More suffering has been caused by religion and religion based "crusades" than any other calamity in history. Religion is "Big Brother" with the sole purpose of controlling people and limiting free thought. If religion were eradicated more people would strive toward true understanding of science and reason.

"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful."

"Surgeon General's Warning: Quitting Religion Now Greatly Increases the Chances of World Peace."

Difficult argument indeed. The thing about religion is that it supports you through difficult times by helping you to believe there is a higher purpose and such. However, I believe religion is still too 'enforced' in this day and age. (example: arranged marriages, sex before marriage, anti-homosexual, etc.)

I think people can believe in whatever they want, and that religion should never be enforced.

How many wars have been fought "in the name of god"? How many people have been killed because of their religion? How many people have been tortured and executed for heresy?

No, atheism won't lead to world peace, but at least we would have one less thing to kill each other over.

(BTW I'm a catholic (does that make me a hypocrite?))

Put quite simply, yes. The physical God has gradually been pushed aside by science and a better understanding of the world we live in, so that now there exists a purely metaphysical God. We don't need God to help us understand why the sun moves in the sky, why the crops grow, why the tides rise and fall.

Whilst I feel that, in the past, religion has probably helped us to achieve the moralities that we adhire to today (although I think society as a whole has led religion for a very long time on moral issues, as opposed to visa versa previously), there is unfortunately no place for religion in the world now.

So whilst I agree that, yes, the world would be better if we got rid of religion now, I'm not entirely sure if it would have been had we never had religion. (But then again, I'm sure we would have come up with other ways to build our moral foundations).

There is no real need in organized religion, while organized religion does hinder the progress.

Definitely, it's better to get the religious people of today changed if possible to rely on their brain rather than faith. This is because faith has no basis and it relies just on some magical feeling, but if the religious people who rely on faith use knowledge that is derived from realistic events then they'll make decisions that is probably more beneficial to themselves and the whole of society just through better thought processes

I do believe so, more murders have been caused by religion than anything else in the worlds history. I could not imagine us living in a world without religion since I was born into it. If I wasn't born into religion maybe I could see the truth behind my own religion. But since the truth is I do believe in God and that their is a heaven waiting to take my soul in after I die, I cannot truly say with all my heart that the world would be better. To imagine a world without religion ... back in the midieval ages the Pope would not have been totally revered as being the true sender of someone to hell or heaven. He and every Pope before and after him they are all just regular men who should not with any doubt in my mind be looked upon as being any better than me or any reader. All in all if I did not have a religion and nobody else had a religion we might be farther along in technology or who knows the possiblities and the point being we will never know and the world will always have at least 1 religion until it ends or people end.

Religion is a lose easily modifiable set of morals and ethics backed by the mysterious. You have a sacred text, that is so messed up, especially when it comes to knowing what was intended to be taken literally, and what was not. This is where the single text gets so many different believes and different churches and congregations. It's also where you get the disagreement and social instability.

Faith, belief, and the likes should not be taken so seriously and should not be used as a tool to guide a person. As soon as you get one group of people that believe on thing, and someone else believing another, as strong as they believe, because belief and faith are at the center of each person, you get some serious problems.

All that we can tell empirically is that we as humans are here alone. You can fool yourself all you want, that you see the proof of god in everything, but you're only, like I said, fooling yourselves into seeing what you want to see. You have to start from a clean slate. Look at humanity now, look at where we are headed, and decide, what is a human? Your choices and your views and what you do or say, changes the course of humanity.

Reason out Morals, use your "god given" mind to reason all of these ethical principles. What is right and what is wrong? If there be a god, I think he would appreciate you more if you used what s/he's or it's given you to reach his conclusions about right and wrong than just following a flock of idiots to the gates of paradise.

If you feel like you've done good in your life, no matter how bad it may have been, and you know that you've made mistakes (because knowing your mistakes means that you've acknowledged them and know that you shouldn't do them again), and you are still sent to hell... then that means more people like you will be there too, and then maybe hell will not be that bad of a place after all, right?

Religion was a invention of man to explain things in there surroundings, why in fact not sounds like a good idea lets make something up to explain something we cant answer who is to say what is what but religion based on pain,lies,ridicule, slander and hate there wont be such out there. With religion comes conflict.

Religion breeds anti-scientific thinking, and thus intellectual stagnation.

The question of whether or not the world would be better off without religion is an interesting one though. I am still unsure about where I stand on this but for the sake of this debate I will learn toward the "Yes" side though I will offer both stances.

