Disclaimer: This isn't mean to be a thread to stir up any controversy. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and I respect those. I'm an agnostic atheist myself but I don't judge. Don't turn this into something it isn't.
On to the topic. This has always been a huge debate in regards to how we as a species advance as a whole. If Religion had less influence if none at all, would that be better or worse for our species? Some people point towards Religion being a guideline for morals and ethics, but I can tell you first hand from personal experience, I've gone to Catholic schools for all my life and was born into a Christian family. Every time Religion was a class, everyone dozed off even when we were learning about ethics. My parents are still Christian but they never were hardcore and tried to teach us the supposedly deep morals the bible preaches. So I don't see how the bible (and by extension any other religious script) is supposed to be a moral guideline for people. People use their brains. It's all common sense. It's more biological than it is ethical. We react dependent on our own survival (Survival of the fittest aka Natural selection) and different biological tendencies will influence our reactions (The environment you grew up in is a massive influence). On top of all of this, there is always back and forth arguments about Religion inhibiting scientific innovation. I won't say yes or no to this because it's a very controversial topic, but we've come this far with religion still here. Without religion inhibiting let's say... stem cell research or other things that the religions have so much influence over, would we be further ahead than we are now?
On to the topic. This has always been a huge debate in regards to how we as a species advance as a whole. If Religion had less influence if none at all, would that be better or worse for our species? Some people point towards Religion being a guideline for morals and ethics, but I can tell you first hand from personal experience, I've gone to Catholic schools for all my life and was born into a Christian family. Every time Religion was a class, everyone dozed off even when we were learning about ethics. My parents are still Christian but they never were hardcore and tried to teach us the supposedly deep morals the bible preaches. So I don't see how the bible (and by extension any other religious script) is supposed to be a moral guideline for people. People use their brains. It's all common sense. It's more biological than it is ethical. We react dependent on our own survival (Survival of the fittest aka Natural selection) and different biological tendencies will influence our reactions (The environment you grew up in is a massive influence). On top of all of this, there is always back and forth arguments about Religion inhibiting scientific innovation. I won't say yes or no to this because it's a very controversial topic, but we've come this far with religion still here. Without religion inhibiting let's say... stem cell research or other things that the religions have so much influence over, would we be further ahead than we are now?