Do you think if it was proven without a doubt there was no God...?

Question

Because there is no God there is no sin, would there be a rise in murders, rape, incest, etc? Do you think that because there would be no sin there would be anarchy?

It is for my philosophy Paper

Answer 1

Wow, so many thoughts rush in! And hats off to the Douglas Adams fan. Brain the size of a planet!

It's true, you can't prove something doesn't exist- but what great ideas to ponder.

I long ago asked myself what would motivate people to be decent without the fear and intimidation of religion. Why wouldn't there be anarchy as the question suggests? It occurred to me that we've been wrestling with this question at least as far back as Aristotle (What is a good life?) and probably further.

One answer- not 42- is that at the very least we have learned the benefits of reciprocation. A society that bands together has a better chance of survival. I will someday be old so my society should care for the elderly. I was once young, and my society ensured I survived to reproduce. I need help from others to live, and I give help in return. I don't want to be murdered, stolen from or lied to. And my group sanctions these things. These are the strictly selfish/survival motives.

But we are more and can imagine more and strive for a higher consciousness. We want art and music and theater; safety and comfort and convenience; justice and protection from dangerous transgressors.

Our country is supposed to be free from religion in government, but not free from morals and ethics. Of course the reality is something quite different- those in power make the biggest show of their piety but their actions tell another story.

It is possible to be a caring human without any religious beliefs: atheists and agnostics are abundant. They are motivated by something other than the fear of a capricious, easily angered, supernatural supreme being who is so insecure he must test his creations' loyalty and obedience constantly.

End of rant...thank you.

Answer 2

Since when does a belief in God keep those things from happening? Some of the worst offenders on the planet believe in God. A belief in God has nothing to do with human behavior. The only thing that will do away with the anarchy we are currently experienceing all over the world it for people to accept responsibility for their own behavior, and stop using God as an excuse.

Most of the best behaved people in the world are like that because they know there is no God to blame, and they must be responsible for their own selves.

Answer 3

I honestly don't believe that religion...at least Christianity...holds that sway with the populous anymore. People are...well...human. More often than not you're the masters of your own destiny. Save famine, disease, natural disasters the nature of the world is in relation to your death.
In the 1800's you were trampled by a horse and carriage. Now you're run over getting your mail. Technology just kills you quicker. Oh...many people still have faith. These are acts of God. Punishment for sins, etc and it goes on. People believe and always will in one form or another that there is a Diety. Be it God, Muhammed, Buddah, Kristna, Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Sacco and Vanzetti most of us believe in something. So I think society would just relay on what is has been doing now. Application of Man's law.
Thou shall not kill. A law man has adopted. Thou shall not commit adultery. Oh...well...not "illegal" in most states. However a snag in your divorce case.
So I don't believe that the world would turn into a Sodom and Gomorrah (did I spell that correctly?). Man would prevail and there will always be the "unbelievers". Those who now refuse to accept the scientific data compiled to show beyond a reasonable doubt (Wow...another Man's Law term!)..that God doesn't exist.

Heretics!

Hmmm....nobody can expect the Spanish Inquisition!

Answer 4

I believe in GOD but I think if it could be proven that there was no GOD then it is likely that there would be a rise in crime because then there would be no sin. It is the fear of being punished for sin that holds some people back from committing some of the devious thoughts floating through their minds.

For may it is this moral base not so much human law that keeps some people in check.

Answer 5

i think the first person who proves that something (anything) doesn't exist, they'll get a prize for achieving what is believed impossible.

is it the fear of damnation that keeps people from sinning, or do you think (sound) people are capable of figuring out that diddling your family members is Not a Good Idea? Just look at the priesthood scandals and THEN tell me that a belief in G*d has ANY impact on whether people do the right thing.

Answer 6

Eskimos did not have anarchy, stone age man did not have anarchy, rain forest Indians don't have anarchy. None of them had/have religious fanaticism or the concept of sin and they live in a far more noble fashion than us.

Answer 7

well I think Douglas Adams proved god doesn’t exist in part of the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy:

The Babel fish," said The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy quietly, "is small, yellow and leech-like, and probably the oddest thing in the Universe. It feeds on brainwave energy not from its carrier but from those around it. It absorbs all unconscious mental frequencies from this brainwave energy to nourish itself with. It then excretes into the mind of its carrier a telepathic matrix formed by combining the conscious thought frequencies with nerve signals picked up from the speech centres of the brain which has supplied them. The practical upshot of all this is that if you stick a Babel fish in your ear you can instantly understand anything said to you in any form of language. The speech patterns you actually hear decode the brainwave matrix which has been fed into your mind by your Babel fish.

"Now it is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that anything so mindboggingly useful could have evolved purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as the final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God.

"The argument goes something like this: `I refuse to prove that I exist,' says God, `for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.'

"`But,' says Man, `The Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED.'

"`Oh dear,' says God, `I hadn't thought of that,' and promptly vanished in a puff of logic.

"`Oh, that was easy,' says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing

Answer 8

If it was proven to my satisfaction, with physical evidence and everything rather than some random athiest's heresy, I wold buy it. But, even if there was no God, there would still be humans, and human government. Proving conclusively that there is no God would be a moral blow for a lot of people, but we might recover eventually.

Answer 9

well, i think theres a god but if there wasnt i think this world be be totally corrupt more than it is now, i think people would judt completley destroy whats left and wed no longer exist, sad to say but true, having a god to believe in had kept a majority of people on the right track in their lives, and just wanna be in the after life with him so if there was no example to go by then i dont wanna be here to see it happen!

Answer 10

In every civilized country there are universal laws.
You question sound like if there's no god we have no morals.
We all know this isn't true. These laws were here before the idea of Gods.