Religion = concept of God /supreme being for this thread .
There would be no religious wars ! But what else ??
Better or worse or Same ??
I’d say same… In the long run. Sure some atrocities might not have occurred. But we humans are a resourceful lot, I’m sure we’d find something to kill one another over rather than just religion. Perhaps we would have more territorial disputes and attacks over land and all.
I don’t see it as being an unjust or lawless society or anything, I think there would simply be pros and cons, and it would simply have been different. But no major drastic changes.
Though, the whole supreme being thing I feel was a necessary part of human evolution- we evolved over time with (my opinion) the ability to develop religion as a way to comfort ourselves with a fear of the unknown. So I think that’s where there would be the most interesting changes, in the Early stages of Humanity, when Man was learning about Fire, Death, and tools. Because that’s where having something to overcome the darkness might have been a quicker start to forming cultures and societies and rituals. Without Religion sort of boosting that part of things, I think it would have taken a different route, maybe a bit longer- perhaps early man would be more hesitant and fearful? Not sure- but I’m sure we’d develop all the same. In the later stages, I think it wouldn’t really make a big difference in the long run- not sure what would happen with human rights and all that, it could go either way- sure we might not have certain laws in place, but maybe we would if a secular tyrant came along and established that one cultures norm should be the norm for another. So it could still vary on that front.
*Note, for the Religion concept I took it to mean no belief in the Supernatural OR mystery- in terms of the “Supreme Being” sort of definition- because that I feel was an integral part of Early Man’s Development. As Joseph Campbell would point out, we are mythological inclined creatures, so by removing that sense of mystery and belief system, I’m not really sure how we’d develop as a culture and a society. That’s where I think the most vital changes would occur, and that would have to be the first thing to overcome before we even think about things like the Inquisition and the Moral Majority or Morality.
How would early primitive Man form a collectivist society? And how would they survive in a harsh world other than simply focusing on survival. Mythology is one of those things I feel essential to starting and forming a cultural identity…
Though if that’s not what you’re going for then I suppose I should bow out early. But that’s the first thing I think of when I hear “No God or supreme being”= No Mythology = a retarded Cultural Identity/Development.
Ro0sh,
Interesting view point ! I have no pre-supposed views and am looking forward to varied responses, as per the dope standard ! 
Now, if they did not spend much time trying to explore the mysteries of God, there would have been lot of spare time and intelligence to focus on other things !
We would not gave got some great scriptures . But would we have made all the ( past 2 centuries) technological advances say 2 millenia ago ??
People would probably be more free of guilt.
There would be fewer divisions between people, and less outright crazy behavior without religion manufacturing them.
If you mean just monotheism and not religion in general, the effect would still be pretty positive I think. You’d still have religiously generated irrationality, but not as much religious intolerance. The claim that there’s one and only God practically demands intolerance.
Religion is just an unsophisticated and unusually permanent form of politics: a specific view of the evils of the world, an idea of how to combat them, a roster of powerful individuals (God, Satan, Carter, Reagan) battling for the fate of the world/nation, and rival groups of ideologues competing to have their ideas implemented to the exclusion of others. I think our history would look pretty much the same without it; surely some form of politics would have occupied its place and we would now be talking about the neverending Communist/Fascist war instead of the neverending Jewish/Muslim war.
I don’t mean to be snarky, but have you read the Old Testament?
Hostile Dialect,
Hostile Dialect, Narcissist
I view religion as man made, while faith is of God. Religion has been used to dominate a population, empower the few over the masses and control them, use them as forced labor. Much of civilization as we know is of a result of this. Without religion there would be fewer class divisions, fewer more powerful people, less oppressed people and IMHO far fewer advances as well.
Do you mean to say a classless society will not make much progress ??
“Religion” was and is critical for evolution. “Religion” is merely a set of theories that people created in order to explain things we didn’t, and don’t, understand. Without religion, we wouldn’t have science.
What is that shiny thing in the sky?
How was the Earth created?
Why is everyone dying?
What happens to us when we die?
Why isn’t it raining?
Since we didn’t know the answer, it was reasonable for us to attribute everything to a mystery being or beings. “God’s will” was as reasonable as any other explanation. But that didn’t stop inquiry and investigation. That curiosity eventually led to “scientific” theories such as the Big Bang theory, the theory of evolution, the discovery of viruses and bacteria. But it all started with the question.
Religion was a necessary stage in our evolution from wild animals (to whom “ignorance” doesn’t even apply, having no cognitive context) to fully rational creatures. We’re not quite there yet. As I see it, we are very nearly there, which I find frustrating but completely understandable. There must, by definition, be some late stage of development in such a tremendously difficult transition, and we’re in it now.
But religion, or something very much like it, was essential. Once we conceived that there was a universe out there (and in here), we slowly began to search for explanations–it’s absurd to think we could have hit, straight out of the box, on the most defensible way of framing that inquiry. We were bound to hit upon dozens if not millions of positively stupid approaches to a coherent explanation of why we are here, and how the universe operates. Now most of the people on this planet have it narrowed down to maybe half a dozen narratives, with “science” being close to providing the dominant narrrative. IMO, we are still a century or so away from the religious narrative having no appreciable sway. But I can’t conceive of our getting close to cognition w/o passing through a religious phase lasting millennia.
Assuming we did not arrive at and use that interim solution , what would humans be like today?? why ??
Probably for the better in most areas, but to the detriment of a few important ones. It is likely that Art and Music would have suffered without the powerful emotional catalyst of religion. Still, A world without religion would likely be more peaceful, more environmentally stable, farther advanced scientifically, and healthier in terms of our relationships to one another.
This is kind of like asking “What would cars be like if we had never evolved into air-breathing mammals?.”
I’d say it’s to big of a change to be able to tell.
A question for the OP: When you say religion, are you referring only to organized religion, or are you referring to a belief in deities?
Thank you.
Bull and shit. This is a perfect example of a post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy. Since science developed after religion, science must be the result of religion. Except, no, it isn’t. It can be argued that both are the result of humans’ natural curiosity but it’s nevertheless clear that religion developed first because it was the easier path; making up shit to explain the world around you is easy but actually ascertaining the reality of it is much more difficult. Science would have fared much better in the absence of religion since religion is essentially codified ignorance.
O.K.
Your point is that it is impossible to tell. Fine!
Czarcasm,
I meant a belief in a supreme power ! Not necessarily organised !
Thank you !
a related question .
Is there any example of belief in God existing idependantly without getting converted into a religion ( in ancient times ) ?