If You Ruled Your Own Country, Would You Ban Religion?

[paulpablo]

If you were in charge of establishing a new plot of land that hadn't been colonized yet, based on what you've seen throughout the history of this planet, would you make organized religion illegal?

I think I would allow organized religion as long as it had no bigotry and evil in its doctrines, (sorry, no islam, christianity, etc etc) and didn't encourage unethical behavior. Please don't ask anyone to define unethical behavior for you. My true feelings tell me to ban it, because it does more harm than good in a society, but at the same time, I'd want people to have the liberty to do so, if they must. I'm about 50 50 on it. What would you guys do?

Oh yeah, and tax them. 40% seem fair? It leaves 60% for god. I hear he's been saving up for his new heavenly mansion by the beach.

It's a difficult question really because besides religion there's so many other bullshit things within societies that I don't see why they shouldn't be banned yet they aren't banned because people use them as sort of a crutch, comfort blanket or mascot that we're just used to having around. 
Think about gambling, alcohol, feng shui, new age medicine, psychic mediums, fortune tellers, ghost hunters, and all the rest.

I don't know what the end result in banning religion would be, or the end result in banning any of the other things I previously mentioned. It's been shown that in some societies when you ban alcohol and other drugs, criminal gangs take control of the sales and things turn nasty.


If the plot of land was small and easily manageable with a good way of being economically independent and had no tribes already populating the area that were religious then yeh I'd ban religion and legalize prostitution and some drugs like marijuana and possibly others and have strict immigration laws.

It the land was large, difficult to manage, relied on tourism, trade, immigrant workers from a religious background then I don't think it would be a good idea to ban religion. 
If the plot of land was already occupied by religious tribes then I wouldn't want to be responsible for causing a war that might ensue by banning their religion.  I think history shows that if you take away peoples alcohol or religion when they have been using alcohol or religion as a crutch for centuries the result is usually pretty bad.

 The bottom line whatever the situation was would have to be that any religion in the land would have to abide by the laws imposed on the land, no tax exempt property, no wife beating (unless in self defense), exorcisms, witch burnings, homosexual hangings, killing apostates, female circumcision and so on.

[henryp]

I'd want to establish or adopt a religion in which people viewed me as their God, or spokesperson of God. The trick would be maintaining control with an iron fist, while at the same time trying not to draw the ire of the international community. You'd want that North Korea/Iran style get whatever you want leadership role, but preferably with less threat of assassination/drone strike/invasion.

The Saudi's seem to have a pretty good thing going. They might be the blueprint.

The key being that I get to do whatever I want for my entire life without limitations. The details on how the people live or what they think are only relevant to my maintaining said position of power.

[Pyrrho]

Of course not. Even if I thought it was a good idea, which I don't, it is impossible to realize without creating an orwellian abomination.

Wait, can I change my answer to Orwellian abomination?  After all, they are now developing the technology so that we can have something even more Orwellian than even George Orwell dreamed of:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/articl...eds-ahead/

Once that is perfected, just think what governments are going to do with it....

It makes me glad that I am old enough that I might not be around any more by the time it is perfected.

---

It should be needless to say, but I am joking about wanting to change my answer.  However, I am not joking about being glad that I might be dead by the time that mind-reading technology is perfected.

---

[Red Economist]

I would be tempted to ban religion as life would be so much simpler if we could all agree there is no god and organize our lives around the principle that we're sharing this planet together, each of us for the moment of our own brief existence. A shared ideology would help this along; it would be even better if it was scientifically substantiated view of the world and moral code.

But given the fact the religion has caused so many wars, it is just as likely that trying to force it into the dustbin of history would be equally violent, so it belongs on my list of "things to do when building utopia as an evil dictator" than a realistic proposal. The failure of militant atheism in the Soviet Union to create a lasting atheist society, especially one which tried to wipe out everyone its disagreed with and managed to therefore replicate all the worst features of religious fundamentalism, is not 'encouraging' to say the least.

If there was a way to get rid of religion without actually hurting people by showing them they can be happier, freer and feel more alive as an atheist, I would give it some consideration but it hinges on whether I think freedom is the freedom to achieve self-improvement through reason, science and philosophical materialism as assuming the world can be rationally understood, controlled and improved upon, or to be religious if it is being true to oneself.

[Jericho]

I think I would ban churches not religion.  People would be free to believe whatever they wanted but no tax-exempt property.  If they want to meet, meet in their homes.
The world would not suffer if there were no churches, synagogues,  mosques or temples.  Keeps down the political ambitions of preachers, too.

I agree with Min. Let them have their meetings and congregations behind closed doors on their own private property. There is nothing wrong with allowing people to believe whatever they want, since I don't think it is the place of the government to dictate beliefs. But they wouldn't get special rights or privileges just for being religious.

[Marsellus Wallace]

I would catch religious people and give them the same punishment the law gives to a fraud or a scam artist.

[Anomalocaris]

If you were in charge of establishing a new plot of land that hadn't been colonized yet, based on what you've seen throughout the history of this planet, would you make organized religion illegal?

I think I would allow organized religion as long as it had no bigotry and evil in its doctrines, (sorry, no islam, christianity, etc etc) and didn't encourage unethical behavior. Please don't ask anyone to define unethical behavior for you. My true feelings tell me to ban it, because it does more harm than good in a society, but at the same time, I'd want people to have the liberty to do so, if they must. I'm about 50 50 on it. What would you guys do?

Oh yeah, and tax them. 40% seem fair? It leaves 60% for god. I hear he's been saving up for his new heavenly mansion by the beach.

How do you ban it?

[FatAndFaithless]

But..churches and such are already private property. I don't see how/why you could ban churches. Remove them from tax-exemption/make them follow the same rules as every other tax-exempt organization? Sure.

[Jenny A]

No, I wouldn't ban religion.  I would even prohibit discrimination based upon religion in secular schools, public accommodations, and secular workplaces.  But I would not require accommodation for religious beliefs either.  For example, no employer public or private could be required to serve certain meals in his cafeteria to accommodate religious dietary practices, or to let his employees have certain holidays for religious reasons, provided the motivation for the menus or workdays was not to avoid employing members of a certain religion.

However churches, or temples, or whatever could limit employment therein to members of the particular faith provided that worship and religious education were 80% of the group's expenditures.  Start a religious health club, or business and all the same laws would apply including anti-discrimination, to the religious organization.

I would keep the U.S. type prohibitions against state sponsored religion in place.   But I'd strengthen that.  Tax money would never go to religious practices or organizations unless they qualified for that money under secular laws.  Nor would I give religious groups a tax break that they could not otherwise qualify for under secular laws.

[Desert Diva]

I'd allow it, but there would be strict laws governing it.

1. No religious exemptions to any laws, period, including tax laws.
2. Religious organizations cannot have paid employees.
3. All children attend public schools.
4. Attempting to breach the wall between church and state or attempting to interfere with the rights of other citizens in any way
will result in the offenders being air dropped into Iran, where they can sample the pleasures of Theocracy.

Actually, if you really wanted to be cruel, you'd force religious people to live strictly by the rules in their various texts, and enforce the prescribed punishments for those who break them.