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@Jim " to art and culture it certainly has. Without religion there would be no mythology, no need to dedicate wonderful buildings to the Glory of God, etc. To pretend that such culture would have existed anyway is to... pretend"
I think you might have that slightly backwards Jim. Religion arises out of the myths created to satisfy humanities primate need to explain the ineffable, or the terrible, or the unknown. It is a human construct.
And as for art and culture inspired by religion - yes, you can find examples.Cathedrals, for instance. Took generations to build some of them - Lincoln Cathedral springs to mind. Some great art was inspired by religious themes.
Does not mean our art or culture would have been bereft of such inspiring or illumination works had religion not existed though. That our cultural life would have become an artistic wasteland.
And for every cathedral I can think of equally inspiring buildings =like the Burj in Dubai, or The Shard in London, for example. Equally majestic, equally awe-inspiring, and most definitely not built for the glory of god - mammon perhaps, or just man :)
Personally, I think history tells us that religion has acted as an anchor on humanities development, rather than a spur, and continues to be one now, dragging its feet over equal rights, in a muddle over its attitudes towards sexuality,presuming its pre-eminence as the lodestone of human morality when it is patently evident that within its own ranks are venal or in denial about their own sexuality or who abuse their position to abuse the innocent for their own gratification.
Difficult, if not downright impossible to prove, I know, but personally I think humanity would be further advanced scientifically, artistically an culturally had religion not existed.....