What if there were no religion?

[locknroll]

If the first cavemen had laughed their heads off at that loon who thought he knew everything about death, lightning, and that big light in the sky, would our world be remarkably different today?

Would we spend billions on reversing the aging process?

Would soldiers and other people who risked their lives for their jobs, be highly paid, and well respected?

Would we be running out of space to put our cryogenicly frozen bodies?

Would we be more concerned with the health of our planet, if we knew god wasn't coming to fix things?

Wada you think?

 

[Logically Unsound]

yes

yes

yes

yes

but not all that connected with religion really.

 

[duendy]

i also wonder why it is that it came about that man decided to get onto an 'escape trip'....funnily enough, i've been reading in my notes to day about 'Fate'. Meaning the natrual fate of us all, Death!

it seems that it happened that men began to imagine that 'God' was 'intellectual/mind'...or course they came to this idea byerrr, thinkin. 'snap!'

Even magic got caught up in this. Hermiticism.
so we got magic. philosophy, mythology, religion, culture, and now science, still
also caught up in this worldview.

so like you said, this is revealed in the present modern modified vision of prolonging life via super-technology

what a fukin comical mess

 

[fahrenheit 451]

If the first cavemen had laughed their heads off at that loon who thought he knew everything about death, lightning, and that big light in the sky, would our world be remarkably different today?

Would we spend billions on reversing the aging process?

stoping more like

Would soldiers and other people who risked their lives for their jobs, be highly paid, and well respected?

other people yes, soldiers would not have necessarily been needed.

Would we be running out of space to put our cryogenicly frozen bodies?

no as we would be living on other worlds by now. there would have been no religous wars, no religion stopping science advancing, no dark ages.etc..humanity would have advanced further by now.

Would we be more concerned with the health of our planet, if we knew god wasn't coming to fix things.

Wada you think?

the earth would have a fondness to all humanity, but we would be expanding our universe would'nt we.

 

[MarcAC]

If the first cavemen had laughed their heads off at that loon who thought he knew everything about death, lightning, and that big light in the sky, would our world be remarkably different today?

Religion is so intricately intertwined with the definiton of what is it to be a human that noone can honestly say what would or wouldn't be.

 

[fahrenheit 451]

marcac: that is the saddest thing anyone has ever said.
however, oh yes we can honestly say what could have been, as I said in my previous post humanity would have advanced , much further had it not been for religion.

 

[MarcAC]

But hey you can always try...

Would we spend billions on reversing the aging process?

No. Exa-millions.

Would we be running out of space to put our cryogenicly frozen bodies?

We would have run out of space.

Would we be more concerned with the health of our planet, if we knew god wasn't coming to fix things?

Most if not all religions encourage man to take care of the planet. I don't know of any religion which states; "And God shall return to fix the gaping ozone hole created through years of scientific and industrial 'advancement'." Well... more than likely there wouldn't be a planet.

 

[MarcAC]

marcac: that is the saddest thing anyone has ever said.

Oh? How so?

however, oh yes we can honestly say what could have been, as I said in my previous post humanity would have advanced , much further had it not been for religion.

Well, I can justify my answers, can you justify yours?

 

[parasite]

If the first cavemen had laughed their heads off at that loon who thought he knew everything about death, lightning, and that big light in the sky, would our world be remarkably different today?

there is no way that our wouldcould remain uneffected by the lack of religion. Our entire history has been based on religious circumstances, texts and wars. We have lived our lives trying to find the truth about God, divinity and eternity.

Would we spend billions on reversing the aging process?

doubtful. Why would we? I fail to see the connection to religion - unless you mean deep religious thought that we spend eternity in a 'better place' - the fact is though that most scientists are hopelessly secular, and i doubt if they would be swayed from researching the 'fountian of youth' simply for religious reasons.

Would soldiers and other people who risked their lives for their jobs, be highly paid, and well respected?

Again, doubtful. The first wars were not waged for religious reasons. The first battles were fought for power - before religion exsisted (the roman empire - although they had pagan gods which they worshiped, they did not fight for a religious cause) Power has always equaled strength, wealth and size. By the time religion came into the picture war had already found a home amoung civilization.

Would we be running out of space to put our cryogenicly frozen bodies?

I also don't see the religious aspect of this, there has been research done on cryogenicly frozen bodies, and it simply doesn't work. At least not with any technology that we could possibly imagine for even the extended future. Bodieswould trun, literally, into mush if you tried to unfreeze them. There is little or no chance that this process with ever work.

Would we be more concerned with the health of our planet, if we knew god wasn't coming to fix things?

I'm not sure people believe that god will fix things now - honestly, i can't think of a single argument that has ever mentioned divine intervention on the behalf of our environment.

