If religion didn't exist, do you think there would be more "evil" people that "good" people in the world?

Question

To simplify this question, we can limit he definition of "good" as those who believe in and practice the Golden Rule, and "evil" as those who don't.

Answer 1

The Golden Rule is over-rated. I know I wouldn't like it if someone who enjoys being beaten to beat me. But, if they did, they'd be following the definition and would, by proxy, be a good person. Something about that strikes me as a bit off.

To answer the question, though, if there were no religion, people would actually be forced to think for themselves and to choose their own paths, instead of being born into a certain mindset. Emphasis would be placed on individual standards, instead of the collective values. Those individual standards would likely clump together over time, and they would likely reach some sort of equilibrium, if only out of necessity. Look at isolated native island communities. Some of them practice no religion and never have, and yet there is almost no crime, they experience a free and flowing sense of self combined with a duty towards family and friends, and their societies function almost flawlessly. Violators (meaning, those who upset the continuity of the clan by whatever means) do pop up from time to time, and they are dealt with on a communal level.

The short answer, though, is, personally, I believe that if there were no religions in the world, the world would be infinitely better, filled with smarter, more confident people who cared about each other infinitely more because they actually chose to, instead of having to or else facing the consequences.

Answer 2

Religion has nothing to do with whether a person is good or bad. We all know people who go to church every Sunday and make a big show of it, but don't turn your back to them.
If a person obeys all the rules, does everything his church tells him he should do, lives up to the commandments because he's afraid that if he doesn't hell land in hell, he's not a good person.
A good person does what is right simply because it's right. He expects no rewards for it, or punishment if he does not do what is right.

Answer 3

If religion didn't exist then people wouldn't exist - religion is just the extension of our spiritual needs. Human beings were created with spiritual needs which can only be satisfied by worship - whether that worship is of a creator or money or a dog. Without that spiritual quality human beings would no longer be human beings.

Answer 4

Religion is society's spiritual regulator for existance; without some form of religion, society more likely could NOT exist.

Without religion, there wouldn't be any acceptable living social standards for us to use as a guide for us to live by.

Answer 5

I think if there were no religion in the world we would be lost, first of all, and secondly half the fighting done in the world is over religion, so if there were no religions, maybe fighting would be down graded to even the slightest figure.

Answer 6

Definitely, religion sets limits to people.

Answer 7

No, I don't. Morality is not a function of religion in spite of what religion says. Morality is an inborn trait that most people seem to posses early in life, with or without religious training.

Answer 8

Well if there was no religion then there would be no point of us being here in the first place.

Answer 9

Government would become a "religion" of sorts. I believe that people need something external to them to regulate them, otherwise, we could all let our crazy little ids do as we please, and might would be the ultimate decider of right.

Answer 10

I would like to believe that the answer is no, but I think that might be yes.