For millennia, Man has argued about which of his various gods is superior to all others. The face of both primitive and modern society has been indelibly moulded by the premise that god exists in some form and that those who do not adhere to that form are lesser beings.
But suppose there never had been a god. What would the impacts have been on society?
For a start, hundreds of millions of people over the ages would not have died needlessly because of their faith. Billions would not have suffered some sort of religious persecution. Billions of people would not have been educated and indoctrinated in superstition, mumbo jumbo and ignorance of reality; and the desecration of the legitimacy of all people to be treated as equals and with dignity. Fewer people would be starving; more people would get health services, fewer unwanted children would be born and fewer would have been sexually exploited and molested; and so on.
In short, no other influence has been as profoundly destructive in the history of the world as Man’s own creation of god and of religion. No matter how many people jump up and down in their faith, faith does not make it so.
If all the ills and pain that have been caused by a belief in god were weighed against the good that is done in a god’s name that could not be done in the name of humanity instead; then the belief in gods of any hue has much to answer for. And if it is the interpretation of those gods that is at fault, as it is; then religions have much to answer for.
If there is a god, then I’m sure he’ll forgive us all if we treat all our fellow humans with tolerance, dignity, equality and compassion regardless of their belief system.
And if there is no god, then let’s do it anyway!
Just suppose…….