Question

[Happymeal]

Here is a question for all theists, atheists, agnostics, or whatever you are. If we knew that god did not exist, would there still be a concept of religion? Also if we never formed the idea that god existed, could the concept of religion still exist?

[Guest]

Isn't Buddhism like that?

[Happymeal]

[paladisiac]

[Defago]

Maybe as moral codes and charity associations, no need to change how you act just because there's nobody checking on you. But the theological part would be gone, I believe.

[Puncture Repair]

If it was proved recently I'd say religion would plummet, but wouldn't be completely eradicated.
Just like there's communities that still believe the world is flat, there would be people who believe the proof against god is just a conspiracy.

I would say it's impossible to create a civilization without the idea of god, but if god was never theorized then sure, there wouldn't be any religions, just different ways of life - much like Buddhism.

[thejoj96]

there will always be imbeciles who ignore facts

[purple]

There's a difference between ritual and religion. I think religion exists to try to establish rituals that promote societal and individual health, but that rituals independently exist to promote individual and societal health. A ritual is an act that serves to explicitly distinguish crossing a life boundary (e.g. a graduation ceremony) and promotes psychological health by establishing an individual's identity (i.e. I am now in this collective (e.g. out of secondary school) and this is what is expected of me). Societal health might include sociological cohesion of the community (e.g. knowing what is expected of you within a given collective), which allows the individual to form their identity within the society. An example of a religious ritual that promotes such health might be marriage (heterosexual or not) or bar mitzvahs; an example of a non-religious ritual that promotes such health would be parties for lifetime landmarks, including birthdays or a graduation.

What I am saying is that ritual is necessary for psychological health because it allows an individual to form an identity within a society, but the society must have an established set of rituals for this to occur. Religion usually makes up a large part of that established set of rituals. However, I do not see why the non-religious could not appropriate religious rituals, or "have a religion with no deity." As I said before, I think ritual is independent of religion. Personally, I plan on getting married; however, I view this as a societal norm and what is expected of me, rather than a necessary union required to love under god. On the other hand, religion is dependent on ritual, including things like bar mitzvahs, baptisms, prayer, etc. I personally would define religion loosely as a set of rituals and other behaviors associated with one or more gods (and other critters, usually). So, technically it wouldn't be religion without a god; however, dropping semantics, I think you can have what you've phrased the "concept of religion" without a god.

I haven't covered nearly all my bases here, but for those who don't think even ritual is required for psychological health: imagine every holiday, birthday, and other celebration stripped from your life, and imagine utterly no recognition for any of your achievements, and tell me you would be happy.

tl;dr you can have the concept of "religion" without a deity

[HigherThanTheSun]

Religious groups only have authority because they claim to be preaching the words of god. If you could prove that god doesn't exist then religious groups wouldn't have any credibility.

I'd imagine that if you could prove to someone that god doesn't exist then they would stop following religion. To believe in god is a prerequiste to genuinely following a religion, if you don't believe in god then you won't place any importance in anything that religion says.

Religion could still exist, but it would be very different. Without god religions like Christianity and Islam would be redundant.
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Shut up mate you're boring!