It seems to me that, logically, religions that are based on the same Abrahamic god, with each of them claiming to be the 'only right way', it is imperative to destroy the other religions that threaten that superiority.
I mean if they (the church) admit there could be more roads to God they might lose the control and the money they so desperately desire.
Lust for greed and power will always motivate some people to use war as a means to obtain it. So I don't believe that if there were no religions it would be all peaceful here on earth.
2007-10-26 07:56:11 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I know greed will always motivate wars, I said that, but religion seems to be the major problem in the middle east.
2007-10-26 08:04:01 · update #1
mike23 did you even read the question?
I have never seen Pagans, Wiccans, or Buddhist killing for religion. Have you? Only the Abrahamic, Christianity and Islam, that claim to be the only right way are aggressively trying to eliminate the other.
2007-10-26 08:12:07 · update #2
Thanks for your answers.
2007-10-26 08:15:25 · update #3
Most of the wars on earth seem to be religious in nature. I'm not sure getting rid of the religions would get rid of the conflicts, but it would be interesting to try. The big problem with religion is they preach peach and love, and seem to practice hate and war. They believe that God gives them their rights, and can never seem to be persuaded into a reality check. Honestly, communism acted the same way, so I suspect it is a human flaw.
2007-10-26 14:39:45 · answer #1 · answered by Steve C 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Humans are, to some degree, inherently territorial and violent animals. And you're right... war will not completely disappear until Man eventually evolves completely beyond those primitive traits.
But it's been my experience that most religion (especially the Abrahamic ones) often acts as a catalyst, a justification, and a vehicle for the absolute worst characteristics the human animal has to offer. Hatred, intolerance, arrogance, greed, ignorance, vengeance, repression of healthy sexuality, violence, oppression, you name it. And all the while preaching peace and love.
I'd say that we'd lose 80% of all violence in the world if we lost 100% of all religion.
2007-10-26 10:43:01 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
By removing religion you would be removing thousands (depending on who you talk to millions) of years of history.
Different views of any religion even if it's suppose to be the same religion have been in dispute for so long that it's ingrained in the society. Many of the cultures that are currently fighting over religion have been fighting that same fight in one form or another for many generations.
I think that if there was never any religion then we would not be human or our culture would be vastly different from what we recognize today.
Would there be as much fighting? I think so, because there would still be hate and greed.
2007-10-26 08:12:11 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Give me a break. Islam is involved in 80% of the world's conflicts but Christianity? When was the last time you heard of Christians starting a religious war. Atheistic/pagan systems (Nazism and communism, emperor worship) have killed millions in the past 100 years. And don't bring up the Irish that was mainly political drawn on religious lines.
2007-10-26 08:03:58 · answer #4 · answered by mike w 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Almost all wars except religious ones are fought because of competition for resources. In other words people fight over land, water, women, treasure, oil, diamonds etc. Religion is the exception. However a glance at world history shows that religion is easily the single greatest cause of war. So the answer is there would still be war, but there would be much less of it.
2007-10-26 08:01:55 · answer #5 · answered by Fafeom 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
As a student of comparative religion I have to point out that you are wrong in assuming all religions preach the same Abrahamic God and that they are the only ones right. That is far from the truth. Actually Roman Catholicism is one of the only religions that requires all people to embrace their savior as the one. Judaism is pluralistic and does not require all humans to be Jewish in order to reach salvation, only good deeds. Hinduism, Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism do not have Abrahamic Gods. In fact they all stress the idea of God as a non-theistic deity and the ultimate reality (Heaven, salvation) as a non-dual reality that exists right here.
2007-10-26 08:06:02 · answer #6 · answered by HRRecruiter 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
There would be more wars if the world was atheist. Just look at the record of atheist regimes in the 20th century, they were the most brutal regimes the world has ever known. And even today, there is a secularist war against the innocent unborn baby. The baby murdering, abortion factories are the brainchild of the godless philosophies.
2007-10-26 08:03:50 · answer #7 · answered by A.M.D.G 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I don't think that religions, Abrahamic or otherwise, have the monopoly on war, or that religious belief alone can bring nations to arms
2007-10-26 08:07:22 · answer #8 · answered by metanoia 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
there certainly have been enough wars based off of 'secular' ideas, so getting rid of religion will definately not get rid of war. After all, religion is just a justification, so people will find other ways to justify their behaviour (eugenics, communism, etc)
2007-10-26 08:01:23 · answer #9 · answered by bregweidd 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
there are bbasically two types of religion:
-Religions of Revelation
-Religions of Personal Experience
The latter (eastern Asian religions, or neopaganism) tend to get along well with others, and there is no real conflict; differences of spiritual interpretstion are the norm, and they are respected.
the former (Abrahamics) tend to be "my way or the highway;" if you disagree, you are wrong (at best) or dead meat.
2007-10-26 08:01:42 · answer #10 · answered by kent_shakespear 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