Religion
In reply to the discussion: What contirbution has religion given to the advancement of mankind that has come from nowhere else? [View all]tinrobot
(10,895 posts)To claim that religion "only" creates something is like saying that flour "only" creates a layer cake. Flour contributes to the cake, certainly, but it does not act alone. It's a unique combination of ingredients that creates a cake - flour, sugar, eggs, etc. Each of these are responsible in their own way for the cake being a "cake". Remove any of these and you don't have the same cake, if there's a cake at all.
Similarly, religion has been an important ingredient in most cultures since the dawn of civilization. To claim that the one ingredient of religion is the sole reason for anything is a rather narrow view. It was religion in combination with many individuals and events that drove areas of history and innovation - both positive and negative. Remove the contribution of religion and you rewrite history, which is fun to imagine, but also nothing more than an intellectual exercise.