horror that is embodied in that book.

I urge all to actually take a look at what it says. Genesis is dead boring so I suggest you skip it. Joshua is a great place to start and I promise you won't be able to put it down right to the end.

Indeed the boredom of Genesis is designed exactly to lull the reader into a trance before the real meaty stuff cuts in. You can see worshippers from all the the Abrahamic faiths all like to undertake hypnotic movements. This trance-like state is how the rubbish that is the core of the Bible so fluidly and insideously infects the believers.

Religion is built on a farsical outdated foundation steeped in the same kind of heroic figures that built the Egyptian, Greek and Roman Gods. The concept of a fountain of wisdom form the perfect thinker.

Intelligence understands that no man, mortal or otherwise, has the capacity of unerring wisdom beyond question. Such notions inevitably lead to despotism.

Only by understanding the fundamental issues concerning concepts of morality can we ever hope to embrace a consistent and intelligible framework for deciding right and wrong. Then we will finally be able to banish the foolish notion that we need to adopt a certain attitude "because God said" and insist that those who set the moral compasses of our societies does so in a rational, debateable and justifiable way.

[Elderman]

Many of the people we come in contact with are “lovers of themselves,” “haughty,” and even “fierce.” It is very easy for bad characteristics like these to rub on you and anger you. (2 Tim. 3:2-5) In fact, movies and TV programs often portray vengeance as noble and violence as a natural and justifiable solution to problems. Typical story lines lead viewers to look forward to the moment when the villain “gets what he deserves”—usually a violent end at the hands of the story’s hero. Such propaganda promotes, not God’s ways, but “the spirit of the world” and of its angry ruler, Satan. (Eph. 2:2; Rev. 12:12) That spirit caters to the imperfect flesh and is in total opposition to God’s holy spirit and its fruitage.

[S_C]

What would the world be like without religion?

Peaceful

We could think of other things more meaningful to the indevidual concerned