Thinking of the good things religion brought to the world (Challenge)

[GSOgymrat]

The challenge for me regarding this list is I see religion as an expression of human psychology and social behavior (I know some of you disagree) and therefore saying "what good things has religion brought the world" is like saying what good things has war brought the world. It is hard to say how things would be if humans never had ritualized behaviors regarding death and spiritual experience, just is hard to say what world humanity would have created if it never had organized conflicts.

[Baruch]

Most early universities were religious institutions.

University of Bologna (baloney) - first law school

University of Salerno (salami) - first medical school

[aitm]

IF you can prove that the lack of religion could not produce the very same results, you may have a game. But I don't think you can. The chinese were relatively non-religous as per a specific diety, and they were hundred of years ahead of the rest of humanity and except for their choice of self inclusion could probably have been on the moon in the 1800's.

There is nothing that suggests religion alone did a damn thing except kill unbelievers. Come up with a way that religion, excluding all education of sciences, actually progressed humanity and I will listen. But religion…using sciences…to bolster its case..is not the same.

[Unbeliever]

I genuinely believe the number one thing religion has given us is the ability to survive as a species. For as much as I get frustrated and think how much simpler life could be if we didn't have religion and the religious nuts who go with it that want to make any belief or practice not in line with their doctrine illegal, I forbid myself from entertaining any such thoughts for too long. Because like or not, religion keeps a shit ton of potentially dangerous people in line and I strongly suspect that I our species would not survive more than a few short years without it.

If religion and God-belief can be good, it also has many faults, which I believe outweigh any good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hqUvBbGBeo

[Unbeliever]

Without religion we wouldn't have funny church signs!

[Nonsensei]

A deep pool of mythology that contributes to excellent modern fiction.

[drunkenshoe]

This is a very complicted question. What are we thinking here when we say 'what religion brought to the world'?

Religion is the ancient 'law' and when you don't have any other option, do you choose to live in a world without any law what so ever or a system that at least brings a standard and an order? Also a tons of things crucial to humanity and human history over all have its roots in religion. Culture, art (all of it), development of literacy, language, philosophy, education...etc.

There are so many things religion brought to the world, it would be impossible to put as an answer. Roughly, without the Middle Ages you don't have a Renaissance.

[aitm]

This is a very complicted question. What are we thinking here when we say 'what religion brought to the world'?

Religion is the ancient 'law' and when you don't have any other option, do you choose to live in a world without any law what so ever or a system that at least brings a standard and an order? Also a tons of things crucial to humanity and human history over all have its roots in religion. Culture, art (all of it), development of literacy, language, philosophy, education...etc.

There are so many things religion brought to the world, it would be impossible to put as an answer. Roughly, without the Middle Ages you don't have a Renaissance.

I think its pretty darn hard to suggest that we could not have achieved exactly what humanity has achieved without religion. There is nothing to suggest we could not have and everything to suggest that we would have probably achieved quicker results.

[stromboli]

Religion perpetrates what serves its purpose. Used to be universities and Gothic cathedrals, now its gay bashing and Jesus on toast.

[widdershins]

On the contrary, religion has brought about many good things in the world.  Art and architecture are two of the things that come to mind right away.  Some of the greatest art known to man came about because of religion, as well as some of the greatest structures ever built, like the pyramids of Egypt.  And who hasn't seen at least pictures of a church which took their breath away by its sheer beauty?

[The Skeletal Atheist]

The main thing I can see is the comfort it might give some grieving family members after the death of a loved one. If the kids wanna believe they'll meet grandma again in the clouds, I'm not going to take that away from them at that moment.

[Cocoa Beware]

On the contrary, religion has brought about many good things in the world.  Art and architecture are two of the things that come to mind right away.  Some of the greatest art known to man came about because of religion, as well as some of the greatest structures ever built, like the pyramids of Egypt.  And who hasn't seen at least pictures of a church which took their breath away by its sheer beauty?

