>> >Maybe. I object strenuously to the whole concept of religion, >> >spirituality, etc. It's superstitious nonsense, and hurts people, and >> >destroys great civilizations. > >>> Okay, but other than that, does it do any harm? ====== >Just as importantly, it explains things which are otherwise unexplainable, >it helps people, and it builds great civilizations also. I wonder - is it possible for a civilization to develop to a "high" state without religion? The South American civilizations, the Egyptians, Sumerians (O.T. - I've read that the Sumerians were matriarchal) - all these civilizations used religion as a catapult to greatness. The pyramids of Egypt and the ziggurats of S. America would not have been built without faith in something. The Greeks and Romans were well down the civilized path before they turned their backs on their Gods, much like modern civilization, but their civilizations were toppled/fragmented/absorbed by less "advanced" races who brought their own gods with them. I wonder where we would be on the "religion" question if the golden age of western civilization had continued uninterrupted to present day - if there had never been a "Dark Ages".