7.4 billion animists, who respect nature and living things and each other--no fighting, lots of arts and music and dancing...
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If Everyone Followed Your Religion...
- Thread starter Kirran
- Start date
Shiro
New Member
This is a cool question!
The world would be a heck of a better place if people were to follow Jainism. There would be no war, discrimination, or slaughterhouses, the natural world would be given the respect it deserves. infrastructure and vehicles would be made greener to prevent loss life for many lifeforms, and lastly, people would be a lot kinder and respectful to each other. And to add to the atheist part there would be no silly fights of religious dogma and no silly supernatural beliefs in an afterlife or a soul, things that have caused us to abuse the environment and exploit others.
The basis of Jainism is ahimsa (non-violence, or do no harm) which is why it is a religion that requires veganism and kindness to others as its highest principles.
But Jainism also beliefs in the truth of multiple viewpoints, there is not "true" religion as far as Jainism is concerned, and since the only way religions spread far and wide is through war and forced conversion, ideas that are abhorrent in the eyes of a Jain. Besides everyone is entitled to believe in what they want to believe in.
The world would be a heck of a better place if people were to follow Jainism. There would be no war, discrimination, or slaughterhouses, the natural world would be given the respect it deserves. infrastructure and vehicles would be made greener to prevent loss life for many lifeforms, and lastly, people would be a lot kinder and respectful to each other. And to add to the atheist part there would be no silly fights of religious dogma and no silly supernatural beliefs in an afterlife or a soul, things that have caused us to abuse the environment and exploit others.
The basis of Jainism is ahimsa (non-violence, or do no harm) which is why it is a religion that requires veganism and kindness to others as its highest principles.
But Jainism also beliefs in the truth of multiple viewpoints, there is not "true" religion as far as Jainism is concerned, and since the only way religions spread far and wide is through war and forced conversion, ideas that are abhorrent in the eyes of a Jain. Besides everyone is entitled to believe in what they want to believe in.
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If everyone in the world followed the same faith (or non-religious worldview, e.g. atheistic naturalism), how would the world be different? Would it be nicer, or about the same? Worse, even? What things we see in the world today wouldn't exist, in terms of cultural trends and ideals?
Assume, for the purposes of the discussion, that the whole world's demographics would reflect current religious demographics of your faith. For example, 50-55% of the world's Christians are Catholic, therefore if the world were Christian 50-55% of all people will be Catholic.
If you want, I guess you can discuss it as if all the world is your denomination of your religion (e.g. an Ahmadi world, rather than a Muslim world more generally), just be sure to specify
If everyone in the world followed my religion, then the population of the world would be VERY small, and largely relegated to one general region, most likely a temperate one. Furthermore, they'd also all live with some variation of general Northern European culture.
Basically, it's not physically possible for 7 billion human beings, all living on Earth, to follow Heathenry. It's pretty intimately tied to the cultures of Northern Europe, which are themselves pretty intimately tied to (or at least sourced in for us diasporic English) that region's climate and geography. I'm pretty sure it doesn't have the landmass necessary to support THAT many people.
In terms of other religions not dependent on a specific region's culture, or non-religious worldviews, I don't think it can be said for certain. There's too many variables to consider.
On the plus side, life would be one giant rendition of Fiddler on the Roof.
Thana
Lady
If everyone in the world followed the same faith (or non-religious worldview, e.g. atheistic naturalism), how would the world be different? Would it be nicer, or about the same? Worse, even? What things we see in the world today wouldn't exist, in terms of cultural trends and ideals?
Assume, for the purposes of the discussion, that the whole world's demographics would reflect current religious demographics of your faith. For example, 50-55% of the world's Christians are Catholic, therefore if the world were Christian 50-55% of all people will be Catholic.
If you want, I guess you can discuss it as if all the world is your denomination of your religion (e.g. an Ahmadi world, rather than a Muslim world more generally), just be sure to specify
I don't think much would change.
People are who they are, Religion doesn't change that.
There would still be people uptight about Christmas, They'd still want secularism and Evolution would still be taught in some schools. And we'd still have all the disagreements and arguments that we have now.
Flankerl
Well-Known Member
Quite sure the horse was 6 years old.
If everyone became a Revoltifarian, a whole lotta people would be....
- Minding their own business.
- Going thru the motions of procreating without increasing the population.
- Using Windows 98.
- Minding their own business.
- Going thru the motions of procreating without increasing the population.
- Using Windows 98.
Guy Threepwood
Mighty Pirate
The proof is in the pudding. Before Christianity, the most 'civilized' societies considered watching people die horribly the height of entertainment. Since we mostly live in a world founded on Christian values, I think they are too easily taken for granted.
