Would the world be better off if all theists became atheists.

[Angrboda]

I voted a big fat "No".


To borrow Min's tagline, you can't fix stupid. And the human race is stupid. (*)

The human race has evolved just enough intelligence to be dangerous (to itself). If that happened tomorrow, fanatics would simply find something else to be fanatical about, the dogmatic would just be dogmatic about something else (likely science), and the tribe of the idiot would just take up residence in a new land.

Don't get me wrong, I think man is an incredibly noble creature, capable of amazing feats, sublime expression, and jaw-dropping acts of courage and compassion. However, one thing homo sapiens' brain isn't entirely well equipped for is creating, developing and maintaining healthy and rational knowledge and beliefs; atheism is not above the fray -- our belief engines are more driven by our social nature than our rational one. Truth is a social creation, and the organon that we look to for the creation of truth -- be it religion, philosophy, politics, skepticism or atheism -- all depend on the same mammalian cognitive engine, and it wasn't built for truth, justice, mercy and compassion per se. The selfish gene is indeed selfish, and it is not moved by your concern for goodness and light.

(*) On the other hand, if the question were, "what if we all became Taoists....

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And in the first year of the Age Of Disbelief, all the bad people were eliminated from amidst the body of the elect by the efficient prosecution of The Four Horsemen of The New Atheism and their atheistic minions....