Would the world be better without religion?

I answered a similar question earlier today. I will add like a foreword to it, and then place the previous answer here. The foreword is basically bad things will still happen with or without religion, and there is no reason to believe it would decrease without religion. The answer I am going to paste here has some of the reasons why I do not think these bad things would decrease. Bear in mind, this was talking about religion and war, but the reasons still remain valid without talking specifically about war.

"I do not believe religious people are a danger to society. Religion has never been the sole cause of war, there have almost always been additional reasons of economic and political origin. Such as the need for more resources, the need to appear powerful. Often wars fought over religion happen when a system of governance is run or heavily influenced by a particular religion. In such instances, opposing views are a threat to the stability of rule. If a church runs the government, and people question the church, rulers will try to stamp that out in order to maintain an unquestioned authority,

These wars would happen with or without religion. Nationalism has caused many bloody and large wars as well. Without religion, we would still have greed, ignorance, nationalism and power conflicts. As well as conflicts over resources such as land and fuel, to name just two.

What is dangerous to society is bigotry and intolerance. These are qualities caused not primarily by religion. People of faith and not of faith have been guilty of bigotry and discrimination, greed and being power hungry.

Lastly, there is no strong evidence I have found which conclusively says religion is dying out. In some areas it is getting stronger, in others weaker.

Just so it is clear, I am myself an atheist. Just for anyone who believes all atheists are opposed to religion."

I'm not religious, or maybe Agnostic Pantheist or non-practicing Buddhist. My view is that a system of government with a good strong system of law and appropriate punishments, jail time, etc, is enough to make people behave, most of the time, but without the steps along the way, such as Jesus, Buddha, and all that, I doubt the world would have evolved into such a nice place as it is today, in some countries.

Having said that, now that we are "civilised" and educated, it's probably time to believe in a new, cosmic religion, one that everyone can believe in easily, or to give religion the flick.

Would the world be better? In what sense? In a physical state, not per-say, as religion is a big-topic. The world would be better off without cars, big industrial cities, and that sorta things... it would be better off without wasting food and other resources which causes deforestation... without humans litter (garbage patches in the ocean)... it would be better without pesticides and artificial soils that prevent vitamin b12 production (comes from bacteria and these soils kill bacteria...) It would be better off without non-renewable sources of energy...

If you're talking about from a human perspective, again... it's all relative... religion is a vast topic. Some religions is very peaceful, ie: Buddhism or Jainism...

There are many problems in the world, the majority created by humans... the world would be better off without us... the world would be better off without greed as well... but religion? Religion is just a spiritualistic view... philosophies, etc... some religions could be positive, others could be negative...

Religion is important because it forces people to have some values in their life. There are those who have values without religion too, but that is because they don't require knowing someone is watching their every move and will send them to hell if they do wrong. Religion is not a bad thing in and of itself, but religion does create conflict because of the face of the religion. Instead of ridding religion, people should use religion to learn the values they teach.

No, people inherently look for guiding principles for their lives and society. Religion was not a major geopolitical force for most of the 20th century, yet secular ideologies and national interests caused just as many conflicts if not more.

As for benefits even if you exclude the obvious like you mentioned we're still left with different sets of ideologies promoting various personal behaviors varying from enlightenment to loving one's neighbor. What benefit it gives is best measured on a personal level rather than trying to look at society as a whole.

We say that the new world religion which is coming to all peoples on earth will at last bring us all together as one world and one humanity and one soul.

Christ and 14 other Masters of divine wisdom are already on earth with yet more to follow after the day of declaration of the world teacher for us all. Om Shantih.

That question has appeared so many times, but it actually doesn't make sense.

Religion reflects human nature and the legacy of our ancestors. It is an institution like Monsanto is.. Can you get rid of Monsanto? No!

It is like asking whether we could create a perfect government, without corruption, weapons, private accumulation of capital upon resources - like creating a Sweden of... Mexico - simply impossible.

No, because some people need it to give them a reason to live, that life isn't meaningless because there's an afterlife, and the rules simplify their lives. Besides, it's human nature to want to belong in a religious group. Otherwise, it wouldn't exist.

Religion in its real sense is the way of life ,so without religion then mankind would be lost in to the snares and deceive of satan whom its aim is to drag mankind to dwell in hell with him forever.

Then there is only one true religion of GOD, send to all mankind for their way of lives,that is Islam ,the religion of submission to the Will of GOD,the Lord of all the worlds.

Even without religion, you'd still get the greedy, the bigots, the criminals and terrorists. Pol Pot and Stalin were mass murderers and they were atheists.