All Religions (while I believe it to fall under the category of mythos) have offered hope to millions of people. Answering questions like "What happens when I die?" can provide a sense of security that is no doubt meaningful. Many people have a need to have a reason for living, and accepting a life without a greater meaning is deemed "depressing", "unecessary", "worthless". Why do anything, if in the long run it is all meaningless...especially if you are born into poverty, slavery, or any other incredibly difficult situation. Religion can offer security, that someone is there watching over us. Is this bad? Maybe...its the chicken or the egg question...Did religion bring about the need for a greater meaning about life OR did people create religion because of a its need. Nonetheless, religion can effect people in a positive way making it difficult to denouce that aspect of it.

Secondly, the concept of an afterlife is absolutely impossible to prove on either side. So, this brings an important addition to the argument of whether of not the world would be better place without religion. And that is the stifling the creative thought process of human beings. An even more than that creating a forum for free thought. When talking about unexplainable issues, one should be free to theorize any idea until it is proven otherwise. It would be a sad world to think that any one unexplained issue had only one theory. It would say very little about us as a species. Our diversity in thinking is how we survived this long AND the need to allow this free thinking could not be more imperative for forward progress. To assume that any Neo-Darwinist/Atheist would believe that all people were not equally important would be counter to forward progressive movement for the species as ignoring the weak would

As far as the point that religious groups offer much in the form of charities, I find this an unacceptable reason to believe that religion is good for the world. Why? Because of 2 reasons (bear in mind I am not downing any church for its chariable intentions...merely pointing out that it is not a good enough reason to justify its existence):

1) How else are they to justify the millions of dollars that is donated to them by their constituents and church goers? Furthermore, are these donations made by people (unconsciously of course) because of guilt that the religion imposes on them, or the fear that without donations ones place in heaven may not be secured? If so, this is certainly something that can be simulated in a non-religious society...easily.

2) Even the worst dictators and emperors in the past have shown instances of charity in order to gain the people's favor. In other words, do good to right wrong. How else is any church to remain in power and continue to hold its following if it doesn't give anything to its followers (and potential followers)?

All in all, I have no problem with people believing in God or being spiritual. It is a completely understandable stance. But there is a realistic downside. This belief is much more complex than just a personal belief. It is a commentary on moral values not just for an individual, but for a society. And when you are dealing with a diverse society, it (religion) lends itself to horrible consequences.

1) the use of god's name to reliquinish responsibility for actions that lead to unjusticness to others. People(or countries) doing things in the name of god. This goes way back and this is a clear use of religion for power and control. This includes misintepretations of ones religion (sometimes purposefully) to gain power in some form (land, money, people, followers, etc.). This is probably the main argument you get from the non-religious standpoint.

2) Another consequence is the internal conflicts and mental damages that having this sort of "moral" value can inflict on those who fail to reach those standards causing an almost opposite effect of instilling the values in the first place. This is a very different consequence from the physical consequences of religion. And the problem can be equally as devasting. And while most religions have a backdoor for this (confession, repentence, God forgives, etc.), these back doors cannot always prevent some of the results that the seemingly impossible guidelines create. Some examples: People forcing themselves to stay in unhealthy relationships because of their vow to god, Peoples lack of knowledge of sexuality leading to a series of issues when abstincy is failed to be acheived, suicide, etc.

And while these consequences may not be a definition of what ones chosen religion stands for it certainly is a direct result of its existence in those persons lives.

The argument that more suffering has been caused by religion than by anything else is a bit of a stretch. Looking back at history, there are two main reasons why humans have waged wars. One is territory and the other is ideology. Within ideology, of course, lies religion but it is accompanied by such things as racism, elitism and the like.

Nevertheless, I'd still have to say that, in this day and age, we'd be better off without religion. Before, I continue, however, I'd like to point out that it is religion that I deem unnecessary, not spirituality.

Throughout history, religion has served as a general guide in our lives and faith has served as a filler for the things we do not know. It was either Sir Isaac Newton or Albert Einstein, both geniuses as far as physics and astronomy were concerned, who saw god in nature, a subject which they understood but little.

Nowadays, rational thought, philosophy and society itself have come far enough along that religion is more of a crutch than the boon it once was. Belief in something spiritual is still something crucial in man's life as it has a humbling and grounding effect but religion just pigeonholes us into an aged mindset.

Religion has caused more fighting, controversy, death, and suffering than, dare I say it, any other concept in all of history.

