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Originally Posted by RezZ
We would be so much farther as a race. I truly think technology and understanding of science in general would be far past where we are now. Think of all those years the church tried suppressing any scientific progress, then think if they hadn't how much extra time there would have been to discover everything. Theres a chance my motorcycle wouldnt have been wrecked and car wouldnt suck because I would have a hoverboard that fit in my pocket.
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There's also a chance that due to the lack of a controlling factor we'd still be in a Dark Age of Feudal warfare where due to the shifting power and constant struggle to survive no real advances had been made. Consider the Greeks, the Romans, the Egyptians, the Chinese... you name an ancient, great civilisation, responsible for any of the pre-Dark Age discoveries, and they will have had religions. They will have had gods with their own ways and demands, but that didn't stop them from becoming fantastic centres of learning, education and invention.
I think people are often far too quick to shove all the blame for everything on Religion. In the words of The Eagles:
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And I found out a long time ago
what a woman can do to your soul
Ah but she can't take you anyway
You don't already know how to go
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In Essence, religion may often be a catalyst for warfare, discrimination, and oppression, but it has never done anything that mankind couldn't and hasn't done of its own accord. When religion is used in a negative way, it is very rarely due to the religion itself. It is much more likely to be as a result of Power. Those at the head of a religious body have a frightening amount of power over their followers, and there is truth to the phrase "Power Corrupts". Given the opportunity to exert one's will on a large number of people, many will take that opportunity with no hesitation. For Catholicism, all it takes is for the Pope to state one thing, and then it is infallible law within the religion. Don't blame the religion itself, blame those who continue to abuse its power.
It is not religion that is responsible for all our woes, it is the people who use this concept to further their own aims, and if religion didn't exist, I'd be willing to bet that they'd just find something else to use to the same effect.