Religion

guillaumeb

(42,649 posts) Thu May 17, 2018, 08:53 PM May 2018

What if religion had never existed? [View all]

Fantasy? Of course.

Religion and spirituality have apparently accompanied humans for hundreds of thousands of years.

But, what if humans had no religious impulse at all? What would be the result?

Nirvana? Or the exact same history of conflict over different areas of difference?

71 replies

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What if religion had never existed? [View all] guillaumeb May 2018 OP

The world would be a better place Alpeduez21 May 2018 #1

So there would be no tribalism? guillaumeb May 2018 #2

You asked the question Alpeduez21 May 2018 #6

A revealing answer. guillaumeb May 2018 #8

You make that point all the time Alpeduez21 May 2018 #10

Feel free to provide citations to these posts. guillaumeb May 2018 #11

True. Its quite obvious. procon May 2018 #13

An even more revealing response Major Nikon May 2018 #16

"Without the absolutism of religion differences of opinion can be worked out." trotsky May 2018 #23

Do you have faith that this would be the result? guillaumeb May 2018 #34

Based on what I see from you. n/t trotsky May 2018 #68

It is good to have faith. eom guillaumeb May 2018 #70

Less. Voltaire2 May 2018 #17

Humans create the religions they need, along with MineralMan May 2018 #3

Off topic. guillaumeb May 2018 #4

Given human nature, that would never occur. MineralMan May 2018 #5

Why not? guillaumeb May 2018 #7

For unanswerable questions, a deity is the logical response. MineralMan May 2018 #21

I often think about the differences Alpeduez21 May 2018 #9

It would certianly mean there would be one less problem to deal with. Eko May 2018 #12

Would another take its place? guillaumeb May 2018 #35

Speculation. Eko May 2018 #37

All of this is sheer speculation. guillaumeb May 2018 #40

I agree with you that all of this is indeed sheer speculation. Eko May 2018 #41

To promote dialogue, and to inspire others. guillaumeb May 2018 #42

So you asked a question in the post. Eko May 2018 #48

If you are referring to #12: guillaumeb May 2018 #50

Thanks! I appreciate it. Eko May 2018 #51

NOT humanism!!!! guillaumeb May 2018 #52

Huh, why not? Eko May 2018 #56

I was joking. guillaumeb May 2018 #58

I personally believe Eko May 2018 #60

Well said. Nothing to add to that. eom guillaumeb May 2018 #67

Seems people are rejecting your false dichotomy Lordquinton May 2018 #14

Of course he's getting nasty. trotsky May 2018 #20

Very routine as well Lordquinton May 2018 #25

Religion and spirituality are two different things marylandblue May 2018 #15

And the form of that spirituality? guillaumeb May 2018 #36

You should ask the spiritual people that question marylandblue May 2018 #44

You have none? guillaumeb May 2018 #45

Religion is for people who have read about hell. marylandblue May 2018 #46

And would that spirituality help people? guillaumeb May 2018 #47

My answer is self explanatory marylandblue May 2018 #49

We wouldn't have science. DetlefK May 2018 #18

Au contraire. PoindexterOglethorpe May 2018 #28

Religion was science for early humans. guillaumeb May 2018 #43

It may have been an attempt to explain the world, PoindexterOglethorpe May 2018 #61

You have a wrong perception of this. DetlefK May 2018 #63

Actual experiments done to determine if something is real PoindexterOglethorpe May 2018 #65

You'd be a lot happier. trotsky May 2018 #19

Oh snap! Lordquinton May 2018 #26

That would mean a different make up edhopper May 2018 #22

Agreed. guillaumeb May 2018 #38

Organized religion has been around for way less Voltaire2 May 2018 #24

Now to be fair, there was probably a great monkey god / banana provider 100,000 years ago! Moostache May 2018 #27

Time is, apparently, hugely relative for some. MineralMan May 2018 #29

The op explicitly referred to "religion" and "spiritualism". Voltaire2 May 2018 #30

Your timeline is probably optimistic, really. MineralMan May 2018 #31

Oh I agree. But I wouldn't object to a 10,000 Voltaire2 May 2018 #32

Overstatement is an error of ignorance. MineralMan May 2018 #33

Your own unproven contention. guillaumeb May 2018 #39

Er no. We've been over this repeatedly. Voltaire2 May 2018 #62

John Lennon would have had one less hit. malchickiwick May 2018 #53

Lennon had plenty of hits. guillaumeb May 2018 #55

That song was plagiarized...cost George a fortune, I believe. malchickiwick May 2018 #59

I have never heaerd of the song. guillaumeb May 2018 #66

I wonder if there would have been a lot more people in the world Ilsa May 2018 #54

Or more overcrowding, guillaumeb May 2018 #57

Fascinating post hoc rationalization. Act_of_Reparation May 2018 #69

Doubtful, since the largest Christian denomination strongly prohibits MineralMan May 2018 #71

War has never been a major edhopper May 2018 #64