Would society fall apart without religion?

[Evander]

"the ghandi quote doesnt mean what you are wanting it to mean."

My take was that there is the idea of religion and what good it can do, and then there is what religion (often) can do in reality. Though I have only a "pop" knowledge of Ghandi (from the movie + wikipedia + philosophical quotes from various sources i collect).

"Not sure why you quote Ghandi but he caused many Indians to die needlessly and drove the British out of India (causing violent clashes between Hindu, Muslim and Sikhs) and look at India now. Imagine if British Imperialism had continued to today; India would have been a thriving first world superpower."

I wonder how many Indians would agree if you told them imperialism was for their own good. Perhaps we should restart colonizing other "lesser" civilizations for their own good as well.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: amdforever2
Society will not fall apart without religion.

Religion is rule through fear. People no longer, and arguably never did, need to be ruled that way.

O RLY?

And what keeps you from just robbing a bank when you need money?

Going to prison or getting shot dead.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: Nik

Originally posted by: Taggart
One of the roles that religion has played historically is maintaining standards of 'decency' and right and wrong. Be good and you go to heaven. Be bad and go to hell. Do you think society would go into a dark age without this incentive?

I am not religious btw, I just think a lot of otherwise degenerate people have an incentive to be 'good' because of religion.

You have an incredibly narrow-minded view of religion. Heaven and hell only exist in one religion and there are a great many more religions around the world.

I think most religions try teaching the basics of right and wrong. I think human beings are inherently evil. However, society is falling apart even WITH religion; without SOMETHING to push the basics of right and wrong like religion, society would simply fall apart faster.

humans are not inherently evil, we are ignorant, stupid, and driven by need. old life, if we needed food, we'd go kill it. this life, we need money, so we go to work. some rob banks or kill people for money. how one goes about fulfilling his needs does not make one evil, as they branding is only based on moral ethics of society as it is today. in an older culture not defined like ours is, that could be considered something that should be praised as those people are doing something the more direct and obvious route, versus doing work that isn't necessarily worth the time when comparing to the direct route.

 

[0roo0roo]

meh its like asking if society would fall apart without tyranical authoritarian dictatorial regiems.

sunnis vs shiites or whatever in iraq working real good eh?

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: RGN
Religion brings moral code, without morality there is no right and wrong, with out right and wrong....

morality can be arbitrary and senseless when based on religious customs and scripture. if the bible called for smashing kittens to death on birthdays because it is good, then it would be good even if it made zero sense. if your holy book told you to kill black people because they are spawns of satan ...who are you to argue eh? its morality

its a really bad thing to base what is good and bad on religious morality. bin ladin thinks its moral to fly planes into buildings full of civilians for instance. his moral duty. suicide bombings are also religiously justified. killing the infidel is good and moral.

 

[Taggart]

Originally posted by: Nik

Originally posted by: Taggart
One of the roles that religion has played historically is maintaining standards of 'decency' and right and wrong. Be good and you go to heaven. Be bad and go to hell. Do you think society would go into a dark age without this incentive?

I am not religious btw, I just think a lot of otherwise degenerate people have an incentive to be 'good' because of religion.

You have an incredibly narrow-minded view of religion. Heaven and hell only exist in one religion and there are a great many more religions around the world.

I think most religions try teaching the basics of right and wrong. I think human beings are inherently evil. However, society is falling apart even WITH religion; without SOMETHING to push the basics of right and wrong like religion, society would simply fall apart faster.

I know 'heaven' and 'hell' only exist in Christianity, but if I'm not mistaken most religions have some form of afterlife. Some have an afterlife that is rewarding and one that is punishment. For example, you get the virgins in paradise in Islam if you blow your self up.

 

[CVSiN]

Originally posted by: Taggart
One of the roles that religion has played historically is maintaining standards of 'decency' and right and wrong. Be good and you go to heaven. Be bad and go to hell. Do you think society would go into a dark age without this incentive?

I am not religious btw, I just think a lot of otherwise degenerate people have an incentive to be 'good' because of religion.

no it would be the first step to a global unified community..
religions are evil they blind peoples morals and beliefs with that thier region thinks is right..
if we could dump all that nonsence and just move on the world would be a better place.

