Religion, A Benefit To Mankind? Or Not?

[jomifl]

Would mankind now be better off had religion not been invented? supporting reasons for your opinion can be as controversial as you think the AB thought police will allow.

[vulcan42]

If people want/need an outside source to give themselves comfort then the concept of religion is acceptable but the problems arise when they try to inflict this on others.

[gness]

Morning, Jom....when I think of how much happier and better my life has been since leaving the Catholic Church and having nothing to do with religion I would say yes, mankind would be better off.
But then religions were started to gain power over people...and to abuse that power so if not religion it would have been something I guess.
Though with religion having this "invisible" being watching over you and promising you wonderful rewards if you follow his representatives on earth or eternity in hell if you don't it was clever thinking from a warped mind.

[Baldric]

Some benefit from it, that's for sure,
If it were not for all the Religious Institutions where would all the Child Molesters hide?

[Cannedgranny]

The child molesters recently in the news, where were they hiding?

[atalanta]

Religion has brought a lot of power and riches to a few men, especially to some men who saw they weren't quite powerful enough to challenge kings and armies, so then pursued their ambitions within a religious heirarchy . Religion has brought a great deal of grief to an awful lot of women- forced to accept pregnancies they didn't want, husbands they didn't want, violence they didn't want, celibacy they didn't want ( being forced into nunneries, for instance) life-choices they wouldn't have made for themselves, and even death in the name of the religion of their menfolk.
In fact I find it difficult to think of any real advantages at all which male-dominated religions may have given women. How many can you think of ?

[emmie]

child molesters don't always belong to a church.

[emmie]

none at all.

[sandyRoe]

Probably not.
If the people who had used religion as a cover for their sins had lived in a society where religion held little meaning, the Soviet Union as example, they'd have used their position in The Party to advance their aims.

[emmie]

surely in Catholicism the guilt is the thing, in Christianity its because you are deemed a good person, no idea why, don't stop Christians being murderers, rapists, thieves.

[Graham-W]

I think, in the past, religion has had a part to play. It subjugates the masses and gives a set of moral codes with only the promise of a reincarnation into a better life next time round.
Without the promise of a better life, and a threat of a hell for the ungodly, anarchy would have prevailed. Why live an honest and virtuous life if there is nothing at the end of it. Far better to "eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die."
Two other quotes spring to mind:
Voltaire: If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.
Karl Marxs: Religion is the opiate of the masses.

[China Doll]

Hang on.... before I answer this on a purely knee jerk athiest reaction; would we really be better off without the music? Would our lives be more enriched without the architecture? At one pointvwasn't religion the one area making all the scientific break throughs, including in medicine? I'm not being difficult but I'd like answers tonthese questions before making a decision. Yes, I would happily do away with religion NOW, it has no part in my life, but not at the expense of some of the positives that our society is built on that happened as a result of religious influencd in the past.

I don't think it's that easy to cast religkon and its influence on society aside, good or bad.

[emmie]

i wonder how the godless fared then, were they all horrible people hell bent on destruction, or they simply refused to believe in any non existent deity and got on with their lives.

[emmie]

the music, architecture didn't have to be inspired by some religion or other,
i wonder how many composers were not inspired by any god. Or an architect who designed a magnificent building because the King wanted it.

[Cannedgranny]

That's correct Emmie, so there are a lot of evil things going on in this world which are not necessarily carried out by religious people. I don't condone those done by the religious but am tired of everything being blamed on religion. Not all religions force marriages, stone women to death, won't accept blood transfusions etc etc.

[Graham-W]

Galileo had books banned by the Roman church because he claimed the Earth was not the centre of the Universe.
He was tried by the Holy Office, then found "vehemently suspect of heresy", was forced to recant, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.
Thanks Church, for giving us the "Truth".

[emmie]

but people do these things in the name of their respective religion, just like now, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, they don't hold with others right to their lives, or faith, so wish to project their ideology on others,
they have been doing that for many millennia.

[sandyRoe]

I believe he also had his illegitimate daughter put into a convent. Could his house arrest be seen as karma?

[ludwig]

// would we really be better off without the music? Would our lives be more enriched without the architecture? At one point wasn't religion the one area making all the scientific break throughs, including in medicine? //

All those things would still be there, they'd just have different inspirations and subjects behind them. You wouldn't have hymns, but you'd still have beautiful choral music. There wouldn't be cathedrals but there'd still be magnificent buildings.

As regards science, I'd argue religion has done more to retard the progress of human knowledge than it has to advance it.

[jomifl]

Is it not possible that had not so much intellectual effort been devoted to religion (not just religions) then perhaps mankinds understanding of reality might have progressed at a faster rate and developed in different and perhaps more beneficial directions. Having 'mastery of the Earth' hasn't helped us appreciate it's value or take more care of it.

[Graham-W]

sandyRoe
If you subscribe to the Buddhist religion, then yes, it could be seen as Karma. If you subscribe to atheism it's withholding the truth.