If all religious, spiritual, churches, etc all stopped tomorrow

[We Never Know]

If tomorrow every church closed its doors, all religious and spiritual groups and beliefs were dropped, faith went away and a god(any god or spiritual leader)became a forgotten word....
Would the world be a better place?
Why or why not?

 

[lostwanderingsoul]

We will never know. You might as well ask if all atheist ideas went away would the world be a better place. Neither is going to happen so why think about it.

 

[AlexanderG]

It really depends on what you mean by "faith." I consider QAnon to be a form of faith, for example, because its followers use ad hoc reasoning to interpret any fact as further proof of their beliefs, even if the facts are opposite or contradictory. The same with anti-vaxxers, pop-psychology gurus who talk about quantum mechanics, people who use homeopathy, etc.

If suddenly, all at once, people adopted reliable epistemological tools to discover and believe facts about reality....then yes, the world would change and much for the better. We could focus on solving actual human problems by facing true facts about reality, like our place in reality and the properties of reality that affect us for good or ill.

As just one example, US foreign policy for Israel has been guided by a strong, vocal group of Evangelicals that believe Israel must be fully controlled and occupied by Jewish people so that biblical prophecy will be fulfilled, namely the second coming of Jesus and the end of the world. They are actively supporting de facto apartheid, war crimes, and state crimes against humanity because they eagerly wish to hasten the destruction of the world. We can do so much better than this, and so much better for each other, if we just dropped the ancient superstition and embraced all the modern tools, knowledge, wisdom, and ethics that we now have at our fingertips.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

If tomorrow every church closed its doors, all religious and spiritual groups and beliefs were dropped, faith went away and a god(any god or spiritual leader)became a forgotten word....
Would the world be a better place?
Why or why not?

Probably about the same. As human morality isn't always determined based on religious beliefs.

 

[We Never Know]

We will never know. You might as well ask if all atheist ideas went away would the world be a better place. Neither is going to happen so why think about it.

"Neither is going to happen so why think about it"

Because they are constantly being argued about and blamed for things. So what would the world be like without them.

 

[Link]

It might physically in this world but probably won't be.

It might in that it's possible there be unity and people stop fighting one another. But it's probable that society would become further sexually debauched, and that would lead to apathy towards justice, and with apathy towards justice, you can expect the evil people to do what they want on earth. The result would be a great amount of humans oppressed (as they already are) but with no hope of defeating their enemies and with no resistance, the oppressed would despair.

What gives oppressed people fuel to keep going is the belief of vengeance of God as well as hope in a helper from God and a leader from God who will restore the world to justice and they contribute to that.

For this reason God through each Ahlulbayt always reserved at least one person. From Ahlulbayt of Adam - Idris (Enoch). From Ahlulbayt of Musa and Harun - Elyas and Isa. From Ahlulbayt of Ibrahim - Khidr.

From Ahlulbayt of Mohammad - the Mahdi.

Peace be upon all chosen and highest blessings to Mohammad and his family.

Each sent group (Ahlulbayt) had one preserved because their return is supposed to be an important time in which humans will be tried with miracles again. Enoch (Idris) was a successor of Adam and from his Ahlulbayt, and God started saving and preserving his chosen from then. They are the stars that disappear and then return, spoken about in Quran.

I believe if humans abandon God and don't bring the Mahdi back and all give up on this, and abandon belief, and Christians abandon belief in Jesus and Jews in Elijah or their Messiah to return, things will get a lot a lot worse.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

If tomorrow every church closed its doors, all religious and spiritual groups and beliefs were dropped, faith went away and a god(any god or spiritual leader)became a forgotten word....
Would the world be a better place?
Why or why not?

No, because Humans are terrible.

 

[We Never Know]

It really depends on what you mean by "faith." I consider QAnon to be a form of faith, for example, because its followers use ad hoc reasoning to interpret any fact as further proof of their beliefs, even if the facts are opposite or contradictory. The same with anti-vaxxers, pop-psychology gurus who talk about quantum mechanics, people who use homeopathy, etc.

If suddenly, all at once, people adopted reliable epistemological tools to discover and believe facts about reality....then yes, the world would change and much for the better. We could focus on solving actual human problems by facing true facts about reality, like our place in reality and the properties of reality that affect us for good or ill.

As just one example, US foreign policy for Israel has been guided by a strong, vocal group of Evangelicals that believe Israel must be fully controlled and occupied by Jewish people so that biblical prophecy will be fulfilled, namely the second coming of Jesus and the end of the world. They are actively supporting de facto apartheid, war crimes, and state crimes against humanity because they eagerly wish to hasten the destruction of the world. We can do so much better than this, and so much better for each other, if we just dropped the ancient superstition and embraced all the modern tools, knowledge, wisdom, and ethics that we now have at our fingertips.

Religious faith, spiritual faith, etc.

Not faith like "I have faith my kid will grow to be famous"

 

[lostwanderingsoul]

"Neither is going to happen so why think about it"

Because they are constantly being argued about and blamed for things. So what would the world be like without them.