DawudTalut
Peace be upon you.
Peace be on you...........
If Everyone Followed Your Religion........
If you want, I guess you can discuss it as if all the world is your denomination of your religion (e.g. an Ahmadi world, rather than a Muslim world more generally), just be sure to specify
If so there will be peace.
About the future, following was revealed to the Founder of Jama'at Ahmadiyya [Hazrat Promised Messiah Mahdi (on whom be peace)]:
"" 1892
..........
(B) As it has been disclosed to me through visions, the soul of Hadrat Masih (as) [Messiah] was in travail on account of the falsehoods that had been attributed to him in this age, and fervently desired the descent to the earth of one spiritually his like and he supplicated God Almighty to that effect. So God Almighty responded to his agitation and sent his like into the world so that the promise, already made, should be fulfilled….
The soul of Hadrat Masih, peace be upon him, had two occasions to demand a substitute. The first was six hundred years after his death. This was when the Jews insisted more than ever that he was an impostor and a liar and that his birth was illegitimate and that is why he died on the cross. On the other hand, the Christians proclaimed that he was the son of God and even God himself, and that he had laid down his life on the cross for the salvation of mankind....
It was then that the soul of the Masih [Messiah] was moved, in accordance with Allah’s will, and demanded to be exonerated from all these charges and beseeched God for a substitute. Thereupon, the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was raised… This was the first agitation of the soul of Jesus of Nazareth which achieved its purpose in the advent of our lord and master, our Messiah, the Seal of Prophets, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. [All praise belongs to Allah.]
The second time when the soul of the Masih (as) was agitated was when the Christians completely assumed the qualities of Antichrist…Thus in this age the soul of the Masih was agitated a second time and longed for his substitute to appear in the world. When this desire reached its climax, God Almighty raised one who was his spiritual reflection to defeat the Antichrist of this age. This spiritual reflection, by coming in the likeness of the Masih (as), is called the Promised Messiah.… On account of the current troubles, it was only the advent of the Masih that was called for. It was his people who had been corrupted and among whom the qualities of the Antichrist had spread. Therefore, it was only proper that the soul of the Masih should have been agitated. This is the subtle spiritual comprehension that has been bestowed upon me through a vision.
It has also been disclosed to me that, after a time of piety and purity and the supremacy of Divine unity, the world will again return to polytheism and transgression. Some will devour others like insects, ignorance will prevail, the Masih [Messiah] will be worshipped once again, and the error of creature-worship will be widespread. All this mischief will proceed out of Christianity in the last part of these latter days.
Then again the soul of the Masih will be greatly troubled and will seek its descent in a majestic form. Then, with the advent of an awe-striking semblance of his, this age will come to an end. That will be the end and the expanse of the world will be rolled up. This shows that on account of the unworthy behaviour of the followers of the Masih (as), it had been decreed that the spirituality of the Masih (as) should descend into the world three times.
[A’ina-e-Kamalat-e-Islam 341–346, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 5, pp. 341–346]""
Pages 273+ @ https://www.alislam.org/library/books/Tadhkirah.pdf
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And no birthday would go unnoticed. Ever.
Speaking of deities, they would become a bit like star wars characters in that people would have personal preferences but by and large not be obsessed with them nor see any reason to.
There would be a whole lot of interest in developing healthy relationships, avoiding psychotropics of any kind (alcohol and cannabis definitely included).
Being drunk would be perceived as being on the brink of a moral collapse and seen with extreme concern by family and friends. Using cocaine would be grounds for arrest and medical supervision - say one year every time there is certain knowledge of its use. Actually selling drugs would be grounds for chemical sterelization and imprisonment.
PDAs would become something of an enthusiastic sport. Teenagers would be kept always at eye's reach and have a lot more ear and a lot less privacy then they currently do.
Ethics, sociology and psychology would be valued activities, going far beyond mere careers.
Sallaries would be far more uniform, with the richest people (mostly engineers) earning about five times what the poorest people do. There would be a strongly social state. Healing poverty and particularly mendicancy would be seen as a major concern, one to be solved within one's lifetime.
Earning money due to activities related to knowledge of law would be unheard of, and wanting to do so would be perceived as either a derangement or a serious crime, depending on the degree of insistence.
Spending much money on medical expenses would be perceived with considerable concern and just might allienate a person from friends and even family.
Nationalities would be like email providers: everyone would make a point of having at least one, because they are so useful. Some would make collections.
Personal cars would be the mark of the extravagant and made jokes of. Having large houses would be a bit like having married and divorced six times, in that people might trust you if they knew you well. They just might.