If anything, i believe that without religion we would be less developed as a civilization. In the Middle Ages it was the church that held on to civilized society, and it was the church that became a major part of the northern renissance - the ending of the Middle (aka, Dark) Ages.
Religion has caused its share of war and bloodshed, but the benifits of the organized church throughout human history should not be overlooked

 

[mis-t-highs]

Oh? How so?Well, I can justify my answers, can you justify yours?

you have'nt but he did, I quote

no as we would be living on other worlds by now. there would have been no religous wars, no religion stopping science advancing, no dark ages.etc..humanity would have advanced further by now.

no religion stoping scientific advances because it against gods will or the churches.

parasite:
the original thread ask if there was no religion so all the questions are poignant, as they should not be compared to religion.
99.9999% recuring of all wars were due to religion.

 

[sargentlard]

Religion is so intricately intertwined with the definiton of what is it to be a human that noone can honestly say what would or wouldn't be.

Well put. Most of what we consider "humane" and decent stems from our religous beliefs. Our morality and ethics are closely related to the religious teachings we were put through.

Our sympathy and sense of right stem from compassion and fear. Fear of the unknown and the inevitable consequences.

 

[sargentlard]

99.9999% recuring of all wars were due to religion.

Really?.....I'd day about 70%. Modern warfare wasn't and isn't about religion anymore....it is about plain old greed and desire of power.....wealth.

Modern terrorism is, however, very much because of religion or more like the pathetic excuses involving religion.

 

[parasite]

I'm not disagreeing that most wars were indeed caused by religion - that is a fact
but war had already become a firmly established way of life BEFORE religion, as we know it, evolved.

but i agree, my answers were based on a world that had already been affected by religion - but what other world do we know? The concept of God dates so far back that no one can pretend to guess what a world without divinity might be like. (as MarcAC said)

 

[Gravity]

War would exist without religion. Its simply a very handy way of motivating and controlling large groups.

--------------

McReligion: "Billions and Billions Killed!"

 

[robtex]

gravity good point. We can all speculate and I personaly agree with the posts here but I wonder if there is a country or community other than on cyberspace where athiests are the majority that could serve as a "lab rat" for testing theories like the ones that could be spawned from your questions.

 

[Gravity]

In this community perhaps freethinkers/non-theists are the majority, but on cyberspace as a whole I think probably theists are the majority. How would you suggest testing them?

 

[robtex]

If there existed a community that was non-thiestic geographically somewhere in the world they would be their own test on day to day basis without interference..but I don't know of such a place wondered if anyone else did?

 

[Gravity]

Well, there are countries in Europe with extremely high non-theistic populations. But I don't know of any large areas with such a population. But again, what exactly would you be testing - and how would you impliment such a test? And by what standard would you be measuring?

 

[locknroll]

OK wow, didn't expect so many replies so soon.

Logically Unsound - what do you mean not all that connected with religion really. The promise of an afterlife is a major propnent of many religions. If there is no afterlife, suddenly this life becomes very important, as it is the only life we have. The planet becomes very important because it's the only one we've got. If people are going to invest huge amounts of resources towards the afterlife, if there was no religion, I think people would devote the same amount of resources to the lives we have now.

Parasite - As for war, the fact is, is that if you only have one life, and you are a soldier, you are not going to risk it unless the reward was worth the risk. Unless you are crazy/brainwashed. This means much smaller and less frivolous wars. You are also not sure that people believe that god will fix things now. People don't have to believe that. If we are all going to heaven/hell, saving the planet from long - term destruction is not high on the priority list.

SargentLard - You are right, modern warfare isn't about religion. However, without religion there would be far less willing to risk their lives without lots of compensation.

Oh, and the reason I brought up cryogenics, is simply because it offers the exact same promise as religion. That someday you might be resurected in the future. Hey maybe the ancient Egyptians were on to something :m:

 

[Godless]

Oh man were to start? I will with your questions first:

Would we spend billions on reversing the aging process?

By now we would have had (biologicall immortality)
http://imminst.org/book1/

Would soldiers and other people who risked their lives for their jobs, be highly paid, and well respected?

Perhaps soldiers wouldn't be needed, in a completely free of mystical non-sense world, there would hardly be any wars, wars are not profitable, are irrational, and *Life* would be held as the highest value, so wars would't make sense. However for other jobs that may put people in jeopardy of harm, or fatal they would defenetly be highly payed & very much respected.

Would we be running out of space to put our cryogenicly frozen bodies?

Cryogenics would have been dismised with the advantage of having biological immortality available, all diseases would have cures, nothing would have held back the human intellect.

Would we be more concerned with the health of our planet, if we knew god wasn't coming to fix things?

By now the comcept of god, would have been LONG FORGOTTEN!! however the health of our planet would be good, because the highest value would be life, so life would have been the main objective to keep and preserve of our (hypothetical society) sure we would have had bumps along the way but we would have cleaned up, held the ones responsible, and adapt new methods of doing things for the betterment of our earthly enviorement.

Wada you think?

That we are about 2500 years behind of were we could have been.

For instance by the time of Jesus birth man has his first flight in space, by the time of his death, we would have been to Mars, Jesus perhaps would have been a great architect, that totally revolutionaised the art of building tall mega buildings.

By today, we perhaps would have had to look forward to living 1000's of years, death would be rare, traveling to other solar systems for vacation, who the hell knows. Its unfathomable.

Godless.