Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Pangea · 05-22-2002, 06:13 PM

I would hope there would be a greater general thirst for knowledge of all kinds. Reading would be more valued than the play station, so to speak.

I do think man is generally self destructive to a certain degree but I like to hope that we can evolve past all the petty bullshit.

Nice thoughts, anyway.

Pangea · 05-22-2002, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kvalhion:
<strong>Negating the negative effects of religion would be a huge step forward, to say the least. Even so, do you really think a majority of the world population are ready to cope with the reality of life without the dangling carrot of religion?</strong>

No, I don't. I think there is too great a number of people who totally depend on religion for hope, fulfillment and happiness in their lives to ever allow even the slightest doubting of their belief system. Self-preservation will drive them to an extremely defensive position and that's when things usually go downhill fast.

hinduwoman · 05-22-2002, 06:33 PM

One phrase: critical thinking

Automaton · 05-23-2002, 06:01 AM

* No more atheism. (The word "atheism" would lose meaning and descend into obscurity, and be held in the same regard as the word aSantaism.)
* No more religious debates.
* No more SecWeb.

Gurdur · 05-23-2002, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Automaton:
* No more atheism. (The word "atheism" would lose meaning and descend into obscurity, and be held in the same regard as the word aSantaism.)
* No more religious debates.
* No more SecWeb.

ROFL, ROFL. Now there's a point.

Shake · 05-23-2002, 07:42 AM

Well, I'd like to think there'd be an increase in scientific interest and funding, but honestly, not all of the opposition to science is religious. Just the other day, a co-worker asked why we're spending all this money on space (NASA) when we've "got enough problems down here." Some opposition to science and scientific research is simply based on ignorance to the potential of what this research will produce. Lots of people give money for cancer or AIDS research, but would still vote less funds to NASA. What if the answer to curing AIDS is found through some NASA project? Won't that change some peoples' minds?

MarcoPolo · 05-23-2002, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by tdekeyser:
No more suicide bombings

Suicide bombings might go away, but suicide in general would increase, I think. Here's why. I think a lot of people kill themselves because they think they're going to a better place afterwards. I think A LOT of people avoid killing themselves because they think if they kill themselves, they'll be going to hell (or some other religious bad place.) If they knew that by killing themselves, it would just be over, I think it would happen more often.

Quote:

Morality can finally be a self-thing

Are you saying that each person will then be able to decide what is moral for themselves? If that's the case, I'm just thinking about all the laws that would have to change. Rape and child pornography laws come to mind.

[ May 23, 2002: Message edited by: MarcoPolo ]</p>

wildernesse · 05-23-2002, 11:27 AM

Seeker196: Less Violence. Atheists know this is your only shot, so I think there would be less violence.

I don't think this is necessarily true, any more than I think that hellfire keeps Christians from sinning. This is the same argument that the death penalty reduces crime, because of the "ultimate punishment".

Maybe for religious violence--but there are so many other reasons that people hurt one another (ethnicity, education level, class, etc.). Immaturity and ignorance cause most violence--maybe a better reason for less violence in a non-theist world would be that atheists (currently) are more educated and mature than the general public. At least y'all like to think so.

I thought about this, and tried to imagine myself as a non-theist and how that would differ from me now. I can see how the security, love, and worldview that I get partly from my religion could have been supplied by other means, so I don't know if I'd be different--and maybe most people wouldn't really be that different in this new world. Sometimes I think that what many atheists see as the overpowering of religion in everyone's life is really the problems of society magnified through this specific filter of religion.

That's all I want to say right now, my thoughts aren't really well ordered at the moment. I'm just getting used to posting and how posting differs from face-to-face conversation. Be patient please!

--tiba

[ May 23, 2002: Message edited by: wildernesse ]

[ May 23, 2002: Message edited by: wildernesse ]</p>

ex-preacher · 05-23-2002, 11:34 AM

Amen, sister! I feel a de-conversion coming on! Are you with me? Can I hear you?!

Straight Hate · 05-26-2002, 06:46 AM

Without religion, we'd see more people tackling various world problems head-on rather than praying for some figment of their imagination to solve them, all-the-while using "it's God's plan" as a sickening cop-out to fall back on when trying to justify the world's problems.

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05-22-2002, 06:13 PM	#11
Pangea Regular Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: the dark side of the moon Posts: 316	I would hope there would be a greater general thirst for knowledge of all kinds. Reading would be more valued than the play station, so to speak. I do think man is generally self destructive to a certain degree but I like to hope that we can evolve past all the petty bullshit. Nice thoughts, anyway.

05-22-2002, 06:33 PM	#13
hinduwoman Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: India Posts: 6,977	One phrase: critical thinking

05-23-2002, 06:01 AM	#14
Automaton Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 717	* No more atheism. (The word "atheism" would lose meaning and descend into obscurity, and be held in the same regard as the word aSantaism.) * No more religious debates. * No more SecWeb.

05-23-2002, 07:42 AM	#16
Shake Contributor Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Folding@Home in upstate NY Posts: 14,394	Well, I'd like to think there'd be an increase in scientific interest and funding, but honestly, not all of the opposition to science is religious. Just the other day, a co-worker asked why we're spending all this money on space (NASA) when we've "got enough problems down here." Some opposition to science and scientific research is simply based on ignorance to the potential of what this research will produce. Lots of people give money for cancer or AIDS research, but would still vote less funds to NASA. What if the answer to curing AIDS is found through some NASA project? Won't that change some peoples' minds?

05-23-2002, 11:27 AM	#18
wildernesse Veteran Member Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 1,578	Seeker196: Less Violence. Atheists know this is your only shot, so I think there would be less violence. I don't think this is necessarily true, any more than I think that hellfire keeps Christians from sinning. This is the same argument that the death penalty reduces crime, because of the "ultimate punishment". Maybe for religious violence--but there are so many other reasons that people hurt one another (ethnicity, education level, class, etc.). Immaturity and ignorance cause most violence--maybe a better reason for less violence in a non-theist world would be that atheists (currently) are more educated and mature than the general public. At least y'all like to think so. I thought about this, and tried to imagine myself as a non-theist and how that would differ from me now. I can see how the security, love, and worldview that I get partly from my religion could have been supplied by other means, so I don't know if I'd be different--and maybe most people wouldn't really be that different in this new world. Sometimes I think that what many atheists see as the overpowering of religion in everyone's life is really the problems of society magnified through this specific filter of religion. That's all I want to say right now, my thoughts aren't really well ordered at the moment. I'm just getting used to posting and how posting differs from face-to-face conversation. Be patient please! --tiba [ May 23, 2002: Message edited by: wildernesse ] [ May 23, 2002: Message edited by: wildernesse ]</p>

05-23-2002, 11:34 AM	#19
ex-preacher Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: University of Arkansas Posts: 1,033	Amen, sister! I feel a de-conversion coming on! Are you with me? Can I hear you?!

05-26-2002, 06:46 AM	#20
Straight Hate Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Winnipeg, Canada Posts: 4,171	Without religion, we'd see more people tackling various world problems head-on rather than praying for some figment of their imagination to solve them, all-the-while using "it's God's plan" as a sickening cop-out to fall back on when trying to justify the world's problems.

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