If we lived in a totally secular society would their be more or less intolerance

Question: If we lived in a totally secular society would their be more or less intolerance!?

What are the reasons for your answer!.!.!.!.!.I have not actually made up my mind on this point !.!.so unlike other questions may be easier to swayWww@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Secular does not mean an absence of any type of belief only that religious beliefs are not allowed to play an active part in government!.

It does not mean that people will behave better towards each other!. If you are starving or greedy and want what the other person has no matter what you believe you may attempt to steal or kill to get it!.

The presence of religion is only relevant if that religion teachers tolerance/integration/co-operation etc!. If the belief system religious or otherwise is based on power and control through oppression and fear then it wont produce less violence!.

As someone trying to follow the path laid out by Jesus (not too successfully) I find it immensely frustrating to hear people justify acts of violence against others in the name of God, but then I find myself in the paradoxical situation of being very angry about acts of murder, rape, paedophilia etc!.

So I have the hypocrites cap of disliking violence but feeling that certain 'people' should be punished with harsh sentences/treatment!.

So I don't think it makes a difference what you believe, it is what you do that counts!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Supposable we do live in a completely secular society and to be honest I think there would be/is more discrimination!. We are constantly trying to put ourselves into categories, knowing where we stand with one another!.

There is no shared view of a race or minority and therefore we are trying to process everyone's opinions to finally make up our own minds!.

Plus, as we are all so aware of what is supposed to be right and wrong, political correctness has gone out of the window!. For instance we're not allowed to say brain storming anymore as we are taking the mick out of people with epilepsy!. Ergo with everyone so aware of the language being used they are bound to pick up on something which is insulting, whereas it wouldn't have been otherwise!. People's annoyance of having to take notice in their language/gestures is leading people to boiling point outwardly saying something or doing something wrong because they think it's so damn ridiculous!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

What is a totally secular society!?

If everyone was perfectly reasonable and rational all the time, then they might try to understand the reasons for all cultural and individual differences, and recognize that nothing very desirable would be accomplished by fighting / shunning others on the basis of these differences!.

I think, though, that it would be difficult to make a case that human beings ever could think this way en masse!. It is in our nature to often be dogmatic (and religion is by no means the only form of dogma) rather than rational, to define ourselves by exclusive group memberships (to a social class, nation, race, what have you), and to persecute 'other's who are outside our group!. There seems no limit to our creativity in coming up with inventive ways of doing this!.

Should a society where instead of religion, everyone places blind and murderous faith in a political ideology or a national leader be considered secular!?

The reasons we form ideological groups that exclude and persecute others have nothing to do with religion per se and everything to do with pursuing narrow and short sighted self interest by using dogma as a way of unifying and cementing power!. To the extent that religions sometimes provide an exceptionally powerful tool for doing this, yes, they contribute to intolerance, sometimes in severe and terrifying ways!.

However, it is quite obvious that most religious people, much of time think quite reasonably about social issues, unhindered (in their own estimation often helped) by their beliefs!. While the fundamentally irrational basis of religious faith may at some level offend those who seek a rational definition of and route to the common good, we must recognize that most of us believe contradictory or irrational things all the time, and this does not by and large stop us from being basically decent people!. In fact, what kinds of whacky metaphysical / supernatural things we do or don't believe in seems to be pretty much unrelated to our moral characters!.

People are attracted to the vicious, exclusive forms of any dogma because it fulfills some perceived need or helps advance some interest that they have!. To reduce intolerance as much as possible (I don't believe it can be eradicated), we need to deal with these needs / interests directly, not blame the various dogmas they sometimes make use of!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Less, if and only if, We had a moral code that everyone could agree with!. I recommend "Objectivism" so far I've seen no finer!. Read "Atlas Shrugged" Atlas was the leader of Atlantas and was the enemy to Plato's perfect society His Republic, which is filed with contradiction and would cause us to hate each other more!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Less intolerance because of the absence of religions which usually
are intolerant with free thinkers!.

More intolerance with the weak who are afraid of hardships!. in a totally secular society we approach more to the survival of the fittest!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

One hell of a lot less!. In a secular society who do you have to answer to!? And for what!? A secular society believes that we should live and let live!. That's a good foundation for moral recidivism!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

unknown and unrealistic question!.

further, there are significant levels of social economic intolerance!. Have you spent much time with the homeless lately!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Less intolerance, absolutely!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

if we lived in a secular society then our mind and words wouldnt be based on things we can see!Www@QuestionHome@Com

less a bit like communism you would have to agree with the party lineWww@QuestionHome@Com

lessWww@QuestionHome@Com