Has religion slowed the scientific growth of the world?

The technological devices of earth are improving every day. The people of earth are falling into new trends. Religion is very slowly becoming obsolete. Peopl worry about religion all the time. Peopl give money to churches and take time for praise. If religion never existed to begin with, would the world be more scientifically advanced?

reply to post by demonologist842012


Yes and no: in the medieval ages the monks did an important job by copying books in their monasteries.
No: Religion itself is a handbrake for progress, as it is per defitionem conservative.

reply to post by demonologist842012


Not as much as corporate interest and national security.

reply to post by ChaoticOrder


What is an organised religion if not a corporation?

Definitely yes.
Science and scholarship were persecuted by the catholic church for centuries, just look up "Galileo Galilei vs the Inquisition" and you should get the picture.
Religious believe systems in general often contradict logical reasoning or the scientific method.
Even today some narrow-minded christians called "creationists" still believe that the earth is ~6k years old, the theory of evolution is wrong or that God is responsible for high and low tides etc.

So yes, religion inhibits the scientific growth of the world.

Yes. There was a time when religion was sole ruler of the world and it was called the 'dark ages' for a reason.

The catholic church burnt down our only university in the entire world in Alexandria, ruining most of the worlds knowledge.

They attack people, kill them, or jail them for believing anything that does not involving god 'creating it'. Gallileo was sentenced to house arrest for the rest of his life because he thought the earth wasn't the center of the universe, and the guy that thought so before, and had studied it was just killed.

If religion didn't rule the damn world we would have landed on the moon in 969 rather than 1969.

And I'm not even counting the alchemists that were killed for their scientific research. Everything educational (anti-religious) was an act that could get you killed, so people were swayed away from anything that didn't mesh with religion.

What other way could religion rule the world? They need their people ignorant and uneducated, just to believe their fairy tales.

So, yea, I think so.

Pred...

For Christianity definitley yes.
It is true, that monks saved the ancient books from Rome and Greece, but they also kept them away from the people. When their earthly power vanished they started the horrible chapter of the inquisition.
The school system was in hands of the church, until the French Revolution started to change this. What followed was the industrial revolution and since then a rapid developement in science and technic.

But alas, also a rapid developement of the world population, with all their needs and wishes.
The pope just bemoaned, that people became too indivualistic these days. I guess this means, overpopulation is not the problem if they all only follow blindly.

The Nazis would argue that all the experiments on Jews were good for scientific advancement. When man no longer fears God, many evils can be called noble. You must not forget to ask at what price advancement is made.

Originally posted by Elvis Hendrix
reply to post by ChaoticOrder

 

What is an organised religion if not a corporation?

Touche.
2nd.

absolute yes!

theres absolutely no doubt about it.

look at what the church has held back in the past. we could have been much more advanced than we are now if the church hadn't killed people for herecy and witchcraft. they were so sure of the earth being the center of the universe.

if religious people want to be religious they should go live off of their prayers and not be allowed to use anything that has come from the science they so refuse to believe.

just the fact that there is a debate between creationism and evolution is crazy to me.

if everyone was religious the world would turn into george orwell's 1984 but, with religion controlling/surpressing everything.

thank god for atheists

reply to post by demonologist842012


most people don't pray their lives away. they go to school, they go to work. maybe there are people who are scientists that go to praise and worship on the week-end.

not everyone has the will or want for scientific studies. so most folks are not bound to be scientists to begin with. the masses are bound for more basic labor, if/when the jobs are available. scientists are very bright. most folks, not so much.

there was a time long ago when religion was first and foremost in many peoples lives, but still their days were filled with labor. they worked their farms, tended livestock, saw after the crops. it was not all that long ago in history when many people did not get to go to school for very long. there was mouths to feed and everyone had their share of chores to do.

it was over generations that America went from a norm of little education and little wealth to the point where children were not primarily laborers, and were able to become students earning high school degrees. higher education, college & university, was largely reserved for the money class that could afford better educations for their children.

