Would you like to live in a world without Christians, Jews and Muslims?

[Casual Tactician]

Seeing the many problems orthodox and radical religion can cause, I'm courious what the general opinion here is.

[AqD]

Depends on the era. Muslims were fine 1000 years ago, not so now. No Christians until last century. Jews have always been nice in foreign countries, not in their homeland though.

[Monoloco]

I have a personal world view that the Romans made a mistake not wiping out the jewish tribes and therefore allowing the cultivation and then absorption of christianity which might not have brought on the dark ages but most certainly prolonged them. For example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolipile http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diolkos. Largely what has been could have been far earlier in our history. If this was rectified then the existence of Islam would be up for contention along with Christianity. Perhaps for the betterment of Humankind, perhaps not. As far as liking to live or not I do not really care. If people have respect for others and treat everyone decently then their religion is not my concern.

[Shaxx]

I have a personal world view that the Romans made a mistake not wiping out the jewish tribes

How pissed are you at Hitler for failing?

[Aymer de Valence]

2014 and a lot of people still believe in this stuff. Unbelievable

[Cyrene]

i would love it if Atheists didn't even exist. Monkeys, chimps and apes are included as well, as they are their Cousins..

[Denny Crane!]

But you are a product of divine grace??

[Timoleon of Korinthos]

So where do we sign up?

[Aeneas Veneratio]

What would take these three religions' places? Some people need these hypotheses to sleep at night or else they turn into violent, immoral criminals that will kill, rape and rob. At least, that's the conclusion you get from discussing morality with theists, without god there is no reason to behave.

[snuggans]

the poll feels like a loaded question but i voted no, where are the other religions, why those 3? and does the question imply extermination/disappearance or an alternate universe where we have no natural progression where we go from creating gods out of constellations to help give meaning to life, to measuring the stars themselves with technology and landing on the moon? what would be the alternative to this progression? i am having trouble coming up with one.

even though i'm atheist, i feel religion does serve a purpose for others and it also enriches the variety of culture in the world, traveling for example would likely feel less enriching for me personally if there were no religions, no monuments, no ruins, no strange and new customs to experience, gastronomy would not be the same, attires wouldn't be the same, music, art etc. of course, certain areas would be safer to travel but really who knows what it'd be like in a religion-less universe?

[Monoloco]

How pissed are you at Hitler for failing?

I am not at all... There are many other tribes of people in europe and the middle east that no longer exist and were wiped out due to conquest. I hold no grudge against Judaism but it is without a doubt singlehandedly responsible for the rise of monotheism and indirectly for its adoption by the Romans for the political tool it was and is. One of the major causes of the fall of Rome and the most significant in my opinion was the change of philosophy from doing things for the glory and greatness of Rome to appeasing a eastern desert myth. Humanities progress was greatly stalled by it. I do not blame christians for it as by definition Christ was an invention of the greek rulers in the Eastern Empire to make him more appealing to their majority greek speaking peoples over the Jew Jesus from Nazareth errr or was it Bethlehem....

[Monoloco]

the poll feels like a loaded question but i voted no, where are the other religions, why those 3? and does the question imply extermination/disappearance or an alternate universe where we have no natural progression where we go from creating gods out of constellations to help give meaning to life, to measuring the stars themselves with technology and landing on the moon? what would be the alternative to this progression? i am having trouble coming up with one.

even though i'm atheist, i feel religion does serve a purpose for others and it also enriches the variety of culture in the world, traveling for example would likely feel less enriching for me personally if there were no religions, no monuments, no ruins, no strange and new customs to experience, gastronomy would not be the same, attires wouldn't be the same, music, art etc. of course, certain areas would be safer to travel but really who knows what it'd be like in a religion-less universe?

I would like to point to all the great monuments built by older generations that were not theist buildings torn down in the name of various theisms out of fear of their influence on the population. Probably the worst atrocity committed against the ancient world for example the burning of most of the library of Alexandria and nearly 1/2 of the all the worlds knowledge written down at that point in history.

[Cyrene]

I am not at all... There are many other tribes of people in europe and the middle east that no longer exist and were wiped out due to conquest. I hold no grudge against Judaism but it is without a doubt singlehandedly responsible for the rise of monotheism and indirectly for its adoption by the Romans for the political tool it was and is. One of the major causes of the fall of Rome and the most significant in my opinion was the change of philosophy from doing things for the glory and greatness of Rome to appeasing a eastern desert myth. Humanities progress was greatly stalled by it. I do not blame christians for it as by definition Christ was an invention of the greek rulers in the Eastern Empire to make him more appealing to their majority greek speaking peoples over the Jew Jesus from Nazareth errr or was it Bethlehem....

Noah was a monotheist, he lived before Jews came into existence, so it isn't fair to blame the Jews.

[Symphony]

I wish I could look at the world this simplistically.

[Aulus]

If you'll excuse the expression, better the devil you know than the devil you don't. Were there no Jews/Christians/Muslims ever in history, who knows where we would be? Hard to chart an alternate history spanning thousands of years, many of which were dominated by these religions. Besides, each one has contributed something of import to society in some manner, at some time.

Doesn't mean everything is hunky-dory today ('cause it's not) but perhaps I'm an idealist in believing that there are better solutions than automatically wishing away people of a different belief system than me.

[empr guy]

I am not at all... There are many other tribes of people in europe and the middle east that no longer exist and were wiped out due to conquest. I hold no grudge against Judaism but it is without a doubt singlehandedly responsible for the rise of monotheism and indirectly for its adoption by the Romans for the political tool it was and is. One of the major causes of the fall of Rome and the most significant in my opinion was the change of philosophy from doing things for the glory and greatness of Rome to appeasing a eastern desert myth. Humanities progress was greatly stalled by it. I do not blame christians for it as by definition Christ was an invention of the greek rulers in the Eastern Empire to make him more appealing to their majority greek speaking peoples over the Jew Jesus from Nazareth errr or was it Bethlehem....