My answer to that would be to consider how much more potentially could have been done without religion's overbearing influence, as in many cases the livelihoods of such artists and architects depended upon their abiding to specific themes. For every breakthrough innovation realized along the way, the human mind alone gets sole credit.

Religion should not get any credit for work like the Sistine Chapel or Last Supper. Those were purely products of Michaelangelo and Leonardo's unique genius. They were not touched by God, nor granted any kind of divine inspiration.

The way I see it, the only way religion gets credit for anything is if you really believe God guided their efforts. Otherwise were talking a happenstance influence.

[widdershins]

My answer to that would be to consider how much more potentially could have been done without religion's overbearing influence, as in many cases the livelihoods of such artists and architects depended upon their abiding to specific themes. For every breakthrough innovation realized along the way, the human mind alone gets sole credit.

Religion should not get any credit for work like the Sistine Chapel or Last Supper. Those were purely products of Michaelangelo and Leonardo's unique genius. They were not touched by God, nor granted any kind of divine inspiration.

The way I see it, the only way religion gets credit for anything is if you really believe God guided their efforts.

You're looking at art only from the perspective of the artist.  If we were talking about the works of van Gogh, you may have a point.  He was broke.  He painted on canvas.  Canvas was cheap.  But when you're talking about the Sistine Chapel, that's a different story entirely.  Art on that scale wasn't simply created, it was commissioned.  An architect doesn't simply throw up a building because he has a beautiful idea.  Someone has to buy land, pay for materials and make sure the architect doesn't starve to death while he's working.  The church is every bit as responsible for the Sistine Chapel as the architect who designed it.  It took both parties to make that building a reality.  It took both the artist AND someone willing to pay for it.  And the church didn't JUST pay for it, they asked for it.  They planted the idea that it needed to be built.  In fact, Michelangelo was intimidated by the scale of what he was asked to do in the chapel.  It was not a commission he wanted.  It was something he never would have done left to his own devices.

Now, I don't claim that these things are magical in nature, by any means.  But come on, the church definitely played a roll here, and a very major roll at that.  No religion means no chapel.  No chapel means no paintings in the chapel.  And nobody pushing Michelangelo to do a project he really didn't want to do also means no paintings in the chapel, painting, I might add, unarguably inspired by religious concepts and ideas.  To say the church played no roll, that's just wrong.  Religion has an effect on the world regardless whether fairy tales or real or not.  If you relieve the religious of any credit for the good because fairy tales aren't real then you must also excuse the religious of any bad caused by their religion.  It's not realistic.

[aitm]

  But come on, the church definitely played a roll here, and a very major roll at that. 

The "church" did not spread peacefully. Religions historically do not spread peacefully. In order for the church to play the role they did they first had to become the major religion in order to have that power. They killed a lot of people to do that. Every thing that humanity has done could easily have been done without religious interference. To suggest that it would be a shame that if we didn't have religion then we wouldn't have the Sistine Chapel could as easily be suggested that we should trade the grandeur of the Sistine Chapel for several tens of thousands of lives that could have produced enough genius's to have put a man on the moon two hundred years earlier. We don't know. I won't give them credit for that, just as I won't give Hitler credit for all the medical information "he" gave us through his torture. We would have eventually found it, not as early perhaps, and perhaps not as costly in human lives.

[Baruch]

Religion perpetrates what serves its purpose. Used to be universities and Gothic cathedrals, now its gay bashing and Jesus on toast.

So you need to encourage them to return to their prior higher standards ;-)  If the Church has de-evolved ... then isn't that an argument against evolution produces progress, rather than random dithering with life forms?

Humans don't spread peacefully, if there are already humans living there.  The idea that secular people would be complete pacifists like Gandhi is a funny idea.  Even the other Indians weren't pacifists.  Materialists simply fight over different values than the religiously deranged.

Sometimes secular people are patrons of art ... in the 20th century that created abstract painting ;-(  And even with patronage, the patron isn't always forthcoming with his monetary promises ... hence the conflict between Pope Julius II and Michelangelo.