The Impact of Religion in Shaping Modern Society.

[Dan-95]

So, how do you think Religion has shaped modern society? For the best, worse or somewhere inbetween? Please give reasons and possibly historical evidence.

 

I, myself, currently don't have an opinion on the matter as i have not done any research. Here are some questions though:

 

-Is religion important to modern society?

 

-How, in history, has religion impacted on the society we know today, if at all, and i this good or bad?

 

-Theoritical situations such as a society wholly devoted to one religion or perhaps a society without even contemplating such ideas of worship to a deity(or something along those lines).

 

gl;hf.

 

Edit: Probably typos but i'm going to sleep now...

[Doom Shepherd]

None of the above. "Both" should be an option.

 

For example:

 

The US style of Republican Democracy exists today largely because of the attitudes that arose during a religious paradigm shift that began during the Renaissance, with the early Humanist thinkers (back when Humanism and religions were not considered incompatible.), who believed that worshipping God necessarily meant appreciating his creation, clebrating mankind... which began to slowly lead to the idea that despite class and race and other factors, all humans were actually equal and deserving of the same "natural rights."

 

On the other hand, established religion also fought strongly against these very same ideas, and in many cases still does today.

[ProHypster]

Wrong question, wrong poll.

 

How have people used religion and how has religion influenced the non believers would be a right question.

 

The reason for this is that religion itself can't do anything, you would need a spoiled bratt to use religion for the worst and an angelic person to use it for the best.

 

Without people religion is nothing.

 

Generally religion was used to communicate to as many people as possible as almost everyone knew of it, so at times people were explaining religious words for their evil actions at other times for their good actions.

 

Basically it could've been used by both sides simply because it was the best way to quickly communicate to everyone.

[Dan-95]

Opinion on how it has changed society, perhaps -not directly-, into the current form of it, if that has happened at all. Society as a generalised term of current observations. Also, i don't see how a question can be wrong, it can make no sense or be out of context, but i've never heard a 'wrong' question. Besides, i'm asking for an opinion, in regards to could/would society be better/worse with or without religion or how do you think religion has atributed modern society and is this good or bad?, if there was an impact at all, that is.

 

It's like that saying that goes 'an idea can change the world' or something like that. Ofcourse an idea won't actually do anything, but it can have repercussions that we can say, with confidence, are related. But i get where you going in later parts, religion can be interpreted, read, acted upon differently. I'm saying religion as a generalisation (for the poll) or with/without aspects of it relating to society.

 

Also, forgot to put 'both' :S

[ProHypster]

I still can't answer, there is satanists in Christianity too. They worship Satan as a choice..

 

However either way you see it, the holy books are at least informational to historians and the common person, you don't need to be a religious person to get information out of it.

 

I don't really care as to the subject if it is a lie or not as in that case if it wasn't the current popular religions it could've been something else and worse.

 

All in all I think the monotheist religions have a parental attitude, it's good but it limits your freedom in some things that are controversial. Imagine living with a parent's rules forever...

[Axeldeath]

Negatively, I don't care about religious people that say their religion made morals, they are lying. All I've seen religion do is try and dominate science and progression.

[Dan-95]

OK smartguy (referring to your name, not insulting). For now, just imagine if the idea of religion was never invented, how do you predict society would be different and do you think this society would be better, worse or not really change anything. Theres no wrong answer as it is opinion.

[ProHypster]

OK smartguy (referring to your name, not insulting). For now, just imagine if the idea of religion was never invented, how do you predict society would be different and do you think this society would be better, worse or not really change anything. Theres no wrong answer as it is opinion.

My philosophical answer is:

 

If there is no religion then we are not talking about humans.

[Bjossi]

I am a human.

[BTGBullseye]

I am a human.

As am I.

[RoMaNo]

I am a human.

As am I.

And me...

 

But I think that I got ThatSmartGuy's point: Religion itself is a choice, a model of lifestyle, moral or whatever. Effects in society are related to how peolpe take this guidelines and uses their sense of belonging to a particular group called, in this case, religion.

