Why do some people have so little faith in the human species?

Question

In reading the answers to a question along the lines of "Would the world be a safer place if there was no religion?" I cam across an answer given by one of our resadent bible thumpers (I'm pretty sure you all know and... well not love him, but you all know him) which was "ABSOLUTELY NOT! Man is inherently DEPRAVED-- things would be WORSE!"

So is he admitting that, if not for the threat of hell and the idea of an omnipotant being constantly looking over his sholder, that he would go around eating babies? Do some people actually believe that, without some form of religion, we would have no moral code? Don't these people know that humans, as a general rule, are a self preserving species and that most would instinctivly gravitate toward behavior that helps further the species, not hinder it? Of course, there are crazies out there, but the vast majority of people would not turn into crazy mass murdering rapists if you took away religion.

What do you think? Agree with me, or him? Why?

Now Don is saying that, without religion, we wouldn;t know how to teach our children. Wow, he must really hate humans.

Answer 1

Human is our race, not species. Species is homo-sapien. Family of Hominidae. Order of Primates. Etc etc.

So let's look at your question on this grander scale. As primates without religion, and I would think it would be safe to assume that most primates are not human and are without religion, we still have a society, order, and no baby eating.

Cannibalism, in general, is mostly attributed to aquatic animals which are not sea mammals.. just for the record.

In humans, I would say the average person is basically good, be he or she be atheist or spiritual, and it is not necessarily religion that guides ones moral compass. Additionally, there have been a lot of atrocities throughout history that have been, in fact, under the guise of religion.

Humanity will always have religion, however, in one fashion or another, so the point is quite moot.

Answer 2

religion has nothing to do with the character of a person. a religion can only guide u and not govern or rule ur life. instead of taking the negative aspects of a given religion why not take the positive aspect and try doing something good for the community.

its upto an individual at the end of the day. irrespective of a religion or aethism, if a person is good enough and does help the society, thats what matters most and that would be appreciated.

religion is just a label. when facing God (for atheists, for what u beleive in, as dont know what to say), all that matters is deeds not religion. live and let live- if all people follow this then this earth will sure be Heaven for mankind.

Answer 3

I grew up an athiest all my life, (I didn't even consider it until I was around 10 years old) and I have always been a caring person that has done probally the same ammount of good and bad as any other human being, religious or athiest (perhaps better than some religious people, COUGH COUGH the EIGHTY PERCENT OF CHRISTIANS IN PRISON) Yeah, just kind of ranting on here but I bet you get what I am saying, maybe?

To really get to the answer, we would be just fine as long as we have a stable government to ensure people that do breaks laws are punished. Religion is not needed, nor ever will be needed.

Answer 4

Well exactly - this is why I haven't answered your question about "what would happen if religion were abolished" question: I think the majority of people would carry on as normal, striving to get along and geth through their days without killing each other. Why? Because it seems to work. It brings rewards that we as human beings are now conditioned to value - friends, connections, lovers, children, respect, possessions - all of it inherently linked to our good citizenship, not our good apostleship or whatever other religious rank there is. Advancement in our tribe, not advancement in our faith, is the key driver for a majority of people.

I believe human beings are self-teaching animals, that have the potential to be no better than a virus in shoes, but also the potential to be better than all the gods they create. From the simplest act of compassion to the accomplishments of the greatest of our number, we have the potential to rise above our situations, our circumstances, and the obstacles in our way, to be a truly positive force in our world. We don't need any god to show us how to do that, we need to believe in the consequences of our actions, and to steal shamelessly from Gandhi, "be the change' we want to make.

Answer 5

Don't knock religions or people who support them. They are each necessary to the survival of our species. For those of you who don't have a big problem with evolution,consider : Survival of the fittest. War and the people who fight them are an ecological necessity because they in effect " prune " the world, making the survivors a bit wiser,stronger and better able to perpetuate larger wars of religious intolerance, due to the continuing advancement of weaponry. Look if you will at the hundreds , perhaps thousands of wars fought over ideological values , wherein shouts from either side of " GOD is with us " or somesuch echo out as millions of our kind are butchered into oblivion. Its simply logical to conclude that war and religion are good for mankind for they act as vacuum machines cleaning up the human detritus of the millenia.

