As more and more of the Western world becomes less religious, do you think our world will be more peaceful?

Question

Atheism, agnosticism, or just not taking your religion so seriously is becoming way more popular nowadays. People are not sticking to a religion simply because they were born into, or because they are afraid of it. In my opinion, it allows people to have more control over their lives. And we all know religion is a major cause of war and differences in opinion. Do you think, as the world becomes less religious, humankind will become more peaceful and accepting of each other?

Answer 1

I think you are incorrect in that it is not religion that is a major cause of war, it is hatred.

Answer 2

Religion does not do that ( it is a relationship with a loving, self sacrificing GOD ). But If you want to talk about a religion ( which isn`t really from GOD - because there is only one GOD so how there can be so many religions????? ) that promotes hatred and acknowledges wars to force people to surrender and say we believe or else they die, and whoever later wants out of this religion they kill him,and the followers of this religion are never rested until they rule or have the upper hand in every country they go to,this is something else .
And YES i agree if people becomes less religious in this manner, the world will be more peace full and less dangerous.

Answer 3

It seems plausible, yes. Religion isn't the main cause of war or violence, but it is a factor. People will use any differences they can get their hands on to divide and squabble amongst themselves.

And religion gives an especially easy way to ideologically isolate yourselves from others because, unlike many philosophies, political ideologies, etc., it appeals to "faith" to ward off any contrary arguments or evidence. This makes inter-religious dialogue impossible unless they simply avoid addressing the contradictions between their different beliefs. This is also the reason why people who speculate that in the future we'll have "science wars" akin to past religious wars are simply deluding themselves; science, unlike religion, is non-dogmatic, non-authoritarian, and prone to revision and adaptation rather than to stubbornly clinging to unsubstantiated views. You'll notice that there's infinitely less disagreement among scientists than among religious adherents: that's because scientists all agree on a shared, consistent methodology that promotes nonviolent, intellectually rich discourse.

However, that's not to say that if religion were gone, there would be no war: it's just exceedingly unlikely that science would be a cause of such war. Rather, warring philosophies and political ideologies, and particularly historical, nationalistic fueds would probably be the main cause of violence and war. To simply assume that science is analogous to religion (i.e., in promoting violence between disagreeing parties) in this respect is as absurd as assuming that mathematics is. There has never been a war waged over science or mathematics, and there is no real reason to believe there ever will be. Again, nationalism and authoritarianism are much more likely culprits in a non-religious world--just as they are in this world!

So, speaking from a historical and sociological perspective, it seems likely that a less religious world will be a more peaceful world; however, obviously this is not necessarily true (especially if religion simply gets replaced by something else that divides people just as much), and ultimately we are forced to speculate on this issue because the world has been so religious (and, indeed, dogmatic and authoritarian, two factors which are much more important and to-the-point regarding causes of violence than religion itself is) throughout human history.

Answer 4

Religion will simply be replaced with another source of prejudice and hate such as it was witnessed during the ideological struggle of the Cold War of Democracy vs. Communism. Just because people are becoming less religious does not mean that people will become less hateful and biased toward other human beings, acceptance will not flourish for our fellow human.

Too some extent the decline of religious fervor will result in less civil strife and violations of human liberites, as we can see with the contrast between Europe and the Middle East, where as one region allows its citizens to wear what the want the other imposes 'moral' codes of clothings, for example.

Answer 5

Most of the fighting is done by religious fanatics that have a misguided interpretation of whatever book they follow. Most religions teach peace and love. It's the perversion and the dogma of religion that causes war and disharmony. Jesus was against an violence; remember when he restored the ear? He always said my kingdom is not of this world. What does that mean?
Everyone who is nonreligious are not evil there are some people that are just kind. Its not all because of some faith. As a matter of fact some are more Christian than those who profess it. I believe someone in the new testament said that!

Answer 6

It's a very good question. As a believer, I would prefer an Agnostic world IF it meant war would end.

The sad fact is that Religion doesn't start war, people do.
Religion is the tool of leverage used to talk naive people in to fighting but the same faiths condemn violence.

It's also a sad fact that decreasing interest in Religion, Faith, God and Spirituality + a tendency towards Atheism and Materialism in the west has increased at the same rate as globalization and war in the Middle East.

Power mongers will use whatever they can to get others to fight on their behalf: Religion, hatred, racism, patriotism, fear, distrust, revenge etc.

It works and works well.

We need to stop blaming Religion. We used to blame the Devil in the same way not so long ago.

We need to lay the blame where it belongs - with us, the human race.

Answer 7

no, it'll get worse. not because loss of religion, but just because there will be more people with less food and/or water to sustain them, not to mention raw materials for industry. War comes mostly from people wanting what others have, and soon(if not now) there will not be enough for everyone to survive, let alone be satisfied. throw in uneven distribution of resources and technology difference between nations and you now have a world that is on the verge of self destruction.

Answer 8

We won't know that for a long time, because as Europe becomes less religious, both Christianity and Islam are expanding in Africa. Some authors predict that we'll see a repeat of European religious history in Africa.

Answer 9

No. It will get worse..Part of the end of times...God will be kicked out of society and lawlessness will rule.Religion does not cause war,Power and greed cause war..People have an overwhelming need to have power and control...;So we have wars...Some people use there religious beliefs as an excuse for war but its just an excuse...Satan is just having a field day turning people from god these days....

Answer 10

Au contraire, it is only a matter of time before the human passions attach theselves to the curious iniquiry of science and turn it into an agent of destruction.

It is not religion that creates chaos, rather it is people's obsession with it.

Answer 11

The absence of religion has resulted in more far death and oppression than its presence. Cases in point:

- The killing fields of Pol Pot's Cambodia
- The gulags of Josef Stalin's Soviet Union
- Adolf Hitler's world war and anti-Semitic genocide (he was a follower of Nietzsche and a practicer of social Darwinism)
- Ceauşescu's Romania
- Mao's "Cultural Revolution"
- Kim Jong Il's North Korea
- ...and many, many more.

Wholesale slaughter of human life by communist and fascist regimes, all of them run by avowed atheists. Dozens, perhaps hundreds of millions of victims of murder, torture and general brutality. In keeping with Nietzsche's prediction, atheists killed far more people in the 20th Century than did all of the religious conflicts in the centuries before them.

More peaceful? More accepting? Surely you jest.

How easily and conveniently atheists forget their own legacy of horror.