Just a few examples: Council of Blood/Troubles, French Wars of Religion, Spanish Inquisition, Defenstration of Prague, St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, etc.

Just imagine if Catherine de Medici had not been blinded by her religion -- as well as Ferdinand and Isabella, Philip II, Henry VIII, Louis XIV, and the list goes on...

A world without religion to control us. No religion for government to use to control us...hallelujah there just might be a god

The argument that religion is the driving force behind good deeds seems to me like a lack of faith in mankind. "Yes, I'll give money to charity, but only if there's a unicorn behind that tree".

If religion is the only thing stopping you from becoming an egocentric bastard with no respect for human values you should seek help.

I think you are correct - religion has caused the intorerant idealism that causes suffering. I posted on a topic of what three wishes would you choose if you had a genie. After I posted, I realized that I should have wished for all religions to be more tolerant.

Even though I'm sure that humans will find other things to "worship" they will no longer be tied to the irrational beliefs that religion adheres to.

People will continue to war, but at least no in the name of invisible beings that have the power to create the universe and all it's splendor but seem to be conveniently absent to help us figure out our own little (in comparison) problems.

The number of atrocities commited in the name of some god is innumerable; Blind faith channeled through effective leaders will always allow the strong to control the weak minded masses, because they have been conditioned to do what their "god" or religious leader or political leader tells them to. We should be raised to question, not blindly follow the instructions of those before us; that is a path of destruction. Some agrue that religion does many a good thing for people, but what i want to know is why do we need a religion to tell us what is right? Why should we do things for other humans simply for benifits after our deaths or because of fear of devine retribution? Why can't we help each other simply because people need help; the answer is we do, and it is past time that we allow the religions of today to be removed from the equation to pass into obscurity along with the names zeus and apollo.

Yes because the bible says so.

-j

Religion is ultimately a set of beliefs and it's up to the individual to choose what he or she wants to believe. However, the ultimate problem I have with religion is that while it does give a person hope in desperate times, it at times becomes too much of a hindrance to a person's daily life, and might even prevent a person from thinking rationally or objectively. While the person might not see it in this light due to their strong beliefs, it's what's happening when you look at it from a third person's point of view, which is why so many people would rather remain free thinkers because they realise what life would be like if they had a religion since they do not have one yet.

Yes, it breeds ignorance and hatred.

I'm glad this question draws a distinction between a world without 'god' and a world without 'religion.' Religions are a social construct and have been used to control and organize populations to serve a minority elite. As such, if you believe that the majority functions best by dictation then religions have served a higher good. If you believe in personal freedom and liberty that religions have served only those privileged enough to be within the ranks of the ruling class. Freedom and liberty are the rights of all people, religions are a burden to free people everywhere and a parasite on the backs of civilizations.

yeah defiantly because it would save having to learn about thme and respect all of them. so if there was noreligion it would be better

religion gave us Al qaeda, the holocaust, Bosnia troubles.

Put aside our differences and unite under atheism

Religion helped culture out in the early days and helped people see the error in their ways in the past when we were young, but we have reached a point where the crutch is hurting us rather than helping. Ditching old habits is a good idea.

religion is used for comfort, plain and simple. the fact that people on massive scales will believe in something against all evidence from the academic world on a few scant unproven theories, and a horribly inconsistent series of books written centuries ago all for self comfort is astounding.

as a society we frown upon the imaginary friend that so many lonely children imagine, but when someone whispers into the wind to a god , many of us hold said person in high regard. their is no concise difference between the two. why do we continue to allow ourselves to be comforted by the impossibly improbable?

to the arguments based on why nots, religion helps many people, i must say i totally agree with you. religion helps many people, but religion also hurts many people. In the middle east the tali ban blow up schools full of children in the name of Allah. In America Christian extremist bomb abortion clinics. Mayans beheaded 225,000 Mayan men and women, boys, and girls, to make the sun come back up, on a cloudy day. religion is a detriment to all society, and in my conclusion i will address the way in which religion restricts our most basic and primitive want, the want for knowledge.

the Vatican would arrest and murder scientist, who had beliefs that went against those of the mighty bible. present day, many routes of medicine are n OT allowed to be taken b cause it "goes against the will of god". god never wrote anything about genetics, DNA, or even the simple microscope, so how do we know he doesn't want us saving our race from diseases? we dint! it is only the high, most often, rich priest that ascertain such meaning from the bible, to support their hidden agendas.

my argument has nothing to do with whether god exist or not, i personally am a firm agnostic, for i believe theist and atheist are narrow minded to not see both sides. my argument states that religion should be abolished, and no longer practiced

This is a yes and no people should shut the fuck up about which one they think is right because nobody knows except dead people and thats kind of hard cuz they cant hop out their grave and say hey man god is awsome or buda is the funiest guy in heaven you know so lay it to rest and yes the world would be a better place

Religion is the reason behind just about every war etc. that has ever happened.