 

[Sentinel]

Originally posted by: Taggart
One of the roles that religion has played historically is maintaining standards of 'decency' and right and wrong. Be good and you go to heaven. Be bad and go to hell. Do you think society would go into a dark age without this incentive?

I am not religious btw, I just think a lot of otherwise degenerate people have an incentive to be 'good' because of religion.

Nope, I think morality can be based on nothing more than what you value and human nature it to value certain things, like life. Anyway, that's what I got from Sartre.

 

[preslove]

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: Evander
"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."
Albert Einstein

"It is my firm opinion that Europe does not represent the spirit of God or Christianity but the spirit of Satan. And Satan?s successes are the greatest when he appears with the name of God on his lips."
Ghandi

Not sure why you quote Ghandi but he caused many Indians to die needlessly and drove the British out of India (causing violent clashes between Hindu, Muslim and Sikhs) and look at India now. Imagine if British Imperialism had continued to today; India would have been a thriving first world superpower.

:roll: Britain was largely responsible for fomenting those ethnic clashes. The British were absolute monsters to the Indian's.

 

[timosyy]

This thread made me lol.

 

[FoBoT]

anarchy, that is what many anti-religionists want

 

[mb]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
anarchy, that is what many anti-religionists want

Anarchy:
Absence of any form of political authority.

Yes, we want anarchy. Because without religion, we would no longer have political authority.
:roll:

I know you said many and not all, but still, give me a break. I don't think many people at all want anarchy, save for the hippies. And no one like hippies.

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: Taggart
One of the roles that religion has played historically is maintaining standards of 'decency' and right and wrong. Be good and you go to heaven. Be bad and go to hell. Do you think society would go into a dark age without this incentive?

I am not religious btw, I just think a lot of otherwise degenerate people have an incentive to be 'good' because of religion.

Agreed, but apparently, not agreed by everyone.
Religion and moral codes that have consequences even if not by society are key to maintaining a decent level of social order. There are crazies everywhere though, and most people that are too wacko, will use anything, even religion as an excuse to harm others.

 

[HomeAppraiser]

Wasn't this a Tripping the Rift episode?

 

[phantom309]

Originally posted by: Patrick Wolf
If there was no religion, what reason would people have to live? Maybe we'd get by purely on our instincts? I don't know.

This question can't be answered, only pondered, since religion has been around for as long as forever.

What about aliens? There's almost a 100% chance some sort of aliens exist, did God create them?

What reason do we have to live now? We're ruled by an omnipotent diety who will one day judge us - oh wait, he's omnipotent so he already knows if we're going to Hell or not - so there's no point in judging us - to prepare for a final battle of Good and Evil whose outcome he already knows, since he's omnipotent.....so there's no point in fighting it.....

 

[CVSiN]

Originally posted by: DaShen

Originally posted by: Taggart
One of the roles that religion has played historically is maintaining standards of 'decency' and right and wrong. Be good and you go to heaven. Be bad and go to hell. Do you think society would go into a dark age without this incentive?

I am not religious btw, I just think a lot of otherwise degenerate people have an incentive to be 'good' because of religion.

Agreed, but apparently, not agreed by everyone.
Religion and moral codes that have consequences even if not by society are key to maintaining a decent level of social order. There are crazies everywhere though, and most people that are too wacko, will use anything, even religion as an excuse to harm others.

Um just becasue there is no religion doesnt mean people will be bad... there are things called LAWS and PRISON and DEATH PENALTY which religious or not are all bad things.. and if there was no religion and no belief in the afterlife I think alot of people might be alot more careful with thier lives as they now have nothing to reassure them false hope that this is not all there is..

 

[Powermoloch]

IF everyone knows common sense. sure why not?

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
China is doing fine without religion.

Funny how in the absence of religion you usually have an iron-fisted dictatorship. And in the case of China, the lack of religion is a direct cause of the government.

 

[magomago]

As a religious person....The answer is a clear NO. We humans are intrinsically good, therefore we can strive to improve things around us; society would not fall without religion because we have an inate sense of good that does not allow that. I will think though that any advanced society DOES have religion in it. Especially for those of us who do beleive in a monotheistic religion...why would God have favored many cultures who have exapnded and became powerful yet they worship their idols all day long? Clearly one could say they are far away from God, and perhaps they are (And its not my place to say...)...but the point is that without "the correct beleif" they can still thrive and create a vibrant society

because society would not fall apart with religion