Do you think the world would be a more peaceful place without religion?

Question

Alot of you have misread my question. I said do you think it would be MORE peaceful, not COMPLETELY peaceful.
I understand that violence occurs for reasons other than religion alone.
But alot of violence occurs because of religion.

Answer 1

No - people will find ANY reason to disagree with each other and treat others poorly. And I mean ANY reason - skin color, weight, competitions, etc. etc. It's not religion that is war-like and mean-spirited, it's people that use religion as a weapon.

Hopefully religion promotes the more positive parts of life - love, compassion, mercy, grace, and so on. (At least Christianity promotes these things...) If people treat each other bad now and many religions are trying to convince them to 'love one another' I'd hate to see how people treated each other without it.

Answer 2

No, removing it would probably make things worse. When religion first started it was created as a moral guideline for humanity. The stories that were created for each religion taught right from wrong.
But over time corrupt people took hold of religion and used it as a tool for evil. But religion has also been used as a tool for good in the past. Getting rid of religion isn't the answer. But perhaps if it were to be updated or recreated to fit in the world we live in today.

Answer 3

No. It is not the actual different religions that are the problem but rather people inability to accept that other people have different ideas, understanding and beliefs which is not shared by them. For example when King Henry started the Church of England war broke out because Henry insisted that everyone become Church of England and if you did not then you were unloyal to the king. It had nothing to do with the different ways the Catholic and Church of England practise their religion. Unfortunately this stupid intolerance between the two religions has gone on ever since.

Answer 4

MANY DOUBT
That Religion Can Unite Mankind
“LOVE your neighbor.” (Matthew 22:39) This basic rule of conduct is acclaimed by many religions. If such religions were effective in teaching their members to love their neighbor, their flocks would be drawn together and be united. However, is that what you have observed? Are religions a force for unity? A recent survey in Germany asked the question: “Do religions unite people, or are they more likely to separate them?” Of the respondents, 22 percent felt that religions unite, whereas 52 percent felt that they divide, or separate. Perhaps people in your country feel much the same way.
Why do many have little confidence that religion can unite mankind? Perhaps because of what they know from history. Instead of drawing people together, religion has often pushed them apart. In some instances, religion has been the cover under which the most dreadful atrocities have been committed. Consider some examples from just the last 100 years.
Influenced by Religion
During the second world war, Roman Catholic Croats and Orthodox Serbs in the Balkans were at one another’s throats. Both groups claimed to follow Jesus, who taught his followers to love their neighbor. Yet, their conflict led to “one of the most appalling civilian massacres known to history,” as one researcher put it. The world was aghast at the death toll of more than 500,000 men, women, and children.
In 1947 the Indian subcontinent was home to some 400 million people-about a fifth of humanity-mainly Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. When India was partitioned, the Islamic nation of Pakistan was born. At the time, hundreds of thousands of refugees from both countries were burned, beaten, tortured, and shot in a series of religious massacres.
As if the foregoing examples were not disturbing enough, the turn of the century brought to the fore the threat of terrorism. Today, terrorism has put the whole world on alert, and many terrorist groups claim to have religious ties. Religion is not viewed as a promoter of unity. Instead, it is often associated with violence and disunity. Small wonder, therefore, that the German newsmagazine FOCUS compared the world’s major religions-Buddhism, Christendom, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Taoism-to gunpowder.
Internal Squabbles
While some religions are at war with one another, others are beset by internal squabbles. For instance, in recent years the churches of Christendom have been split by ongoing debates on matters of doctrine. Clergy and laity alike ask: Is birth control permitted? What about abortion? Should women be ordained as priests? How ought the church to view homosexuality? Should a religion sanction war? In view of such disunity, many wonder, ‘How can a religion unite mankind if it cannot unite even its own members?’
Clearly, religion in general has failed to be a force for unity. But are all religions marked by divisions? Is there a religion that is different-one that can unite mankind? The answer to this is yes there is one and only one who has done just that. There is a religion that has united it's members world wide and this religion does not partake iin any wars, dooes not have national boundries racial boundries Their Love is spent to all people wether those people are of different nationalities races and even religions they treat others with respect and dso not partake in wars, violence or predudice, and they do not have hate not only toward their own, but also among all theirfelow mankind, during disasters they go and help their own members and they even help others who are not associated with them as well

Answer 5

All religions follow a moral code of ethics, unfortunately these are often interpreted differently by people of the same belief, and different religions often don't hold the same value priorities as others. This causes suffering for all.

Too many wars have been fought in proving ones G*d is greater or the true One.

Love is compassion. Compassion should be felt for all beings.

Only in the Dharma can one find true peace.

Answer 6

I think it will be a chaos. Just think about it, if ti was possible for all humanbeings to be good, the world would be different and why the need to have laws and rules it wouldn't be necessary. But we can't be good even if we want to. So now we talk about good and evil, and if that is the case no man is safe. Only God is good, our soul wont rest in peace untill we don't go back to Him. That explains the meaningless of our life, is a fight not against the flesh, but against the spirits of evil.

Answer 7

At first I thought this was a no-brainer with all the religious extremists in the middle east. Answer being yes.
But I believe people in the world would still fight over so many other issues as they do today not related to religion. So my answer is NO.

Answer 8

perhaps...yet without religon the global might want to be lost and there might want to be no actual goverment. and finally some guy might want to come alongside and characteristic a very strong existence tale and one and all will commence worshiping him. then no human being can be lost and they could have a fairly strong idea the position they're going. yet sure maximum wars are began by religion, inspite of the indisputable fact that if i did not have religon then i might want to be totaly lost in existence and that i imagine that different wars might want to commence because of the inability of religon.

Answer 9

it is not any religion it is the people not wanting to follow a structured path any society must have rules and morals to survive and live at peace if there were no laws or morals this world would be really bad and none of us would be safe John 3:16

Answer 10

No. Stalin and Pohl Pot were both atheists pushing an atheistic agenda, and they killed millions each. The problem is not religion, but the heart of Man.