What's the direction we should should have been headed towards by now?
It's really hard to put just one or two things above others, but humanity should focus on science and education, making sure both are well funded and set to guidelines and regulations that will ensure both are going in the right directions.
Educating future generations on science, history, and art will help undo some of the damage that religion has caused and will erode at the generational racism, bigotry, and misogyny that is prevalent among the highly religious. This will in turn help reduce inequality and discrimination.
Of course, getting past religion will not likely happen in our lifetimes or in the next century. It will likely be an incremental change over many many generations.
Good question. According to Sapiens, religious belief is what enabled us to form groups larger than 150 individuals. Having a shared religious belief enables trusting relationships without the need to be intimately acquainted to each other, like those in the animal kingdom are in their groups.
Atheists tend to be comfortable outside the group. Atheists usually don't seem to feel as urgent a need to band together. If people let go of religion, would they be able to remain united?
I can't speak for all atheists, but for me, atheism is only one small part of my life (I belong to a local atheist group). In most areas of my life where I interact with others, religion or non-religion doesn't come up: my business, the library where I've volunteered for the past 25 years, my race for the PA House of Reps (I lost...but I live in a very Trumpy area and I had no aspirations to win, but someone had to run and get trounced).
I believe we could find several countries that have majority atheist populations that function a lot better than what I experience in the USA.
Get past politics? That's how military dictatorships justify their rule. Getting past politics would mean getting past democracy. What on earth do you mean?
Meritocracy?
@p-nullifidian It doesn't exist now because of the privileges that accrue to class and race privilege. How can we overcome those obstacles without politics?
@Krish55 I believe we're in agreement, mertitocracy does not yet exist, but it should.
Do you mean what should we focus on to discriminate against each other if we don't have those?
I think so many issues are influenced by politics and religion, it might be surprising to see how few problems can't be quickly solved without those divisions. The next big concern would be economic equality. I don't think eliminating politics and religion will eliminate greed.