Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Robert Karp on March 2, 2012 at 10:15am

Please clarify. What exactly do you mean by "...will be like China". In what way?

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Permalink Reply by JD Stockman on March 2, 2012 at 10:25am

I'd like to point out that while China doesn't believe in a heavenly god, they do believe in an earthly god... the Divine Emperor. SO... to say that China would not change without god is a little reckless considering they get their orders and ideas from a living entity they view as a god, thus they are directly following their god's orders in morality, politically, and socially. China without a god would be nothing like it is now.

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Permalink Reply by chiz on March 2, 2012 at 12:16pm

Nothing would be the same if religion and superstition were removed from history. Nothing.

Everything from the clothing we wear to the architecture of buildings. Nothing you know now would have even the tiniest semblance of what it would be in this alternate reality. Every corner of the world has been touched by religion in some facet or another. The language we speak, music, fears, goals, dreams, the tree of knowledge, education, science, technology, etc. The very cultural skeleton of the entire world would be completely different. In "The Selfish Gene" Richard Dawkins talks about how the general hierarchical structure of the very first human groupings were defined by superstition and a belief of "something else". The "something else" or the "us vs. them" mindset has been the very core of our understanding from the very beginning.

Humans would have to think differently at a very fundamental level in order for this fantasy to ever be realized.

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Permalink Reply by Sophie on March 2, 2012 at 12:20pm

Humans would have to think differently at a very fundamental level in order for this fantasy to ever be realized.

/Nods

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Permalink Reply by Frink on March 2, 2012 at 12:31pm

Well said.  I would also add that we should be hesitant to believe that a purely atheistic history would automatically be a better one.  We're essentially thinking meat.  There's no guarantee of anything when it comes to how we behave.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Walski on March 2, 2012 at 12:52pm

Your describing a world with no fear of the unknown when you say a world with no god/religion/superstitions. 

So are you talking a world where people know all the mysteries of life and the universe?

Or are you talking a world where we are fearless and live only for the moment?

Either way at the core your talking a world where human beings are not the people we are today.

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Permalink Reply by Dave Gibbs on March 2, 2012 at 9:45pm

Reduced middle eastern tensions. Iran would not be pursuing a nuclear weapon after Ahmedinajad stating that he would gladly kill a million Palestinians to wipe Israel off the face of the map... The Jews would not have an armament of nuclear weapons pointed at enemy nations... nobody would be fighting over holy ground. The conservative party in the U.S. would not have religious leaders feeding their heads with biases against foreign cultures and religions, thus the U.S. would be less apt to force its military presence onto other nations' borders... as a consequence, the U.S. would not kill civilian women and children with bombs in the middle east, and the U.S. would never again face suicide/anthrax/etc. attacks from desperate terrorist groups.

In short, dramatically less violence against humans.

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Permalink Reply by WillardBolinger on March 3, 2012 at 12:40am

I believe it would be a lot different. Freedom of women would mean huge changes. Men of course we be very different when women are free to fully participate in the world for centuries. I have many reasons to believe that humans would solve many of societies inequalities that we suffer from still. The few having so much while others did without would change dramatically. Wars again I believe would be controlled through international bodies of countries , perhaps something along the lines of the UN. The Secutity Council would have to change that gave veto power to the large and powerful countries I could easily imagine at tremendous amount of changes throughout the world and its various countries.Education among people would be much better. It is hard to imagine poverty being allowed or billionaries. Ownership and private wealth would become circumscribed out of necessary. Health care for all would not be controversial like in Europe and some other places. Real science would have been common for a long time and the benefits would be immesureable. But we would have learned so much by that time. Just imagine the possiblities. "White people" well new term will be invented because well are all pelple "of color" and "We are all Africans" in origin and we are all related. What a change that will be. I wish I could live to see it but I am almost 70,July of 2012!!. But I have done my part to change things my whole life and I not close to leaving this world yet!! Your friendly Neighborhood Atheist from Kansas City, Mo. Willard Bolinger

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Permalink Reply by Pope OoO (Out of Order) on March 3, 2012 at 2:04am

Perhaps a world with Godess could have worked out better?

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Walski on March 3, 2012 at 2:23am

Think the idea was improving the world not making it worse..

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Permalink Reply by orpat on March 3, 2012 at 9:39am

I think world could go either way-better or worse. Belonging to a society devoid of religion, i will form this opinion-racism will be more prevalent, historical warriors will replace gods, the race which is more advanced will hate other races. This is based on my personal experiences and my opinion is personal, which might as well be either wrong or right.

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Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on March 3, 2012 at 10:06pm

People do love to hate - and if they can't hate incompatible religions then race would likely be at the top of the list.

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