Without the brainwashing of christianity i would have worked to better our lives from youth; not sitting around for years wishing the world would wake up the the futility of modern life and wishing for the end of the world.
A lot better. I can remember thinking: how i could even make friends with "immoral" nonbelievers. As a result i was very cold and rude to most people. Wasted 10 yrs of my youth sticking to church and family without friends, wealth, or a partner; waiting for god to "show me the way". Too much time researching online and i was free. Still pisses me off though.
as older people ,we are the people we should have been all along
I don't need to guess - I just look at my daughter, and how amazing she is - - she is the best of me, plus 10,000 things she herself has to offer.
I look with amazement when I see my kids, and their friends. They are better, and kinder people, than most of the adults I know.
In my humble opinion, of course.
I don't know how we measure 'better' but I think the world would be a whole lot more interesting.
I took the question to mean us as a species. I don't recall the exact source or quantification, but I believe the estimate was that the religious lunacy of the 'Dark Ages" with its propagation of superstition and hostility to scientific progress set us back several centuries.
In the fourth century Epicurus speculated on the existence of evil if a god existied who was either willing, able or both to end it..reasoned speculation disappeared eight hundred years later and no light existed until Copernicus showed the value of scientific reasoning.
Not all "truth" is beneficial.
For instance, my mother thought I was ugly (as in "My God, you're ugly ..." ). That was true for her, for whatever reasons. Did hearing this truth on an almost daily basis make me a better human? No.
Better examples can be found in the Clown and Death post.
Truth is different than opinion. Your mom should have kept her opinions to herself, btw.
Probably not pointing out anything you DON'T know.... but aside from obviously faked scenarios parents make up (cough Santa) most religious parents think they ARE telling their kids the truth......
I just wish a majority of us had been given that chance.
Hard to say.
What truth are we talking about.
Who's perception of it.
Thats pretty nebulous.