What? You realize that we have had all those bad things that you describe, in this world where religion DOES exist? Shit, quite often atrocities are done IN THE NAME OF religion. Regardless, religion is certainly not an effective barrier to genocide, murder, rape, or even charismatic levil eaders.
Additionally, I reject the idea (as expressed by a few posters so far) that without a fear of eternal damnation, we would all sink into becoming thieves and murders. I don’t have a molecule of belief in an afterlife, or any fear of judgement by a god. And you know what, I haven’t killed, raped, injured, pillaged, or molested anyone!!! You know why? Not because I am afraid of the invisible man in the sky, but because I am a responsible member of society.
Religion would vanish if I snapped my fingers? Snapping away over here. I truly think religion is more a burden and drag on the human race than it is a benefit.
You gave the answer in your response " You are a responsible memeber of society". That is a very weak mechanism for controlling behavior as the meaning of being responsible can easliy change depending on who the most convincing leader happens to be.
You also have to remember that the faithful conduct themselves in society out of fear of eternal punishment for deeds proscribed in the scriptures, not out of any internal conscience. So if all these people (perhaps a majority) suddenly had no motive or incentive to be good and decent and tolerant and altruistic people, the whole fabric of civilization would crash immediately into lawless anarchy. If no higher order is there to command them to love thy neighbor, they sure as hall wouldn’t, if hating their neighbor was in their own best selfish interests.
How does that follow? Religion is an invention; a tool used by those hungry for power to control others, and for the rest a tool to provide answers to meaningless questions. These needs don’t go away with the finger click.
If you did the same thing with airplanes, they would also be reinvented immediately, and likewise be really dangerous for a while.
Depends. As part of the magic spell or whatever, will the people who depend on it also either not need it anymore or have something less destructive take its place in their lives?
You can’t eliminate crutches unless you fix legs too.
I wouldn’t. I oppose forcible mind control, except in perhaps the most extreme cases (ie, insanity to such an extent the victim can no longer make judgements of informed consent).
I do think the result would be a significant moral and intellectual improvement in humanity, though.
Not if it works. It actually working would put it in an entirely different category than religion.
It would only be like religion if you clicked your fingers and nothing happened, and then you kept clicking your fingers over and over again for the rest of your life, sure that it’s going to work sooner or later. Or you click your fingers, nothing happens and you convince yourself that it worked and that everyone else is just lying about still being religious.
Why would they find it unfulfilling? Especially if they have no concept of an alternative?
This line of objection only works if you believe there’s some underlying truth to religion that mankind can’t achieve any other way, and that they will always yearn for even without knowing why or what they yearn for… IMO, utter bunk.
The idea that we need religion to keep us from being barbarians, I completely reject. I’ll trust the reality that most people are at their core good people over the premise that an abstract threat of an afterlife punishment is all that keeps people in line.
Look around the world today. The charismatic leaders? Yep, using religion to control the masses. The overwhelming majority of wars currently raging in the world? Yep, religious in nature. Terrorism? Yep, religious in nature.
I am a responsible member of society, not because of the ability of society to control me, it’s because of who I am as a person. I think to refer to that as a “weak mechanism” shows a general fear of other people. YMMV, but I think most people at their core want to do the right thing.
That’s what I meant by “answers to meaningless questions”. But even if that weren’t the case, power-hungry individuals would invent religion as a means of control.
Questions like “what is my purpose?” can’t possibly have satisfying answers, and hence aren’t legitimate. Religion tries to answer them anyway. People can be self-directed without these things. If you want to help people, or make a lot of money, or find inner peace, or whatever, you can do these things without inventing someone to judge you. But it’s difficult, and religion provides easy almost-answers.
That is a noble sentiment! There are plenty of examples of religious figures resisting an unjust power structure.
Sadly, the history of religions across the ages is made up of so many contrary examples, where massive injustice, ordered by the leaders, is sanctioned by religious authority. So much so that it forms a major, if not the principal, indictment against religion posed by atheists and agnostics.
If all religion disappeared overnight people would find different ways to cope and fill the void it would leave.
Perhaps Muslims would take five tea breaks every day to reflect on how things are going.
Christians may take an hour every Sunday morning to get together and sing old songs.
And atheist might find solace in buying Madagascar hissing cockroaches to shove up their rear ends so they can argue about who has the biggest or most vicious.