This is pretty is a pretty ridiculous post; There were instances of monotheism other then the jews so claiming that they are solely responsible is absurd, even if there weren't it isn't hard to believe that someone else would have stumbled across the idea in the 2 something thousand years since their beginning. Additionally there is no logic behind christianity causing the fall of the Romans or jesus being an invention of the greeks but thats not within this topic.

If you'll excuse the expression, better the devil you know than the devil you don't. Were there no Jews/Christians/Muslims ever in history, who knows where we would be? Hard to chart an alternate history spanning thousands of years, many of which were dominated by these religions. Besides, each one has contributed something of import to society in some manner, at some time.

Doesn't mean everything is hunky-dory today ('cause it's not) but perhaps I'm an idealist in believing that there are better solutions than automatically wishing away people of a different belief system than me.

I voted yes because with the OP's lack of scenario I imagined the typical pantheon type religion until sciences catches up and people realize how unbelievable they are, and religion fades into more of a buddhist type spiritualism then what we have today

[Symphony]

I voted yes because with the OP's lack of scenario I imagined the typical pantheon type religion until sciences catches up and people realize how unbelievable they are, and religion fades into more of a buddhist type spiritualism then what we have today

If we're going to go with the contra-factual history route, would science have ever caught up? Up until the Late Middle Ages, literacy, scholarship, and education were primarily instruments of the clerical class, and even into the Renaissance and the Age of Reason, faith-based schools were the driving force behind a lot of research.

[Monoloco]

This is pretty is a pretty ridiculous post; There were instances of monotheism other then the jews so claiming that they are solely responsible is absurd, even if there weren't it isn't hard to believe that someone else would have stumbled across the idea in the 2 something thousand years since their beginning. Additionally there is no logic behind christianity causing the fall of the Romans or jesus being an invention of the greeks but thats not within this topic.



I voted yes because with the OP's lack of scenario I imagined the typical pantheon type religion until sciences catches up and people realize how unbelievable they are, and religion fades into more of a buddhist type spiritualism then what we have today

The idea of one supreme all powerful all knowing all present god is indeed an invention at least within the bounds of the mediterranean ancient world of the jewish tribes. There is actually a considerable body of evidence supporting the decline of Rome as it was under the Republic and pagan imperialism, to the diminishing effects of christianity. This is shown in the growing importance of the Eastern Empire as a direct result of the evangelical Constantine and the abandonment of Rome as the literal and spiritual head of the Empire. This marks the fundamental change in the Roman Ideal and undermines to the point of poisoning the very roots with which the empire was founded and prospered upon. Followed by small changes for example the openness to foreign ethnic groups who no longer had to Romanise themselves. Rome may not have been pleasant to non Romans but what followed was far worse.

Also until the greeks converted, Christ was never called by that name. Christ is greek for the "anointed one" and is most probably an amalgamation of John the Baptists story and the Jesus of Nazareth character. This is quite easy to prove since the Council of Nicaea changed his birthplace from nazareth to bethlehem (John's birthplace) to better sell the story they were the same person both divine, (As early Christians did really believe or at least were taught that). I find it strange this simple and obvious oversight is not pointed out more.

[empr guy]

If we're going to go with the contra-factual history route, would science have ever caught up? Up until the Late Middle Ages, literacy, scholarship, and education were primarily instruments of the clerical class, and even into the Renaissance and the Age of Reason, faith-based schools were the driving force behind a lot of research.

eventually, whether progress would be faster or slower is debatable.

The idea of one supreme all powerful all knowing all present god is indeed an invention at least within the bounds of the mediterranean ancient world of the jewish tribes.

well if you're changing to "within the Mediterranean world" then yes they could possibly be the founders of that monotheism

There is actually a considerable body of evidence supporting the decline of Rome as it was under the Republic and pagan imperialism, to the diminishing effects of christianity. This is shown in the growing importance of the Eastern Empire as a direct result of the evangelical Constantine and the abandonment of Rome as the literal and spiritual head of the Empire. This marks the fundamental change in the Roman Ideal and undermines to the point of poisoning the very roots with which the empire was founded and prospered upon. Followed by small changes for example the openness to foreign ethnic groups who no longer had to Romanise themselves. Rome may not have been pleasant to non Romans but what followed was far worse.

well... uh... oh wow.... I don't really think there's anything I can say to this

Also until the greeks converted, Christ was never called by that name. Christ is greek for the "anointed one" and is most probably an amalgamation of John the Baptists story and the Jesus of Nazareth character. This is quite easy to prove since the Council of Nicaea changed his birthplace from nazareth to bethlehem (John's birthplace) to better sell the story they were the same person both divine, (As early Christians did really believe or at least were taught that). I find it strange this simple and obvious oversight is not pointed out more.

Oh wow, they called him a different name, clearly they invented him. Well considering Mathew and Luke say he was born in Bethlehem and the OT has several prophecies about the savior from the same town, for jesus to have been born in Bethlehem is a decent choice for the council, and if he had grown up in Nazareth after being born elsewhere could still be called ".. of Nazareth" we can safely say "as by definition Christ was an invention of the greek rulers in the Eastern Empire" is utterly ridiculous

[hellheaven1987]

Right, next OP would suggest why don't we live in a world without bankers, considering all the sufferings bankers brought into this world...