If you could flip a switch and erase all religion would you?

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i voted no.


for as much as i disagree with it, i wouldn't erase the history and culture and art.

Nor would I skafather84. History is important.

yes, and I'm pretty sure it's going to happen soon.

I didn't vote, because I think it depends. There are religions that are violent and oppressive (I've read the Christian bible. That book disgusts me). I would erase those.

Amen to that.

Definitely. Religion is useless and serves no purpose in the modern age.

You're forgetting two things, for one Stalin's actions were not in the name of Atheism, he didn't do it because he was an Atheist, he just did it. His actions were as caused by Atheism as Hitler's were caused by the Catholic religion. Atheism was not the cause for his actions. The other thing is when a war is done in the name of religion, it generally appears justified, which is wrong. Just because you're fighting in the name of your God doesn't make it right, which fighting in the name of God is still a practice used to this day.

And generally a practice frowned upon by most mainstream religions in this day and age...

No, because religion is a primitive version of the real thing (leading a spiritual life).
People can't be forced to jump levels although they should certainly be strongly encouraged to outgrow religious thinking.

I'll second that. but not just religious beliefs, There is plenty of hate and destructiveness form those of us that do not believe in religion.

Assuming that it is wrong, which I don't believe to be the case.


And most religious wars weren't caused by religion- religion just happened to be a convenient excuse for atrocities that would have been committed anyways. Stalin killed in the name of Communism, and plenty of atheists are just as willing to commit atrocities for a given worldview.


Agreed. Stalin did not kill because of atheism, and Hitler did not kill because of Catholicism. Both had their own selfish motives and pursued them regardless of spiritual/religious concerns. Ostensibly belonging to one religion or another does not make any given person more likely to start wars, kill people, etc.


People will make up various justifications for the atrocities they commit. Do you not remember "War for peace, war for democracy, war to end all wars?" Nationalism can spring up as a sort of substitute state religion and be used to justify wars quite easily. Wars can be waged over ideology, such as communist vs capitalist. Most recently, wars have been justified on grounds of "national security." People who wish to start wars will concoct any excuse to do so.

No. I find the ideals and philosophy of religion to be very interesting.

In the end, people are people are people. Whether Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Jewish, Buddhist, or Agnostic, people are people, and some people do really sh***y things to one another. Humans are still fundamentally flawed humans regardless of what belief system they choose to ascribe to, and so you can find a fair number of a**holes in every religious or nonreligious group you care to look at.

What makes you say that?

Spirituality is very important for humanity and I do not oppose all religions so no. If I could choose which ones than certainly yes. I find it sad that all the ones with positive potential are considered "evil" or disregarded as "mythical" by all the more popular "spiritual" beliefs. I'm just saying that the options for spirituality are so much broader than most people give credit for, even when gods are taken out of the picture. yewhova or whatever his name is/etc from its little relm doesn't belong in any picture so, unless these are eliminated, and do not continue to grow and get passed on I see little hope for our future. It makes me sick that so many innocent children around the world are being told "this is the way it is" by their poison-minded guardians, drilling and programming, completely unfair. I don't care what you believe, you have no right to have that kind of influence on anyones spirituality. If someone wants to join your side they can ask you questions about it when they are old enough and they can make their own decisions for themselves. A persons spiritual path is personal and sacred, and having the integrity of that being taken away before it can even develope is the only one true sin.

No. What would it prove? What good would it do for people who need religion?

Well I don't see religion as wrong in the sense that it's evil or anything like that but I do feel it doesn't answer anything and it's a ridiculous waste of time.


I partially disagree, I agree in the sense that many religious wars weren't caused by religion itself, however undeniable a very large portion of religious wars and wars in general were caused by religion. Can you name me one war caused by Atheism? I'm not asking for a war caused by an Atheist, I'm asking for a war caused by Atheism.


Yes..


Well of course, in most wars they tell you you're fighting for freedom and the enemy is fighting for slavery. However, the reality is the enemy is telling their troops the same exact thing, the words are used to encourage the troops, they aren't literal truth. In reality, neither side has this freedom that's so widely spoken about. They tell troops they're fighting in the name of God to encourage them, here's the problem however which will bring me back to my original point. Just as most troops actually believe they're fighting for freedom, they feel they're really doing God's will. Whether or not this is something actually in a person's religious belief, they still feel divinely obligated to fight, which divine encouragement is far more persuasive to most people than just fighting to keep your country safe. The power of divine encouragement can be seen by our world trade center ceasing to exist today. What could possibly be enough to make you sneak into a country, hijack a plane and fly it into two enormous towers? If God was going to send you to a special martyr's heaven for eternity with everything you could possibly ever want, you might think about it. I know what I said is far more serious than just telling troops they're fighting for God in war, but really religious influence is a powerful motivation for people to give their lives to some old men who wish to keep their land or have other desires fueled by greed.


Trust me buddy, if these people never heard of religion in their lives they wouldn't need it.