Would the world really be a better place?

[SkylarHunter]

Sometimes I wonder what will happen to organized religion. Thanks to a lot of people becoming atheists but mostly because of the horrendous things religions do everyday with God's will as an excuse (nevermind that God has nothing to do with it) thousands of people are leaving.
Do you think organized religion can survive or will it eventually disappear either due to lack of interest or by government intervention? After all, there are a lot of financial problems out there and religions are a great source of income - someone will realize that sooner or later.
If organized religion disappears or becomes banned, will the world really be a better place or will the problems simply be replaced by other problems?

 

[ChristineES]

I doubt sincerely that not having religion will change the people of the world nor change the things that happen. It's too easy to blame our problems on single source; including religion.
Human nature is the cause of the world's problems.

 

[Sunstone]

If organized religion disappears or becomes banned, will the world really be a better place or will the problems simply be replaced by other problems?

In my opinion, it would be a better world if people would spend a couple hours brushing up on their study of logic on Sunday mornings, rather than worshiping. But not much better. Just marginally.

That will never happen, though. My guess is that religion is hardwired into us. It's never going away, although it might become more benign.

 

[Quintessence]

Since when was organized religion a problem?

See, the trouble with humans is that they keep on supposing that reality ought to be some other way than it is. And because reality inevitably fails to conform to their expectations, they label something in reality as a "problem." If it isn't one thing, it's another. Humans patently refuse to accept reality for what it is without judging it or demanding it to be something else. Until we can do this, current "problems" will inevitably be replaced with other "problems."

 

[LuisDantas]

Religion will certainly survive, but it can hardly be expected to remain similar to what it used to be. Just like happened before so many times.

To an extent at least, that is a good thing. That change is necessary exactly because new challenges arise and demands new answers.

 

[sojourner]

The problem isn't with religion, itself. the problem is systems of power. In the Western world, Christianity has been a system of power and cultural formation for nearly 2000 years. Therefore, it's going to do what it can to remain as powerful and influential as it can, using existing power structures. Those structures serve to keep the powerful in power and the the powerless powerless. Religion will survive, but in the case of Western Xy, it will have to change drastically, IMO, and become once again a voice for the powerless instead of the powerful.

 

[Ingledsva]

Sometimes I wonder what will happen to organized religion. Thanks to a lot of people becoming atheists but mostly because of the horrendous things religions do everyday with God's will as an excuse (nevermind that God has nothing to do with it) thousands of people are leaving.
Do you think organized religion can survive or will it eventually disappear either due to lack of interest or by government intervention? After all, there are a lot of financial problems out there and religions are a great source of income - someone will realize that sooner or later.
If organized religion disappears or becomes banned, will the world really be a better place or will the problems simply be replaced by other problems?

I think we are going to find that more and more people become SPIRITUAL, rather then religious.


Spiritual, by the way, does not have to mean belief in a God.



*

 

[gilligan8914]

"become once again a voice for the powerless instead of the powerful"

Christianity has never been a voice for the powerless. Look up your christian history.

 

[Sunstone]

Christianity has never been a voice for the powerless. Look up your christian history.

Among the many currents that flow together to make up "Christianity", one has been its role as a voice for the powerless. It seems to have inherited that social consciousness in large part from Judaism.

 

[StarryNightshade]

Even if all religion (organized or otherwise) disappeared off the face of the Earth tomorrow, I'd guarantee that people would still find reasons to hate, kill, and discriminate against one another. Not to mention, war, famine, disease, and poverty would still exist.

In short, I think the world would still stay the same.

 

[Sunstone]

Even if all religion (organized or otherwise) disappeared off the face of the Earth tomorrow, I'd guarantee that people would still find reasons to hate, kill, and discriminate against one another. Not to mention, war, famine, disease, and poverty would still exist.

In short, I think the world would still stay the same.

I think any improvements would most likely be marginal. And yeah, people would still find plenty of reasons to be jerks.

 

[yoda89]

Do you think organized religion can survive or will it eventually disappear either due to lack of interest or by government intervention? After all, there are a lot of financial problems out there and religions are a great source of income - someone will realize that sooner or later.
If organized religion disappears or becomes banned, will the world really be a better place or will the problems simply be replaced by other problems?

Well to begin banning religion is not the solution. Review Russia and its push to diminish it. Steps taken such as removing tax exceptions from them is a not violent act that surely could do it. Many people have realized that religion is a great source of income and sell it for a living.

Religion is a concept many times introduced when people are younger. Children are very impressionable and trusting of those who care for them. While many do come about their faith as an adult most beliefs are passed down. Therefore it is up to each generation to decide for themselves and shed this tradition. It is very often a placement for things we cannot completely comprehend and are unwilling to admit that we do not. We claim a source until we truly understand it.