Now that I've settled this argument for all time by pure reasoning , lets have no more bickering on this subject. Thank you , Makewoods

Answer 6

Religion? Yes, I believe the world would be a safer place without RELIGION. God didn't intend for us to become "religious". We did that, because our finite minds can't possibly conceive that all God wants is a one-on-one relationship with us.

So, man has created religion, and out of that came the Crusades, the Muslim terrorists, the war between the Catholics and Protestants, the persecution of Jews and Christians, but also, if you read the Bible, you will discover that people worshiped Baal, which consisted of sacrificing CHILDREN. The early American Indians has their religion and traditions, which sometimes were inhumane, also the early Celtics, early Greeks, need I go on?

So, in summing up the answer, in my opinion, yes, the world would be a safer place without RELIGION. But, just think how safe and peaceful the world would be if everyone dropped religion per say, and take up a one-on-one relationship with God, our Father.

All God asks of us is to love Him with all our heart, and love others as we love ourselves.

That's pretty simple and is freedom, isn't it?

Answer 7

Great question! That is the fundamental paradox.

Look at what we have to face with, it is just hard to relate to the views held so harshly by so diverse a culture without some form of tolerance.

I mean, if a person keeps associating another with a nasty ending, would that other person feel safe enough to put faith in the first person? (Let alone the seemingly biased religion.)

The fault, I believe, lays in that deity and / or books are being twisted and dogmatized -- instead of values and wisdom being held and observed with current humanistic respects. There seems to be a long road ahead still.

Answer 8

Before most religions had addressed the problem of "moral" behavior...in the Western world...there were the Greek philosophers....the different schools of thought, their interaction-thesis, antithesis and synthesis, their influence on the theologians....

Read these works first...

Kant posited the "categorical imperative"
Schilling proposed "the will"

etc etc etc

The question of what makes man a "moral" animal is a very old one, indeed...just don't get bogged down in any one school of thought....

Instinct, rational intellect, religion, civic responsibility, the "id", the cultural "mores".............all have valid points...and all fail to answer the question completely....

religion, of all schools of thought...works the best and satisfies the least...."just believe" "g-d said so" "you'll go to Mitchell,South Dakota"...[ok,,,it's not quite hell]...religion works as an answer only because "believers" have abrogated their right to think-just believe...it is also the least satisfying for the same reason

and we haven't even mentioned Eastern thought!!!

Answer 9

I agree with you. Just look at me! I've been an atheist all my life and so far I've never eaten babies, raped, killed, tortured or done anything else to harm others. Quite the opposite really, I've tried to help people and animals, tried to improve their life and I've managed to be a good person.

Many religious people around me don't even know that I'm an atheist, because I am not that different. The fact that I and most other atheists are good people and don't do horrible things despite not believing in god is proof enough for me that mankind would do just fine without religion. We wouldn't suddenly start killing and torturing just because we wouldn't go to hell even if we did those things. People would still want to do their best for mankind and ensure a good future and a safe place to live for their children.

Answer 10

I can't say I agree with either of you, it's not a religion better.
What do you mean by "little faith in human species"? survival or achievements, accomplishment, balanced existence with the world around them? Either way, you just need to look at the modern world, look what we've done not just to the planet Earth but to our fellow humans, to the great civilisations of the past.
There are no more great civilisations and although we have the means now more than ever to achieve "greatness", the number of people who achieve something extraordinary is minute compared to the world population. My point is: the human specie has the potential for extraordinary things but the majority of humans never develop the fantastic possibilities of being a Human. This is why I have little faith in the human species but a great one in extraordinary individuals who dare explore their potential rather than living a life like sheep, just waiting to be told what to do, what to think, what to buy and even what to dream.