what if religion had never been?

[VAE VICTUS]

what if in human history,religion had never occured?how would that have changed things?a very general question.

[The Stranger]

well we never would have had crusades.
Nero couldnt blame christians
no holocaust
hitler had to blaim, well sumone else
no 30 years war
no america
no pope that could stop attila

want more you can get more

no old man saying we must not use condoms
no racism based on Religion

i come back with more later

[Taurus]

Imo without religion there would be no wars or very little at least.

[King Henry V]

Without politicians, without people with power there would be no wars. As Clausewitz said "War is a continuation of politics".

[yesdachi]

what if in human history,religion had never occured?how would that have changed things?a very general question.

By religion do you mean God, Allah, Buda, etc. or Thor, Zeus, Ganesh, etc. or all?

Were the pharos revered as “gods” a religion?

Can the Native Americans worship of the earth be considered a religion?

In a broad sense religion has affected almost everything on earth, ever. Not sure if I can fathom what it would be like without it.

[Sjakihata]

Religion, was, a great catalyst for knowledge and education. Only priests knew how to read/write back in the days.

I dare say that a world without religion, we would be living in a world without as much value as today. But now it is time for religion to go.

[Azi Tohak]

...

[yesdachi]

Imo without religion there would be no wars or very little at least.

I think people would still fight; religion just gave them a reason.

[Redleg]

An impossible thesis to begin with. The earliest written records of man show that religion had major impact on all civilizations.

Without religion in those times - its doubtful that our civilization would of ever gotten past the hunter/gather stages of early man.

Edit for moronic word use - pasted is not a word LOL

[Colovion]

Man is intrinsically lonely.

He searches for meaning outside of himself and outside of the physical world. It really isn't possible to not have religion, or the context of such an idea.

I don't think anyone goes through life without looking outside of themselves for something other, something unexplained, something wonderous. It doesn't have to be an organised relgious thought process, simply the search is indicative of the process.

[The Marcher Lord]

I don't think it is religion per se which causes wars. Religion, believing in a god or other divine manifestation and having faith in that belief, is all about humans needing a crutch to try and understand their short existence and ultimate demise. Pretty much every religion tries to re-assure you that there will be an afterlife and that your short existence isn't pointless and cruel. Religion is more about re-assurance and security in the belief of an afterlife than anything else, therefore its usually a good thing as it keeps a lot of people sane. I am not religious myself though

Religious differences are used as an excuse for war along with ethnic hatred, sectarianism and economic or geographic expansion. Religion is only dangerous when fundamentalism is allowed to distort the original peaceful teachings and intentions of a particular faith. Fundamentalism is always practiced by a minority in society for their own gains and never reflects the original peaceful teachings of the parent religion. So I would say religion is not inherently dangerous, but the people who practice it can be

[Byzantine Prince]

We would already be in paradise.

[caesar44]

To answer the question - better .
Take this young Jew who lived 2,000 years ago in Judea , all he wanted was "just" to overthrow the religious establishment and what his followers did ? they established the biggest religious-political establishment of all times - what an irony . (please , anyone , don't take it as an offence , it is just a fact) .

[Soulforged]

Religion, was, a great catalyst for knowledge and education. Only priests knew how to read/write back in the days.

I dare say that a world without religion, we would be living in a world without as much value as today. But now it is time for religion to go.

Agree. Even more because today they're the catalysts of ignorance and irrationality.

[Colovion]

To answer the question - better .
Take this young Jew who lived 2,000 years ago in Judea , all he wanted was "just" to overthrow the religious establishment and what his followers did ? they established the biggest religious-political establishment of all times - what an irony . (please , anyone , don't take it as an offence , it is just a fact) .

intersting way of putting it

[Azi Tohak]

...

[Redleg]

There would be less violence. Less hate and prejudice. We'd be farther ahead, technologically, without that long stretch from the fall of the roman empire until the renassaince where technological advancements were often tantamount to heresy.

Not a correct assumption. Wars were fought for many reasons - religion was only one of many.

Skin color often is used as a cause and justification for violence. What nation you are from etc.
Lets see the Fall of the Roman Empire was not from religion it was from many different causes.

I'd be a much happier camper. Where do I sign up for this no-religion world you speak of?

You might be a happier camper - but its a stretch to think that the world would be more peaceful if there was no religion in the historical past

[Colovion]

Communism screwed the USSR. Not Athiesm.

since when is a Dictatorship and poor leadership choices Communism? the more correct wording would be that their gov't screwed them seeing as they never reached the ideal which is Communism. Having never attained something, it couldn't screw one, could it?

[Byzantine Prince]

The modern world would bear no resemblence to what we know now.

Seriously, how can one argue with something like that? You have a time machine? Can you go back in time and erase religion off people's minds? No! As if they wouldn't make up new ones :rollseyes:
Have you any idea how many religions people have made up out of thin air until now? It must be in the hundreds of thousands. The modern world would be very different if some monkey killed some other monkey back in the prehistoric era. lol. Hell the future world would be different if I hadn't just typed in this statement!

Why do so many people despise religion?

Hating religion has become cool since Nietzsche and Schopenhauer my friend, better get used to it.

[Colovion]

I know a lot of people will want to say

"But religion cultivated the morals and laws we have today"

First off, we all know our society doesn't have these things perfected and largely man isn't one who enjoys being bound to strict restraints.

Perhaps simply the reason that religion has such a backing of morality and justice is simply because they are desires at the core of our being and spirituality is the beginnings of religion.

[Papewaio]

Name a major civilisation that did not have at its kernal a religion...

[Gregoshi]

Topic closed since manners seem to be lacking.

[Gregoshi]

Upon closer review of the thread, I was a little hasty is closing the discussion. A few somewhat disrespectful comments caught my eye at 5am (going to bed, not waking up), so I closed it. My apologies. However, I do request thread participants show a little more sensitivity in making their points regardless of their stance on the issue.

[Bartix]

no america

How America is depending on religion for existing?

I also think wars would still have been. There will be envy, fear, hatred of something. Many wars not religiously motivated.

There is in religion sometimes evil things, like caste system and other forms of thinking some peoples of less worth than those chosen by divine order for finer things. Could be fascinating to see if more tolerance possible....

God would be upset, maybe, if religion had never been

[Al Khalifah]

Without religion, mankind would never have developed as a species beyond a level slightly above that of common beasts. Larger cultures would not have developed without a unifying factor or code of morals enforced by a handily omnipresent entity.

The first civilisations could not survive without religion and this is a trend that continued (especially in the West) until at least the reformation. Religion enforced the status quo and social order required for the civilisations to develop in an organised way.

[Geoffrey S]

People without religion are just that--people without religion. They come in both good and bad flavors. The one common factor, however, is that they are open to logical explanations of the universe, as opposed to the Supernatural.

Disputable. Both approaches get to wild conjecture when creation is a topic. There are many religious researchers who have as clear a view of science as their agnostic counterparts; one could argue even more so, since in a way they accept that such things as creation cannot be explained by human means.

On the main subject, a world without religion is impossible by definition when sentient beings are involved. Any person who can think has thoughts along the lines of 'why are we here' or 'where do we come from', and in the early periods of civilization no other explanation can be found other than in a religion. Come to think of it, science and the like can't even give us answers to such questions even in this modern age.