Do you think the world would be better without Religion?

I am not a believer however, it is not so much “religion” as it is extremist views that cause so much discord and divisiveness IMO. Everyone is free to believe whatever they want as long as they don’t force their beliefs on others and their beliefs cause no harm.
That said more humans have been killed in the name of religion than any other conflicts since the dawn of time. That pretty much speaks volumes on the evils of extremism and the harm it inflicts.

I think that religion intrinsically promotes authoritarianism, and it is authoritarianism that leads to animosity, dogmatism, and conflict.

I don’t mean that all religious people are as such, or even that religion can’t at times be expressed in a more libertarian and egalitarian way—it’s just that a boss in heaven is the best excuse for a boss on Earth.

Without would be better now that we have outgrown the need for it, if there ever was a need. Before science, it sufficed to explain the unexplainable.

Yes, but it will never happen.

Any group of people will develop a belief system. It’s an integral part of any society.

Roman and Greek civilizations had many gods. They didn’t have a religion per se, but a society guided by various gods. Same with any other society.

Even the Soviet Union, which tried its best to disclaim religion or at least sublimate it to the state, had a belief system.

And what is religion other than a belief system with a little supernatural thrown in?

Anyway, while we would all likely benefit from NO religion, there will always be some belief structure to take its place.

The trouble is that there will always be something to worship other than the 3 spookys, the unknown, the unseen or the absurd. People unfortunately seem to fall into 3 types; those craving instruction on what to believe, others more than ready to “instruct” the first batch, and those justifiably suspicious of the second batch while alarmed at the persistent gullibility of the first.

Yes, I think that the world world be in a better place without religion. It would bring us closer to accoplishing world peace and addressing civil rights.

God, yes.

Absolutely yes.

As a pretty vocal agnostic person I will say I don’t know.

I do feel that there are people that would go fucking bonkers if God didn’t keep them in check. And then you have people that go bonkers because through whatever misguided interpretation of scripture they find killing acceptable.

We are simply doomed.

I think religion is a rather beautiful thing. If we didn’t have disagreements about religion then I think it would be an amazing thing to have.
But, of course, we do have disagreements about religion. So, yes. The world would be better without religion.

Religion seems to promote a form of tribalism; that is it breaks us into groups. It brings rules and structure that provides a sense of comfort that many crave and yet the services rituals that bind the group together promote an us vs them / right vs wrong attitude which leads to conflict with those who do not belong.

While there may be comfort and a sense of belonging derived from being a part of a group the main purpose of a religion is not to provide a platform for spirituality amongst the congregation or within the individual members of the group but to maintain the status quo for those in charge. You get your reward but only by going through those in control.

I would like to say that the world would be a better place without religion but deep down I don’t think it would. We would find (and have found) other ways of defining our tribes.

I think that perhaps the way to go is not through the elimination of religion but the promotion of spirituality.

I don’t believe in God, or gods, therefore I see religion as a product of being human. I don’t think I need to go too far into examples, if you believe that everywhere in history, there has been religion, belief systems and spirituality. Religion has also served many purposes; civilization, tradition, societal and technological evolution, but it has handed many downfalls; war, lack of civilization, poverty, social stagnation.
But since religion is human, all those things derived of it would still exist without religion. In short man is a cruel creature, but he is also an ingenious one. We don’t need religion to adhere to that which naturally comes from, or to us. If it didn’t exist, something else would replace it.

Yes, the world would certainly be better without religion that is a scam. It has caused wars, executions, often by burning, torture, neuroses and psychoses. It has held back progress of civilization and science. The world would be a few centuries more advanced by now were it not for the Dark Ages caused by Christianity.