Motion: The World Would Be Better Off Without Religion

Please state whether you're for or against the motion and then defend your position! If you need inspiration or talking points please feel free to enjoy this debate:
http://intelligencesquaredus.org/index.php/past-debates/the-world-would-be-better-off-without-religion/

It's important to pay attention to the language of the motion; we're not talking about whether or not a specific religion is true, just whether or not the world would be a better place without it.

Im for it. It is a nice concept, but all it does is start trouble.

More wars have been started over religion then anything else. I feel like also makes people more close minded to other things.

There really is no logical point to it. Be a good person. Its not that fucking hard. Why do you need a list of rules to follow?

Quote from Ashlander

Im for it. It is a nice concept, but all it does is start trouble.

More wars have been started over religion then anything else. I feel like also makes people more close minded to other things.

There really is no logical point to it. Be a good person. Its not that fucking hard. Why do you need a list of rules to follow?

What about it do you feel is "nice"? I'm not sure more wars have been started because of religion over anything else; what about resources (economic)?

Also, what do you mean by good? Without religion what is your source of moral truth? Or if there is no moral truth what measure do you use for determining a "good" action and a "bad"?

Quote from TheSaw

What about it do you feel is "nice"? I'm not sure more wars have been started because of religion over anything else; what about resources (economic)?

By a nice concept i mean, that its something for people turn to when they have questions about life, or in times of grief, things like that. But there will always be people that believe or interpret it in another way, and that will cause trouble. Like the Crusades, and pretty much everything else in the middle east for example. Maybe in a perfect world, and there was one single universal religion... but that would never happen. Peoples free will would lead them to interpret things differently, then we're back to square one again.

Also, what do you mean by good? Without religion what is your source of moral truth? Or if there is no moral truth what measure do you use for determining a "good" action and a "bad"?

I think its pretty much common sence what constitutes 'good' and 'bad'. Im not the slightest bit religious, and i can tell the difference.

I don't like this question, it's not specific enough. Do you mean, "The world would be better off if religion never existed." or do you mean "The world would be better off if everyone alive today stopped being religious"?

Er, I don't like the question either. I think the world would be different, but not necessarily better. Wars over religion would have just been fought over something else, people want power and wealth and glory and all the rest of it, and use Religion as a convenient excuse/way of manipulation. That being said countless Christian charities definitively make the world a better place. I would say the world would be better if people were brought up with common respect and etc, regardless of religion.

Quote from CNiper

Wars over religion would have just been fought over something else

How do you know?

And charities can raise money without being religious. Religion is completely irrelevant to philanthropy.

Because, "Religious Wars", at least in the last 200 years, have been mainly relevant on socio-economic conditions and not Religion.

Let me put it this way, in the U.S and Canada, how many radical militant Muslims are there? Almost none, because these people are in mostly content situations.

Now go to the poverty and uncertainty that some countries in the middle East face, and the militant % begins to rise.

This isn't just with Muslims, poor Catholic countries have their equally terrifying radical militant forces. Religion becomes an political means to an end, and not spiritual and devout like how it was meant to be.


Also to your charity comment, they don't have to be religious, no, but because of the doctrine of Christ, many choose to do "His work", and these charities would not have existed without that proper motivation.

people who use religion to justify their good deeds should be shot in the face. You should not help other people because "God" tells you to do so, you should help them just because they're human beings.

I think that there is absolutely nothing wrong with religion. Without it, you would basically be saying that you have nothing greater than yourself to believe in. Taking away religion would basically mean that everyone would have to be atheist, and believe in science, and stuff. It's kind of like freedom of choice.

Quote from Excellion1498

I think that there is absolutely nothing wrong with religion. Without it, you would basically be saying that you have nothing greater than yourself to believe in. Taking away religion would basically mean that everyone would have to be atheist, and believe in science, and stuff. It's kind of like freedom of choice.

Religion in itself is alright, but when it starts getting in the way of science it gets annoying.

People think that Atheism devalues life, but really, it glorifies it much more than any religion. There is no afterlife. This is your only chance at living, so make the most of it. Everybody else's life is just as valuable as yours, and there are no second-class citizens or pariahs. There are no external demons to fight against other than your own personal evil. Atheism doesn't only glorify the importance of life, it capitalizes on how well you spend it.

Quote from Excellion1498

I think that there is absolutely nothing wrong with religion. Without it, you would basically be saying that you have nothing greater than yourself to believe in. Taking away religion would basically mean that everyone would have to be atheist, and believe in science, and stuff. It's kind of like freedom of choice.

You dont 'believe' in science. Science is proven facts, back up by evidence.

Evidence which you choose to believe in.

Quote from Fusion

I don't like this question, it's not specific enough. Do you mean, "The world would be better off if religion never existed." or do you mean "The world would be better off if everyone alive today stopped being religious"?

The motion is broad enough for you to argue your specific interpretation. For instance, you might think that the world would be better off without religion, but only if the major world religions acknowledged they were man made (and didn't get their marching orders from a divine power).

Feel free to debate your specific opinion.

Quote from CNiper

Also to your charity comment, they don't have to be religious, no, but because of the doctrine of Christ, many choose to do "His work", and these charities would not have existed without that proper motivation.

It doesn't matter, because there are secular charities that do just fine. Second of all, Jesus Christ is a very bad role model in terms of morality. According to the Bible, he called a woman a 'dog' and refused to help her dying child because she was not Jewish. Also, there is a passage in the Bible where he passes by a fig tree and kills it with his godly magic because it was not bearing fruit for him to eat. He also strongly approved of the blatantly unethical laws of the old Testament.
Would you consider someone who is racist, irrationally selfish, and bigoted a good role model for a charity to base their ideals upon?

This is all assuming he actually existed which he probably didn't.