When religion is gone

[onebluethinker]

First of all, I definitely think that atheism is better than religion. Deconversion was amazingly liberating. But at the same time, every time I go to a temple something makes me feel really, really sad. And I start to wonder what would happen when religion is gone.

There are experiences that make me hate religion. When my dad answers my younger brother's question with "Because God made it that way" and I can just see the intelligence in my brother's eyes and I feel terrible because I really want to stop his brainwashing but what can I really do? When I read about the horrific things being done in the name of religion every day. When I hear about more violence, discord, indoctrination, and deaths.

A few years ago I visited the temples in belur and halebidu in Karnataka, India. They were the most amazing things I had ever seen. For a whole month I visited beautiful temples across the state. I listened to street musicians and looked at wall murals. I fell in love with the culture that I was born into. And even when I came home, back to a small, 98% white farming town, I felt thankful. Our local temple was small. But I looked at the carved roof and thought, "Someone came here from India and spent months carving intricate designs into the pyramidal roof because the loved what they do and why they do it." I watched the movie Baraka and thought "Us humans are pretty awesome. And the things we've made are priceless."

About a year ago I wished I was religious. I thought, "I don't care about truth, I want to be a part of a community and all of this amazing culture. I want to be accepted. I don't want to feel alone."

I don't believe that any more. I believe in truth, and I believe that being alone means we are responsible for ourselves.

But is there a perfect world full of atheists and human rights and beautiful temples? I really want there to be one. But sometimes when I'm feeling pessimistic, I don' t think there ever can be. Hinduism, being an ethnic religion, is almost a complete way of life. If you're a Hindu, chances are you're Indian and eat certain foods and speak certain languages. If Hinduism is gone, what next? What about all the other things that have been made in the name of religion? What will life be like when religion is gone? Maybe there will always be two groups, the atheists and then everyone else.

It'll be peaceful, definitely. To be clear, I don't want to be a Hindu again. It's just a rhetorical question about what will happen to culture.

[dyresand]

Some sort of religion will always be around because some people have that irrational necessity to believe in magic and a god.
I can see religion being such a extreme minority or something opposite of what we have now where theists are in our place.

[RectTect]

I agree with both of you, especially since Hinduism is the oldest popular religion. and I like to bring up polytheism when debating monotheists. (I'm an atheist and new to this site)

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I have a problem, a girl that likes me won't date me because I'm an atheist.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Atheists too enjoy and create culture. We design fantastic buildings, write moving music, paint beautiful paintings, and have just as much access to the wordless language of human feelings as any theist. Inspiration comes from many different sources.

[robvalue]

Even if religion dies out, it doesn't mean the associated culture has to. It kind of annoys me at the moment how the two things are treated as one and the same. All of the positive aspects of the culture could be saved while getting rid of all the ridiculous religious beliefs that go along with it.

I agree with Parker, I'm confident atheists will continue to make lovely buildings and form social communities that are just as good. And there's no reason in particular to smash up the religious buildings, which I agree are very impressive and beautiful. They can just become nice buildings.

[Thumpalumpacus]

And there's no reason in particular to smash up the religious buildings, which I agree are very impressive and beautiful. They can just become nice buildings.

I love listening to Bach, so much so I've learnt some of his pieces on my guitar, and I don't care that much of what he wrote was dedicated to his faith. Cathedrals, the same: I can see them as the works of man, and their original purpose doesn't poison the æsthetic value, to me.

[Aoi Magi]

Actually hinduism isn't as much about religion as much as a way of life, but hinduism is actually a mixture of many cultures and religions. You can be considered a hindu even if you don't follow the strict sanatan-dharma, or don't believe in any gods or creators. There is no authority or strict standards in hinduism (which is why it is extremely hard to debate a hindu). So if you want the hindu label, you can have it without being religious. If you want the label "indian", just be careful around cops, and probably start watching cricket(the game).

But to be part of the culture and appreciate the art you have no need to be religious or use any labels. Atheist, hindu, alien, whatever, have no bearing whatsoever when it comes to appreciating stuff, because that is what we do as humans. I have heard many religious people wondering how I could appreciate the beauty of nature if I don't believe in a higher power, which is extremely stupid cause even a person from a particular religion can and almost always appreciates art of another religion when visiting a foreign location.

[Mr Greene]

Hello mate, allow me to introduce myself;
I'm Anglo-Indian, never been religious though I was christened as CofE so that my parents could send me to a catholic school...
Certainly Asia is a fantastic place and I'd jump at the opportunity to visit the places my ancestors lived and served in. There is absolutely no requirement to be a part of any group to appreciate art or architecture.

[Norman Humann]

Well, if though the temples might have been built in the name of religion, it doesn't mean beautiful buildings cannot be built without it.

I doubt religion will ever fully be gone, because of the way the human species evolved and the sociological and psychological need one may feel for it, but I hope that we can rid ourselves of its organised form, because it's doing a lot of harm and the world would certainly be a much more peaceful place without it. We can only hazard a guess about the future, though. Hopefully we'll be able to move on from theism, at least.

[robvalue]

People of Earth:

You are finally free to believe what we fucking tell you to believe. God is dead, go home and shut your noise.

Love Rob.