Religion promotes as virtue faith; the rejection of reason, rationality, and everything that separates us from the animals. Because evidence, reason, etc. are out of the question, faith can in many cases be immutable, and when two faiths compete, it results in a dogmatic brawl that resists any kind of progress -- look at Israel / Palestine for example.

It also promotes irrationality and revelation over free thought and inquiry. These things are only dentrimental to society and our sovereignty no matter how benign they manifest.

"Civilization will not attain perfection until the last stone from the last church falls on the last priest." — Émile Zola

i dont have no religion so why have it

Religion hinders science and social progress. It leads to death and hate. The worst part is there is no evidence for the basis of any religious belief. It is a pile of necrotic lard around the midriff of the world. Get rid of it so we can advance as a species.

This question is worded poorly, because it implies "would the world be a better place if everyone was atheist", when I think the better question to debate would be "would the world be a better place if everyone was the same religion as you". It would spark a better debate (more points of view rather than atheist against everyone else).

I believe it would be, because there would be one less thing to divide people and one less thing to use to form prejudices.

All groups of people want the same basic things in life (health, comfort, most want to raise a family, etc.), but religion is used more often to highlight our differences than our similarities.

The question you have to ask yourself before you make an argument against the statement is not if the world would be better without your religion, but if it would be better without all the other religions. If you ask a Jew if the world would be better if everyone was Jewish and they would probably say yes, but if you ask them if the world would be better without all religion including their own of course they would say no to defend their belief.

Asking "would the world be a better place without religions?" is like asking "would the world be a better place if human beings used their wit and intelligence to help each other and move towards the future instead of worshiping fairy tales and thinking that everything that happens is because of some unseen force and killing and oppressing each other for the sake of contrived beliefs?"

Let's see......yes?

Come on if we didnt have religion then we wouldnt have wars... what kind of world would be with out wars... im mean come are u serious! :P

NEXT!

If you look at religion as a mere social construct, it is apparent that it is a necessary system of control. For the most part, the beliefs and values taught in each respective religion are important to keep people in a some what "moral" state of mind. Religion is most needed for ingraining these important morals in people in a way in which they completely believe them.

Where you get into trouble is when radical religious zealous take it upon themselves to hate other religions for no apparent reason other than they are different in some way. However, if you actually take the time to study these religions or perhaps read their holy books, you will see many parallels in beliefs. Many of which, that actually contradict the hateful actions that many people take.

Throughout time it seems as though religion evolves along with the knowledge of society. Our technological and scientific revolutions have brought about this new one, Scientology, which takes the relevant knowledge we know about the world along with previous viewings of religious quarrels and creates its own twisted reality for people to believe in. Even though there is much opposition to this new belief system, I don't think there will be any Jihads any time soon over it.

The way it stands, I believe that religion is a necessary evil for the time being in the way of controlling the vast majority of immoral and unintelligent people; it just needs to be refined, which will happen over time.

The world would be better without stupid people. The Muslim religion doesn't create Jihadists. Stupid Muslim clerics do. Oh what; is there a fatwa out on me now?

I was going to argue for the other side, but while I was typing my argument I realized that taking religion out of the equation wouldn't actually change anything. People would just find another excuse not to think. If it isn't religion that works people into a mindless mob, it will be politics. Or maybe economics. Take the whole communist "scare" for example. The problem isn't with religion itself, it's with humanity. Religion doesn't kill people, people kill people.

Religion in today's world is a complex thought that entwines social values, ethics, and personal spirituality. Taking away these things would do no good to society. Humans are hardwired for religion and need the comfort of an organized, predictable world. However, there are ethics, values, and spiritualities outside of 'religion.' So one can be ethical, have high morals and values, and deeply spiritual without being a religious nut. So it's not the beliefs, its the actions and leaders who instigate (or fail to prevent) harmful behavior that are wrong.