People having two children would be seen with a high degree of concern. Three children would be the rare mark of the bold and reckless, and give a lot of external interest.
There would be strong talk about letting go of surnames.
Children would be allowed to challenge or renew the raising privileges of their parents every couple of years. Foster parent would be a valued social role, perhaps a well paid career.
Nuclear families would be about as accepted as marrying one's first cousin currently is. People would take pride on having their children spend time with their uncles, aunts and close friends, and having no children would be widely perceived as a contribution to society. There just might be some sort of competency test to be given to people willing to have two or more children so that they would not have to pay sharply higher taxes. Giving their second or third child for foster parenting would be socially encouraged. Having or being a foster parent would be a mark of pride.
Mostly everyone would learn how to cook and wash dishes and take pride on that.
Military would become the activity of the down and out. There would be an arms race to extinguish or at least diminish them before other countries did.
Badshah Khan would become a world famous person, an example for so many different movements.
Afterlives and creators of the universe would be seen as exotic interests, hardly of use to anyone.
Politicians would receive about half the wages of basic education teachers, and be seen with so much distrust that they would hardly ever want to serve a second turn.
Children would learn about sex and anatomy at perhaps five years of age.
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Flankerl
Well-Known Member
Except of course that various types of executions were seen as entertainment in the Christian world till rather recently.
Actually, the propagation of Enlightenment and democratic values is arguably more responsible for the change in attitudes towards torture than Christianity. After all, for ages, Christians imagined that one of the satisfying entertainments they'd find in Heaven would be watching people tortured in Hell. The idea was so popular, Michelangelo painted scenes of Christians doing just that.
Oh, really?
Just which faith originated the auto da fe?
Any excuse to post something from Candide.
I try to note the blessed days only of those who treat me as a fellow human.....or at least a tolerated pet.
There are so very many birthdays here!
Thanks for the responses everyone! My, you're a level-headed bunch.
I could get on board with this.
And Iran, as the homeland of Zoroastrianism, would lead the way on legalising gay marriage. Pretty different world, huh?
Sounds very nice as a world Of course, by the nature of the change the Parsis would be relegated to a miniscule minority of the faith, which could well be useful.
Thanks! I haven't seen you around, welcome to RF fellow dharmika Wonderful to have a Jain member around, please do write a little about your understandings, it'd be nice to have discussions in the Dharmic Religions DIR.
I could really get into this Jain world.
Well, this was a turnaround - maybe in your case the religion would 'traditional ancestral religions' or something like that.
I'm surprised to hear you say there'd be peace, as we see conflict among Muslims in the real world, even when the more violent groups have non-Muslims to vent on.
While I'm with you on a great deal of this, it does seem to be rather more 'if everyone was like Luis' than 'if everyone was Buddhist'
Hahaha! We'll have to organise some more elsewhere. Ganga can take the form of other great rivers too, perhaps, like the Amazon, the Nile and the Danube
I could get on board with this.
There'd be less hatred of homosexuals, acceptance of evolution, less historic repression of women and a Fourth Persian Empire
I think it would be a better place, even if only marginally. I do believe though that if people followed Jesus, and not Paul, more seriously, the world could also be better.
But Zoroastrianism also doesn't want to hurt non-believers, so there'd be more tolerance; you can pretty much eat what you want, so no having to go out to super expensive Kashrut or Halal butchers, eh @Tumah. You can drink alcohol, too.
And Iran, as the homeland of Zoroastrianism, would lead the way on legalising gay marriage. Pretty different world, huh?
Sounds very nice as a world
Of course, by the nature of the change the Parsis would be relegated to a miniscule minority of the faith, which could well be useful.Thanks! I haven't seen you around, welcome to RF fellow dharmika
Wonderful to have a Jain member around, please do write a little about your understandings, it'd be nice to have discussions in the Dharmic Religions DIR.I could really get into this Jain world.
Well, this was a turnaround - maybe in your case the religion would 'traditional ancestral religions' or something like that.
I'm surprised to hear you say there'd be peace, as we see conflict among Muslims in the real world, even when the more violent groups have non-Muslims to vent on.
While I'm with you on a great deal of this, it does seem to be rather more 'if everyone was like Luis' than 'if everyone was Buddhist'
7.4 billion Hindus
Hahaha! We'll have to organise some more elsewhere. Ganga can take the form of other great rivers too, perhaps, like the Amazon, the Nile and the Danube
metis
aged ecumenical anthropologist
Not true. Not only didn't pre-Jesus Judaism allow for that, neither did some of the other religions, such as Buddhism plus many forms of animism scattered throughout the world. Christianity simply didn't invent the fact that murder was considered wrong, such as what's found in the Decalogue, in case you don't remember.