Like that really needed to be said right?
I'm going to use war as an example, but God knows that there are hundreds of examples that I could use to back up the claim I made in the title.. and I'm going to make a lot of assumptions.. so deal with it.
When we take a gander at the middle east, we find thousands of atrocities being committed in the name of a "God" -- in the name of Allah to be specific. Having an arguably more 'civilized' culture, the vast majority of the world views these actions as horrifying, that these people are actually *insert disgusting crime against humanity here* in the name of their deity.
Now lets take a look at our 'civilized culture.' Without gods, or a higher power, or a heaven.. would war be so prolific throughout the world? I honestly don't think so, and here's why: by signing up for the armed forces, you know that there is a chance that you will lose your life. The majority of the atheist population that I've talked to (myself included) believes that you simply cease to exist once you die, and I don't know if I've spoken to a disproportionate population of atheists, but the one's who I've talked to pretty much all agreed that they would rather face the consequences than to fight in a war (especially in an arguably pointless war). The religious populations believe that there is something after death -- whatever that something may be is irrelevant, but they all believe that there is a some continuation of the consciousness that we experience here on earth. So why would you give your life in a war if you believed that consciousness simply ended once you died? Altruism has its limits....
This article is a little old, but it backs my claim up
Without religion, would people still give there lives, their already infinitely sort span of consciousness, to a cause deemed 'important' by politicians and war mongers? I think that religion is a perfect tool to make people give their lives, and for this reason alone, I believe that our world would benefit immensely from it's disbandment.
I'm going to use war as an example, but God knows that there are hundreds of examples that I could use to back up the claim I made in the title.. and I'm going to make a lot of assumptions.. so deal with it.
When we take a gander at the middle east, we find thousands of atrocities being committed in the name of a "God" -- in the name of Allah to be specific. Having an arguably more 'civilized' culture, the vast majority of the world views these actions as horrifying, that these people are actually *insert disgusting crime against humanity here* in the name of their deity.
Now lets take a look at our 'civilized culture.' Without gods, or a higher power, or a heaven.. would war be so prolific throughout the world? I honestly don't think so, and here's why: by signing up for the armed forces, you know that there is a chance that you will lose your life. The majority of the atheist population that I've talked to (myself included) believes that you simply cease to exist once you die, and I don't know if I've spoken to a disproportionate population of atheists, but the one's who I've talked to pretty much all agreed that they would rather face the consequences than to fight in a war (especially in an arguably pointless war). The religious populations believe that there is something after death -- whatever that something may be is irrelevant, but they all believe that there is a some continuation of the consciousness that we experience here on earth. So why would you give your life in a war if you believed that consciousness simply ended once you died? Altruism has its limits....
This article is a little old, but it backs my claim up
Without religion, would people still give there lives, their already infinitely sort span of consciousness, to a cause deemed 'important' by politicians and war mongers? I think that religion is a perfect tool to make people give their lives, and for this reason alone, I believe that our world would benefit immensely from it's disbandment.
