Religion permeates every aspect of human life. Human troubles, doubts and questions were answered in the Ancient and Medieval periods by giving religious answers and explanations. The human brain does not give any room for vacuum. There is a question to always ask and an answer to be provided to the human brain.
It has been argued that religion started from fear. Man believes there is a power that is beyond his comprehension and as such, he created religion to answer those questions disturbing him. It is also possible for you to dispute this claim about how religion started but we will both be relying on what we read/told which makes neither of the claims true nor false!
There is a difference between religion and social morality. These two moralities often conflict with one another. It should be noted also that there is apparent conflict among different religions on what is ethical/moral.
The Christian religion, for instance, use 'thou' to proclaim what is morally right from what is not. Examples of such are: thou shall not steal, thou shall not lie, thou shall kill, etc. These are commands and they are things we must obey every time.
Morality in religion serves as the guideline on how members 'must' conduct themselves before the Supreme Being and mostly among fellow human beings.
The question now is how moral would you be without religion? Will you be more, less or equally morally corrupt?
Perhaps, we should start by asking how moral you are with your religion? If you are to judge the situation on ground, do you think we would be better off without the morality religion preaches?
Reality check, the fear of hell and the reward of heaven as painted by most religions are responsible for the 'love' we are experiencing right now. Without religion, which is also premised on the belief in the Supreme Being, the world would probably be in chaos.
The fear of God in most cases determines how we relate with our fellow humans and how we conduct ourselves in the society. It is also true that despite the influence of religion, some people abuse or hide under it to perpetuate 'evil'.
A world free of religion is unthinkable for me. Left for the government, they will have no control over such society because we are fallible. What social morality does is to create merely fear of our freedom being seized. The highest we will get is capital punishment.
Religion however, tells us that such person, if he/she is truly guilty will face another wrath before the Supreme Being. Whether this claim is true or false cannot be ascertained but it creates that sense of belonging and ensures continuity of human existence.
If you ask me, i would say a world without religion will make man more morally corrupt. Although i don't really subscribe to some of its (religion) tenets, but i find it difficult to agree with some scholars (especially the humanists/humanitarians) that a world without religion is more plausible.
What is your take on this topic? Do you see a more or less morally corrupt human being without religion? Your contributions would be highly appreciated.