 

And if you analyses it, the effect is similar in political parties, country related traditions, even football teams. It is about how humans interact using their personal choices and tries to impose them to others.

[Bjossi]

It varies greatly how much any given religion models a person's life style though, and how. Countries can have official religion that can have an enforced impact even on an atheist's life, in my case Iceland is officially a Christian country.

[BTGBullseye]

Iceland is officially a Christian country.

So is the USA... I don't see very many that really fit the description though.

 

There are always millions/billions that will claim to be of a certain religious affiliation, without actually believing/doing what is required to really be a part of said religion. (like those that say they are Catholic, yet believe that they should be able to abort their children on a whim)

[Dan-95]

My philosophical answer is:

 

If there is no religion then we are not talking about humans.

 

We both know it's impossible for me, or anyone, to prove you otherwise.

 

 

Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that this is an alien race exactly like humans except they have discovered a post-it note left by god saying that he has left this universe and worship or acts in his name are useless and he will never return, it even has the godly sign of approval.

 

How would their society be different without the worship, practices or motives?

 

What i'm trying to get at is that we are talking about society, not humans. Thats not to say society isn't shaped by humans, so everything the same except religion, how will this affect society?

 

P.S If you find an error in this hypothetical, just adjust to make sense, there will be a way the question can still apply practically.

[ProHypster]

1. First there will be theorists and arguments,

 

Examples: Some people will say that this is a test, then people who will worship the god anyway for their belief that he will maybe come back, then people will say, maybe this was sent by another god who actually wants to be worshipped, maybe you shouldn't take those words seriously etc etc....

 

2. By 500 years later Theorists will appear saying that it was someone of the society who wrote that note not God.

 

3. By 2000 years later that note will be forgotten, misused, lost, burned and re-made and sold.

 

4. Eventually the society will look similar to us right now and most people will be agnostics.

 

Religion is either one of the many answers or the answer depending on how you view it to the question "What is life", so for it not to exist there must be no question "What is Life", as asking questions is a sign of intelligence, an intelligent society will have religion.

[danielsangeo]

I can't vote in the poll because it doesn't have "both".

 

Religion has been a major driver in the formation of our current modern society but is that a good thing or a bad thing? I believe that we could've been further along if it weren't for the anti-progress themes coming out of major portions of religious dogma. I mean, we're still fighting over who can have sex with who for cripes' sake!

 

Religion has a tendency to try to worm its way into government when they should be separate; religion should stay out of government and government should stay out of religion.

 

Now, I'm not saying that religion is wholly bad. There are still people that claim that they'd be no more than a vicious brute without religion. I'm glad that religion is there to keep these people from harming others, though I find it very sad. HOWEVER, religion also is used to justify horrific atrocities, whether it's a mother drowning her child in a bathtub because "God told her to" to flying planes into buildings of innocent people to starting wars because "God told me to".

 

Now, these people would probably find other reasons to do such, but I've been in conversations with people that state, and I quote: "I have nothing against gay people, but God said no." Are they lying? Do they actually have a problem with gay people and they're blaming God for it? Or, is it because God supposedly said so that they don't want their wishes to become law, as it were? I don't know.

 

On the good hand, though, religion has made a lot of beautiful structures and has provided a lot of charitable help, which is a good thing, though I don't really see a need for it to have a religious element, but I do recognize their work.

 

I believe religion is both good and bad, which is why I can't vote in the poll as it currently stands. I believe that there will be a time, however, that religion will become a quaint notion and that secularism will be the name of the game. But I could be wrong.

[ProHypster]

I can't vote in the poll because it doesn't have "both".

 

Religion has been a major driver in the formation of our current modern society but is that a good thing or a bad thing? I believe that we could've been further along if it weren't for the anti-progress themes coming out of major portions of religious dogma. I mean, we're still fighting over who can have sex with who for cripes' sake!

 

Religion has a tendency to try to worm its way into government when they should be separate; religion should stay out of government and government should stay out of religion.

