Does the religious myth benefit modern society or not?

[SlayerRondo]

ArnoldRimmer said:

SlayerRondo said:

Given my recent discussion on the VGChartz forums I have found myself in a discussion that without religion we will be a me-centric society. 

I just can't get my head around this at all. I myself care about the wellbeing of other's despite being an athiest and do so through chritable works as well as many of the people i work with. And unlike many christian charities we don't go around to people trying to convert them in return for aid. Not to mention that Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are both athiest but are the largest charitable donators in the world.

While i'm not trying to say that the religious are less willing to help other's I certainly reject the view that athiest are me-centric.

Opinion's?

My opinion is that you are indeed egoistic/self-centric - just like every other human. I'd say that the difference between religious people and others is not about who of both is egoistic/self-centric, but how that egoism shows.

I've once read that there is a theological belief that concepts like "heaven" and "hell" are necessary to keep humans from negative behaviour, and there might indeed be a certain truth to that.

For example, imagine I saw you standing on a bridge, willing to end your life. If I were a strong believer in heaven and hell, I would probably try to stop you from doing so and do anything to help you instead - but I might indeed only do so because I believe this will benefit me in my afterlife by reducing the danger of going to hell and improving the chance of going to heaven.

If, however, I was completely sure that there is no afterlife, my reaction might be completely different: I might instead try to figure out if you're leaving a big-breasted blonde behind that soon needs some solace, take your wallet and car (you're not going to need them anymore anyway) and then help you achieve your goal.

This is why I think that in practice, religious beliefs might indeed lead to a certain tendency to make people behave in a way that seems less egoistic.

I did not mean to imply that i am not egoistic/self centric nor that there were any people who wern't. What i meant was that i did not let my egoistic/self centric aspects stop me from caring from others.