A world without religion.
What would it look like?
It is easy to feel ambivalent about religion. On the one hand, it has provided solace and meaning for many but on the other, it is also responsible for a great deal of intolerance, persecution and bloodshed. When we consider the impact religion has had on human societal evolution and geopolitics, it is interesting to opine on what the world would look like today had the main religions not played such a determining role.
Religion as a unifying force
Aside from providing a raison d’être for human existence, religion has also unified and rallied various ethnic groups around a common cause. It can be argued that Catholicism created the Europe we know today. According to the Pew Research Centre, 76.2% of the European population identifies itself as Christian making it the largest Christian population. The Crusades, which began in the late 12th Century and concluded in the late 15th Century, were largely responsible for the polarisation of the Eastern (Muslim) and Western world. How different would today’s world be had the Crusades not occurred?In all likelihood, given man’s proclivity for conquer and control, another group would have risen up and attempted to rule the world. North America could have had a more Eastern flavor to it.
And what of morality and ethics?
Could humans have developed moral and ethical behavior without religion? The field of evolutionary ethics deals with that very question. It certainly makes intuitive sense and a compelling arguement. One would think that in the interests of advancement, humankind would have favored such moral responses as social peace, harmony and cooperation (David Copp). Would there be less “fear of other” in today’s society had these values and behaviors not been promoted under the umbrella of a particular religion? Would there have been less intolerance?
Religion and intolerance
There is little doubt as to religion’s influence in shaping countries and empires but it also plays an active role in the daily lives of individuals. While providing guidance and solace for many, it has also sown division and intolerance notably for its positions on homosexuality and the role of women in society. These positions seemingly go against the principles of love, peace and compassion which are the main tenets of all religious thought. It is unlikely conversion therapy would have been deemed necessary had religion not equated homosexuality to sin. Women might have achieved equality with men had religion not regarded them as second class citizens.
Because it provides answers to fundamental questions, religion often finds favor with the poor and more marginal groups in society. It offers the support other institutions fail to provide. Once one becomes indoctrinated into a system of beliefs, it is much easier to accept the bad alongside the good.
Tolerance, collaboration and compassion lead to equality. Without a doubt, greater (gender) equality would have made today’s society quite different; arguably, better.
Epilogue
James Baldwin once wrote, “Because I was born in a Christian culture, I never considered myself to be totally a free human being”. More recent schools of thought such as existentialism and logotherapy have posited that humans can and must find or create meaning in their lives with or without religion. That quest for understanding and meaning is at the core of what it means to be human. Religion has provided answers but has also displayed the arrogance of claiming to possess the absolute truth. It has also required obedience on the part of its faithful. Obedience is the antithesis of freedom. As it has become painfully evident, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely!” It may be for this reason that the the “not religious” have become the largest group in the United States.
But that does not mean that “God is dead”. According to the World Economic Forum, “the growth of religious populations worldwide is projected to be 23 times larger than the growth of the unreligious between 2010 and 2050”. Credit increasing inequality for this projection. Unfortunately, if history repeats itself, the quest to become one people under one God may once again be the cause of much pain and suffering.
Final thought
The history of human kind is punctuated by conflict. Religion, with its message of peace, unity and grace has, unfortunately, all too often been used as a pretense to exercise control over the other; the fundamental message has been lost in translation. It is my opinion that had gender equality been achieved sooner, today’s world would be a better place. It is a shame that religion did not contribute to achieve that end.