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Without religion, would society fall apart?
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Say, somehow it was proved that there was no God, and that when you die all that remains is your body, no soul, no afterlife. If this was proved inconclusively, would society fall apart, as people would know there is no punishment after death for any act committed on earth?
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Do Athiest's kill, steal and generaly brake more "commandments" than those of religion? I don't know but I suspect not. It strikes me that in many cases religion is used as an excuse by those thiest as an excuse or escape from thier guilt.
The evangilist whos states his adultary/theft was gods temptation and he fell BUT he is sure god will forgive him. The chance of eternal damnation was clearly no deterent to them.
Priests who abuse children, thefts of sacred things from churches etc etc
Oh and Sandy:
John is given a great taste for lechery by the chroniclers of his age, and even allowing for some embellishment, he did have many illegitimate children
This was King John and he wasn't alone.
The flesh is always willing the spirit cannot resist temptation.
The evangilist whos states his adultary/theft was gods temptation and he fell BUT he is sure god will forgive him. The chance of eternal damnation was clearly no deterent to them.
Priests who abuse children, thefts of sacred things from churches etc etc
Oh and Sandy:
John is given a great taste for lechery by the chroniclers of his age, and even allowing for some embellishment, he did have many illegitimate children
This was King John and he wasn't alone.
The flesh is always willing the spirit cannot resist temptation.
"Do Athiest's kill, steal and generaly brake more "commandments" than those of religion? I don't know but I suspect not. It strikes me that in many cases religion is used as an excuse by those thiest as an excuse or escape from thier guilt."
probably not out of religious motives, but people who do these horrid things, tend to blame anything they can to relieve their own culpability. religion is easy. it were god that made me do it, as opposed to 'i was let down by the system' is just trying to bring other people to account, rather than admit personal responsibility.
The evangilist whos states his adultary/theft was gods temptation and he fell BUT he is sure god will forgive him. The chance of eternal damnation was clearly no deterent to them.
same. lack of personal reponsibility. who can i blame, er..... yep, god. or that woman in accounts who wore really short skirts and fluttered her eyelashes at me, deffo asking for it - not my fault guv.
Priests who abuse children, thefts of sacred things from churches etc etc
...would still do this if they were not priests, they are not doing 'because they are priests'. you might as well say that all paedos who are not priests are therefore atheist. of course such blanket statements are way off the mark. aint they.
i dont think the absence of religion would make much difference to society - some bugger would reinvent it anyway. if it were a catechismic event, then no doubt people would probably go rioting and looting for a bit. people would still worship the sun for 2 weeks a year.
probably not out of religious motives, but people who do these horrid things, tend to blame anything they can to relieve their own culpability. religion is easy. it were god that made me do it, as opposed to 'i was let down by the system' is just trying to bring other people to account, rather than admit personal responsibility.
The evangilist whos states his adultary/theft was gods temptation and he fell BUT he is sure god will forgive him. The chance of eternal damnation was clearly no deterent to them.
same. lack of personal reponsibility. who can i blame, er..... yep, god. or that woman in accounts who wore really short skirts and fluttered her eyelashes at me, deffo asking for it - not my fault guv.
Priests who abuse children, thefts of sacred things from churches etc etc
...would still do this if they were not priests, they are not doing 'because they are priests'. you might as well say that all paedos who are not priests are therefore atheist. of course such blanket statements are way off the mark. aint they.
i dont think the absence of religion would make much difference to society - some bugger would reinvent it anyway. if it were a catechismic event, then no doubt people would probably go rioting and looting for a bit. people would still worship the sun for 2 weeks a year.
flobadob, you must have a very poor view of 'society', i.e. your fellow human beings, even to ask the question. To suggest that society might fall apart if it were to abandon a hotch-potch of ancient superstitions which have no basis in fact or reason is either insulting or funny. I can't decide which for the moment.
I wouldn't say I have a poor view of society but I do find it amazing that so many people simply accept there is a guy in the sky watching over them. And if they all of a sudden where shown he wasn't in fact there at all, who knows how their minds would react?
I see the arguments that atheists don't go on a rampage and I accept that but when you have people, for example, stoning people to death in the name of God would they still do it if there was no God or would it get much worse?
I see the arguments that atheists don't go on a rampage and I accept that but when you have people, for example, stoning people to death in the name of God would they still do it if there was no God or would it get much worse?
Why do atheists not all just believe in hedonism. If this is all there is, surely you need a benefit for doing whatever they determine as good (however they do that). Otherwise they do not optimise what they get out of life. Seems illogical to do anything else.
BTW it is thought one can not prove a negative so how would one prove there was no God ? Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
If you were able to a great many people would become rather depressed at the pointlessness of it all. I'm unsure societies would actually fall apart though.
BTW it is thought one can not prove a negative so how would one prove there was no God ? Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
If you were able to a great many people would become rather depressed at the pointlessness of it all. I'm unsure societies would actually fall apart though.
-- answer removed --
Old Geezer, why should all atheists just believe in hedonism? I'm sure most of them do optimise what they get out of life, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have to be hedonistic.
Steve, why believe what the religious tell you and automatically associate the soul or a possible afterlife with God?
Steve, why believe what the religious tell you and automatically associate the soul or a possible afterlife with God?
Old_Geezer, what a selfish thought that one has to imagine some benefit in what one does.
The cliche that one can't prove a negative is boring nonsense. I can prove that I wasn't in Chester-le-Street at 8.06 pm last Tuesday, that I am not 6 foot tall, that I wasn't born in Paris, that my garden has no eucalyptus trees....blah, blah, blah.
And there is no more obligation for me to prove that there is no God than there is to prove that there are no unicorns in the Amazon forest. Have you never heard of Russells' teapot? It is for those who believe unnatural things to justify them.
Try to think, Old_Geezer, rather than to put out catch-phrases.
The cliche that one can't prove a negative is boring nonsense. I can prove that I wasn't in Chester-le-Street at 8.06 pm last Tuesday, that I am not 6 foot tall, that I wasn't born in Paris, that my garden has no eucalyptus trees....blah, blah, blah.
And there is no more obligation for me to prove that there is no God than there is to prove that there are no unicorns in the Amazon forest. Have you never heard of Russells' teapot? It is for those who believe unnatural things to justify them.
Try to think, Old_Geezer, rather than to put out catch-phrases.
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