Firstly, I'm not religious. I'm actually atheist. But I don't think a world without religion would be any better. Yes, religion has caused a lot of strife and violence in the world. But honestly, what makes anyone think it's the only cause? Even if you take away religion, people will always find a reason to hate other people. And for a lot people, religion provides guidance and hope, and helps them live a better life. Trying to pin societies' problems on one factor doesn't make any sense.

The world would be pretty much the same if all of the religions were to vanish tomorrow because all of us would still be here. Greedy people would still be greedy and unreasonable people would still be unreasonable. People who now commit murder for religious reasons would still murder; they just wouldn't have a religious excuse.

The less you know about the world, the more you need guidance. The best guide is that which is unquestionable. Unfortunately there is nothing in existence with that characteristic, nor has there ever been. Therefore, religion/god was necessary early on (VERY early on) to get people to work together and also to comfort the lack of understanding of the world. Religon turned what could have been fear into optimism.

Still, at some point, the training wheels have to come off to maximize potential. So, if this question is specifically referring to religion as it exists today and not religion throughout history, I would say yes.

However, because of the importance of religion from the beginning of time, I have to disagree.

no, man is naturally evil. the worst genocidal dictator(stalin) was actually an athiest, proving that no matter what you believe in, you just as much potential to be evil.

Whether the world would be a better place without religion would depend upon what took its place.

The "godless communism" of the last century was supposedly atheistic and also murdered and enslaved people -- making the world worse, not better.

Nearly every religion that has ever existed boils down to a moral code. Every major world religion includes the Golden Rule in its doctrine in some way. While many realize that following the Golden Rule results in good for all parties involved, many more would not follow the Golden Rule if they did not believe that they were bound to do so by some higher power. I believe that the world would be a better place if people stopped caring so much about religious divisions and moved away from religious extremism, but without religion I think that less and less people would still look out for their fellowman.

Maybe if man simply had not created religion he would be better off, but at this late date I feel it would be disaster. The simple fact is that many people would assume that if God is dead; everything is permitted. Many people's only reason for remaining law-abiding is the fear of God.

Look at all the good atheists have done in the world. Look at the hospitals they've built, the ivy-league universities they've founded, the charities they run, the missions they send overseas to feed, clothe and provide medical assistance for the impoverished. What would this world be without atheists?

No, because even if there were no religions, people would still find something to fight about. And, at least in the Christian religions, a lot of people are afraid of hell so they stay away from "evil and sins" which might doom them to an eternity in hell. And in Islam, believers have those 5 pillars that they follow in order to make their lives better and achieve sanctuary in the after life or w/e they believe in. And then Judaism they believe that if you live your life with kindness and to the fullest extent through prayer and what-not then you will be rewarded in the after life and pretty much most religions are formed on that basis which makes the world all around better for the most part.

And I think we have learned from Russia what a world without religion would amount to. [;

Religion is a system of beliefs and values, often (but not always) linked to a deity of sorts. It includes rituals, specific knowledge (captured in the writings of its founders) and a general agreement between its adherents as to what constitutes the core belief.

To believe (which is, to accept something as true with or without the necessary supporting evidence) is an innate human feature. We need it in order to exist as cognitive beings.

It works like this: we start with an assumption (as a hypothesis taken for granted, or a hypothesis that cannot be proven or disproved), either learned from our peers or deduced from our interpretation of our environment. On that conviction we build a new set of convictions. As time goes by, those very core assumptions are no longer questioned and we have a set of beliefs and values, around which we create rituals and social symbols.

On a broad level, science holds true to this phenomenon. It starts with the assumption that we are capable of understanding nature completely through the use of reason and logical languages (such as mathematics). It then builds on that assumption a set of rules as to how to do this, and a number of rituals. It then proceeds to provide a set of values (the value of questioning, the value of proof etc.) Without this very basic assumption science has no meaning, yet it is rarely openly questioned.

So, would the world be a better place without religion? For the world to be without religion, it needs to be without humans, and then "better" has no meaning. We only use that word if it applies to us.

I like science, so my answer, based on my argument, would be a simple "no".

No matter what you do, religion will always be formed. You can not rid the world of a belief system.

I don't think religion is the problem. I think stupid people are the problem. Please read about stupid people and their effect on global warming here:

http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/ Trying_to_combat_global_warming_is_useless

The above link also discusses what we should do with said stupid people. And I don't need some one writing in and saying, "Whose going to be responsible for deciding who is stupid." But if you must ask, what we could do is work it on an honor principle. I mean if you're stupid just fess up. You know who you are so just accept responsibility for your stupidity so that the rest of us can get on with our lives.