look at the big picture. much more than government, religion or science, it is the lack of wealth that has hindered much of our social structure.

fast-forward to today. most people have lifestyles similar to what past celebrities and the wealthy enjoyed. everyone is a rock star. designer clothes, purebred dogs, hairstyles, leisure time activities, eating well, on it goes. for most the standard is pretty high.

education is not just for the wealthy now, hasn't been that way for a while. but many colleges & universities are more concerned with churning profit than turning out graduates of high merit. America has an excess of schooled people with little job opportunities. So where is the real danger?

government, religion and science is a factor in peoples lives. but when people can't earn a living and enjoy the fruit of their labor (paychecks) people grow angry with the government, the faithful may spend even more time with their beliefs and science suffers from lack of funding.

religion isn't as dead as the internet nay-sayers would like you to believe. not having a President that says "God bless America" and "God bless" after every sentence (as we did for some time) merely lessens the false emphasis. this has large impact on the social conscious. there are huge amounts of churches, synagogues and non-denominational houses of worship coast to coast, and they are well attended.

the bottom line: it seems like most people hold themselves back, they've got no one else to blame, but they still do. after you've gone through the education system and attended the house of worship your parents did or did not take you to, you're all grown up and it's time to look around and choose your direction.

religion? science? i've seen too many not give a damn about much more than having a good time, focused on their own pleasure, to make any contribution or to be much affected by religion, science and government. there are a lot of people that ignore the world around them and live in their own bliss. most people really are their own worst enemy. people being lazy and stupid has had a greater impact than science and religion has.

-- my opinion only, based on observation not on statistics or research.

For many many years some of the best scientist on the planet were Muslims... Astronomy, mathematics, physics etc...

And there are (and have been) many great Christian scientists...

Robert T. Bakker

Francis Collins

Stephen Barr

Christian science

And, obviously, many other religions have contributed to science over the years, as well as atheists and agnostics...

The problem is not a religious one... it’s a cultural one. Many religious people embrace science and see it merely as an understanding of God’s creation. And sadly many backwards cultures reject science, due to fear, and use their religious beliefs as a veil to hide their fear. Doesn’t matter if it’s the bible belt of America or deep central Africa... you will find those who fear science and use religion as the excuse to shun it.

However, if we banished all religions do you really think these people would suddenly rush out and purchase Hawkins "brief history of time"?? Of course not... For these people are more entwined in superstitions then religion. Much like the African superstitions of 'Child-witches'

This has nothing to do with Christianity; it is a practice deeply rooted in cultural superstations that do not have boundaries and clear ethical guidelines.

To blame religion seems to be the latest simplistic trend in searching for the bogey man of world woes. Rather than addressing the complexity of issues that cause social problems people just point their fingers and shout "it’s because of religion"

Science can be a double edged sword though...

Science has given us great medicine, deeper knowledge and understanding of the universe, new forms of entertainment, the ability to travel the globe in a few hours and an abundance of energy.

However, it can also be argued that science has also given us...

The Nuclear bomb
Biological weapons
Pollution
Crops with modified seeds meaning that farmers have to continually purchase seeds from a single distributor
New ways to rape the planet

But, to blame science is as silly as blaming religion... The problem lies with people. Some scientists do not seem to have any moral compass and will always ask "could we" rather than "should we"

Knowledge without wisdom is dangerous... Knowledge without morals is deadly...

And before anyone jumps down my throat... I am NOT implying that atheists have no morals... I am implying that the problem lies with people... full stop!

Peace

No, rather the growth of science has retarded the evolution of religion.

Yes and no but more yes than no.
It is true that some of the greatest scientific minds have been religious as in the monks of old copying books and the koran's drive towards education and discovery,but they were called the dark ages for a reason,hundreds of years of oppresion and persicution and death to all heratics.