RE: If You Ruled Your Own Country, Would You Ban Religion?
April 29, 2015 at 1:43 pm
(This post was last modified: April 29, 2015 at 1:44 pm by 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.
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.
