Atheist, would you want to live in a society where religion was banned?

Question

Not me. Banning religions is too dogmatic. I would like think that atheism encourages free thought and freedom of choice.

You?

Answer 1

Absolutely not. Just because I do not believe in all of the things they do does not mean that I am unable to find something of value in their beliefs.

Answer 2

No I wouldn't. I'd like to live in a country where religious persecution was outlawed, and that includes religious people persecuting me.

You say atheism is about free thinking? Often atheism is a result of that. Often athiests encourage freedom of thought, of course it stands to reason. But atheism isn't a philosophy. You can be a rabid nationalist atheist, a capitalist atheist, a liberal atheist, a communist atheist, a baby-killing atheist, a philanthropic and loving atheist, a homophobic atheist, a dogmatic atheist, an agnostic atheist, a nihilistic atheist, a fiercely moralistic humanist atheist etc.

Atheism by itself just means not believing in Gods and Godesses etc.

Any other traits, like anyone else, are down to the person and their development/cognition.

Answer 3

I'm not an atheist but I wouldn't like to live in a society where ANY idea could be banned. Those people who say they want a society "free" of religion - if they're OK with banning religion, those people are really scary. Scarily stupid.

Once the first book is thrown into the fire, what will the next book be?

Answer 4

I agree with you. I am not religious, but I absolutely would not want to live in a region where religion was banned.

For one thing, as you say, freedom of thought and freedom of choice are hardly encouraged by officially banning specific kinds of thought and choice.

And for another, banning religions doesn't make people stop believing them. It just forces their beliefs underground - where they develop unhealthy persecution complexes, and makes them feel like noble martyrs, and probably helps to strengthen their faith, not make them realize that their religion has become a sham that simply makes ministers rich and oppresses their choices, on top of being illogical and irrational.

Answer 5

No. I would want to live in a society where no one felt the need to bother with religion any more, but not where believers had been forced to give it up. We've seen already how it works when one group's beliefs are enforced on everyone else, and it ain't good.

Answer 6

Nope. I agree with you that banning religion entirely would be an infringement on freedom of thought. That said, I would ideally want to live in a society in which laws reflected morality, and in which immoral things such as killing, injuring or brainwashing innocent people are not permitted, whether on the basis of religion or anything else. Like everything else, being religious is only immoral when it drives you to do harmful things to innocent beings.

Answer 7

I don't care what god you have dreamed up or put down as your creator I just don't want you come to my door telling me how to live and i don't want you trying to turn science into something that is only in the mind of man. Science is the touching tasting and how things work and it is real If the basic religions would leave science as science there would be no reason to ever ban religion. Religion does have it place in setting the standards of our society but we are back to letting religion rule us instead of letting it lead us.

Answer 8

Banning religion altogether would end up causing the same problems that have come about throughout history when religion controlled societies imposed immense power and tyranny on their people.

People should be free to believe what they wish. They should also avoid imposing those beliefs on others whether they believe in god(s) or not.

Answer 9

No, I like other religions. Not one in particular, but I just find it more interesting to live in a really religiously diverse place. I took a religions class at my school because I just find it interesting learning about other religions. Plus your point about banning religion going against many things atheism stands for is also true.

Answer 10

You're probably familiar with the concept of genetic diversity. How the well-being and survival of a species requires a large enough variety of genes to allow them to adapt to changing conditions.

That also applies to cultural diversity, all of the ways of living, thinking, celebrating and being that people have invented and developed. Imagine if we only had one style of music or cooking. Religion is no less a part of that.

We lose a lot every time our world gets a little more homogeneous.

Answer 11

No. But I do want to live in a society where religion is banned from all levels and aspects of government.