(May 20, 2015 at 4:13 pm)Razzle Wrote: ...
I would go as far as to say that right now I wish I could believe it. Not because I want to go to heaven - I have no fear of non-existence - but for the hope that the suffering in the world that I can do nothing about will be compensated, and for the feelings I used to get when I imagined God being real and watching and making everything fair and alright in the end. ...
What would adequately compensate someone for a long, drawn-out, agonizing death from bone cancer, or some other form of cancer? What payment later on would be good enough? Turn it around, and ask yourself this: If you could get anything you wanted afterwards, would you agree to be in agony for a year first? What would be good enough to you for that?
Frankly, the idea that there is a god watching over us is monstrous. It must be a remarkably evil being, to allow all of the pain and suffering in the world. It can't make up for this. Nothing could. I don't know how any thinking person could get comfort from the idea that this is all being watched by a being that could stop the pain at any time it chooses, but it does not choose to stop the pain.
As for the main question, I think the world would be better off if there were no religious beliefs at all. Of course, this is a very hypothetical type of question, which requires us to imagine the world as being dramatically different from how it is.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