It is difficult as a species to tell if there will come a time when people will be able to not be influenced by religion. We may not survive that long. However, if that point does come there will be a different mentality overall.

 

[Sunstone]

The problem isn't with religion, itself. the problem is systems of power. In the Western world, Christianity has been a system of power and cultural formation for nearly 2000 years. Therefore, it's going to do what it can to remain as powerful and influential as it can, using existing power structures. Those structures serve to keep the powerful in power and the the powerless powerless. Religion will survive, but in the case of Western Xy, it will have to change drastically, IMO, and become once again a voice for the powerless instead of the powerful.

I think that any reforms along the lines you're proposing are most likely to be made from within the religions themselves. That doesn't mean, though, that I wish to devalue external pressures to reform. Just that, if Christianity in particular, and other religions in general, are ever to become largely benign influences, it will be mostly the result of religious people becoming activists for such.

 

[gilligan8914]

Among the many currents that flow together to make up "Christianity", one has been its role as a voice for the powerless. It seems to have inherited that social consciousness in large part from Judaism.

Being a voice for the powerless is useless unless it is a "force" for the powerless. Christianity is not a voice of the powerless, it is a voice for the power hungry. A voice does not mean power for the powerless, but power for those that have duped others into believing that a common voice is power.

 

[Sunstone]

Being a voice for the powerless is useless unless it is a "force" for the powerless. Christianity is not a voice of the powerless, it is a voice for the power hungry. A voice does not mean power for the powerless, but power for those that have duped others into believing that a common voice is power.

So what do you think of the role Liberation Theology has played in the actions of Bishops, nuns, priests, and other Christians in aligning themselves with Latin and South America's powerless? Just curious.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Even if all religion (organized or otherwise) disappeared off the face of the Earth tomorrow, I'd guarantee that people would still find reasons to hate, kill, and discriminate against one another. Not to mention, war, famine, disease, and poverty would still exist.

In short, I think the world would still stay the same.

^This.

The problem is a human problem. All the reasons that humans use to abuse each other are just covers for the true source of the problem. Evolution explains the source of this problem quite clearly - our being primates with certain traits embedded in our genetic code that lead us to act in atrocious ways. To be frank (haha), I think the only way we're going to create a world of peace is through extreme genetic modification of the human species.

 

[Pegg]

Sometimes I wonder what will happen to organized religion. Thanks to a lot of people becoming atheists but mostly because of the horrendous things religions do everyday with God's will as an excuse (nevermind that God has nothing to do with it) thousands of people are leaving.
Do you think organized religion can survive or will it eventually disappear either due to lack of interest or by government intervention? After all, there are a lot of financial problems out there and religions are a great source of income - someone will realize that sooner or later.
If organized religion disappears or becomes banned, will the world really be a better place or will the problems simply be replaced by other problems?

the bible book of revelation says that the end of religious influence will come by Gods own hand.

And when religion holds no influence in government, or over the lives of people, then there will be greater tribulation then what we experience today.

 

[SkylarHunter]

^This.

The problem is a human problem. All the reasons that humans use to abuse each other are just covers for the true source of the problem. Evolution explains the source of this problem quite clearly - our being primates with certain traits embedded in our genetic code that lead us to act in atrocious ways. To be frank (haha), I think the only way we're going to create a world of peace is through extreme genetic modification of the human species.

Evolution doesn't explain anything and blaming evil on genetics is simply cowardly. We are aware of the difference between right and wrong and if we chose to do wrong it's our responsibility.
When someone abuses a child, robs someone else's property or picks up a gun and starts killing people they know it's wrong but they do it anyway because they want to. They could have used self control, they could have walked away and done something else.
Hitler told his soldiers to kills minorities and they did. Don't tell me they all had a genetic condition.
I don't believe we are all 100% good or 100% evil but we all have a chance of making decisions that will affect others.
Unfortunately a lot of people don't have a conscience or a small bit of compassion to go with their freedom.

 

[SkylarHunter]

the bible book of revelation says that the end of religious influence will come by Gods own hand.

And when religion holds no influence in government, or over the lives of people, then there will be greater tribulation then what we experience today.

I know the prophecy in Revelation 17:1-4 but it's a metaphor. How do you know for sure it refers to religion and not something else?

 

[illykitty]

There's much larger issues, IMO, than organised religions. Blaming each other is another of the many distraction to keep us from the real problems.

Btw, like others, I think there's always another reason (or distraction) that humans would turn on each other, unless we were to change a lot of things and also our way of thinking.

I don't think though that we are bad by default. I think we all have good and bad inside and that we develop one way or another because of nurturing, environment, socioeconomic situation, etc. A lot of it is learned, IMO, unless it's an illness (like sociopathy).