OK that is a good point.

 

[We Never Know]

We will never know. You might as well ask if all atheist ideas went away would the world be a better place. Neither is going to happen so why think about it.

By the way... What are atheist ideas?

 

[PureX]

If tomorrow every church closed its doors, all religious and spiritual groups and beliefs were dropped, faith went away and a god(any god or spiritual leader)became a forgotten word....
Would the world be a better place?
Why or why not?

Life would become a lot more difficult for a lot of people. A LOT of people. Many millions. Because it's through their faith in God that they find the strength and courage to keep struggling with the difficult circumstances of their lives.

 

[viole]

If tomorrow every church closed its doors, all religious and spiritual groups and beliefs were dropped, faith went away and a god(any god or spiritual leader)became a forgotten word....
Would the world be a better place?
Why or why not?

Of course. There seems to be a direct relationship between quality of life, and general happiness, and level of secularism. In the place I come from, only one in five believe in a personal god, and that includes a lot of muslim immigrants, and yet things are great.

I mean, for what is good belief in things without evidence? Who needs that?

ciao

- viole

 

[Nakosis]

If tomorrow every church closed its doors, all religious and spiritual groups and beliefs were dropped, faith went away and a god(any god or spiritual leader)became a forgotten word....
Would the world be a better place?
Why or why not?

Better is a relative term. So for some, I expect it would seem so. For others it wouldn't.

Unless if maybe you can objectively define what better is, most answers will be arbitrary.

 

[Revoltingest]

Probably about the same. As human morality isn't always determined based on religious beliefs.

Aye, all religions have enuf wiggle room for personal
interpretation, & justification of basest desires (IMO),
whether it's beheading girls for the sin of learning, or
murdering a clerk in an abortion clinic.

Note:
The above is my opinion.
If any poster is offended, "all" didn't include your faith.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

If tomorrow every church closed its doors, all religious and spiritual groups and beliefs were dropped, faith went away and a god(any god or spiritual leader)became a forgotten word....
Would the world be a better place?

Yes.

Why or why not?

Steven Weinberg put it best:

With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil—that takes religion.

Edit: at the very least, we'd be able to put an extra billion dollars toward educating kids in my province instead of spending it on duplication and waste: It's time to merge Ontario's two school systems

 

[Altfish]

If tomorrow every church closed its doors, all religious and spiritual groups and beliefs were dropped, faith went away and a god(any god or spiritual leader)became a forgotten word....
Would the world be a better place?
Why or why not?

Certainly it would NOT be a better place, initially at least.
I am an atheist but appreciate the friendship and companionship and sense of belonging that churches can offer their congregation.
Closing churches will leave a massive hole in the lives of these people.

 

[AlexanderG]

Religious faith, spiritual faith, etc.

Not faith like "I have faith my kid will grow to be famous"

I still don't really know what that means. Do you mean:
1. Unevidenced beliefs that a god described by a religion exists, or that some kind of supernatural things exist like spirits?
2. Or by "spiritual faith" do you mean a generic feeling of reverence for existence and optimism for the future?
3. Something else?

The first sort is useless and seemingly harmful for human progress. The second is just a human attribute that motivates us to carry on about our lives, and animals seem to have a similar drive.

 

[Jeremiah Ames]

If tomorrow every church closed its doors, all religious and spiritual groups and beliefs were dropped, faith went away and a god(any god or spiritual leader)became a forgotten word....
Would the world be a better place?
Why or why not?

Fabulous question

Better is my answer.

Because church buildings breed division.

Everyone outside the church door is a potential convert, and a likely enemy.

I suppose people will call me a cynic or a pragmatist, depending on which side of the door they are standing.

imo

 

[Martin]

Certainly it would NOT be a better place, initially at least.
I am an atheist but appreciate the friendship and companionship and sense of belonging that churches can offer their congregation.
Closing churches will leave a massive hole in the lives of these people.

It probably would for a while, but presumably people would find other reasons to gather.

 

[Mock Turtle]

If tomorrow every church closed its doors, all religious and spiritual groups and beliefs were dropped, faith went away and a god(any god or spiritual leader)became a forgotten word....
Would the world be a better place?
Why or why not?

I don't think this is something we could answer sensibly, it being difficult to rerun history, but given that possibly all atheists and agnostics would carry on as normal and apparently being as moral as the religious according to some evidence, then those dropping their religious beliefs might not find it so difficult to transition away from the morality often espoused by their faith and take up what works for the non-religious. Much of the conflict and set views do often come from religious beliefs - as to females, their roles, entitlements, and such, or as to sexual orientation, for example. So there might be a greater trend to treat all others as equal citizens, which is the tendency anyway in many of those countries where religions have less of a role at the moment.

As to whatever else people get from religions, perhaps they might just toughen up and accept life as it is, as most atheists and agnostics probably do - and perhaps substituting some values for others - like what to do about keeping our planet safe along with all other life as much as we try to do for humans.

If there was an actual God perhaps such would step in and point out our erring ways.