 

Now, I'm not saying that religion is wholly bad. There are still people that claim that they'd be no more than a vicious brute without religion. I'm glad that religion is there to keep these people from harming others, though I find it very sad. HOWEVER, religion also is used to justify horrific atrocities, whether it's a mother drowning her child in a bathtub because "God told her to" to flying planes into buildings of innocent people to starting wars because "God told me to".

 

Now, these people would probably find other reasons to do such, but I've been in conversations with people that state, and I quote: "I have nothing against gay people, but God said no." Are they lying? Do they actually have a problem with gay people and they're blaming God for it? Or, is it because God supposedly said so that they don't want their wishes to become law, as it were? I don't know.

 

On the good hand, though, religion has made a lot of beautiful structures and has provided a lot of charitable help, which is a good thing, though I don't really see a need for it to have a religious element, but I do recognize their work.

 

I believe religion is both good and bad, which is why I can't vote in the poll as it currently stands. I believe that there will be a time, however, that religion will become a quaint notion and that secularism will be the name of the game. But I could be wrong.

 

Daniel, at first I was surprised at what you said, as here in Ukraine 90 % of people are atheists. Then i checked the statistics on the web and was surprised, apparently the Us is only 4 % secular????? No country in Europe has such a low atheist percentage. That's interesting, you guys have everything different there. i actually debate people here that some of the are way too atheist/rejectist, rejecting the idea of the possibility even of spiritual anything or even simple scientificly unexplained black magic although i know it's a possibilty.

[Axeldeath]

I think you need to search up those statistics again, they don't sound quite right.

[ProHypster]

Eurobarometer Poll 2005 Country

 

Belief in a God\ Belief in a spirit or life source\ Belief in neither

 

Turkey Turkey 95% 2% 1%

Malta Malta 95% 3% 1%

Cyprus Cyprus 90% 7% 2%

Romania Romania 90% 8% 1%

Greece Greece 81% 16% 3%

Portugal Portugal 81% 12% 6%

Poland Poland 80% 15% 1%

Italy Italy 74% 16% 6%

Republic of Ireland Ireland 73% 22% 4%

Croatia Croatia 67% 25% 7%

Slovakia Slovakia 61% 26% 11%

Spain Spain 59% 21% 18%

Austria Austria 54% 34% 8%

Lithuania Lithuania 49% 36% 12%

Switzerland Switzerland 48% 39% 9%

Germany Germany 47% 25% 25%

Luxembourg Luxembourg 44% 28% 22%

Hungary Hungary 44% 31% 19%

Belgium Belgium 43% 29% 27%

Finland Finland 41% 41% 16%

Bulgaria Bulgaria 40% 40% 13%

Iceland Iceland 38% 48% 11%

United Kingdom United Kingdom 38% 40% 20%

Latvia Latvia 37% 49% 10%

Slovenia Slovenia 37% 46% 16%

France France 34% 27% 33%

Netherlands Netherlands 34% 37% 27%

Norway Norway 32% 47% 17%

Denmark Denmark 31% 49% 19%

Sweden Sweden 23% 53% 23%

Czech Republic Czech Republic 19% 50% 30%

Estonia Estonia 16% 54% 26%

 

A 2004 BBC poll showed the number of people in the US who don't believe in a god to be about 9%

 

A 2008 Gallup poll showed that a smaller 6% of the US population believed that no god or universal spirit exists.

[Dan-95]

OK, new hypothetical, we are robots exactly like humans except our hardware does not allow us to contemplate ultimate meaning, the existence of a deity, etc. All other functions are exactly the same and their offspring don't change or mutate. We are physically unable to ask such questions (philosophy is extremely different) and large scale contemplation comes in the form of science.

 

Like i said, it's impossible for me to prove you otherwise, i'm just doing this for the sake of the question. I'm not asking for an educated guess, involving technical equation taking each and every variable into account, i just want an opinion and/or prediction about the made up circumsatnce. And i don't care whether such a position is even feasible.

 

Me, making up hypothetical situations, can go on forever, please just bend it some way.

 

Edit: Be careful with the assumptions you're making, i can't ultimately prove you wrong but there seems to be a whole lot of confidence in shaky statements.