azza1625/createdebate-arguments huggingface dataset:
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

Why is the absence of those things inherently bad? I hear you say that, and all I can think is: great, we will conduct ourselves according to reason and knowledge on the basis of reality. Why is that such a terrible thing? People have the erroneous belief that being an atheist means you do not value life, that you do not think it is beautiful, that you cannot experience wonder, and that you are not ruled by any moral or ethical code. The truth is, none of that is accurate.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

I like temple architecture. The things people have built out of faith are very beautiful.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

Churches in themselves are infact beautiful but look at the world as a whole. what has religion done to us as humans? poeple kill over religion, rape over religion, people have gone over board because they believe in what you clearly just said was a myth. i think without religion a lot more people would be safe
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

I do not disagree that there are beautiful works of architecture and other artistic work that have been constructed in the name of religion. However, I see no reason why beautiful works of art cannot also exist within a secular world. Beauty is not the sole purview of religion. Also consider that some of the most beautiful architectural religious buildings were built upon the backs of oppressed and exploited populations; for me that detracts considerably from the beauty.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

Mythology, then. Mythology has inspired many works of fiction and gives an insight into culture.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

People can still make things up. We have many great contemporary fiction authors. They just make up all the stuff they write about. It's not real. This is an improvement on mythology because mythology is made up stuff that some people at some time were delusional enough to convince themselves was real. Or still think is real.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: No because...

Religion is something that is unavoidable in development of every society. It is one step in human development and if that step didn't happen we would never become what we are now. We have overcomed religion and now we must go further without looking back to it
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: No because...

Religion is a messy thing, in that we don't know very much about it.Deities could be a little more responsible with their teachings though, if they exist. Some do okay.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

To the contrary, I think we know a very good deal about religion. And what I know makes me sincerely believe that while it served an evolutionary function it is increasingly obsolete.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

I don't know. There may be deities of some sort, and it would be interesting to find out.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

There is no logical reason to consider the actual existence of deities to be a possibility. There is, on the other hand, a fair amount of evidence pointing to religion and god as being constructs of the human mind.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

So many different cultures have an idea of higher beings though.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

And each is as unlikely and unsupported as the last. The most prevolent beliefs are in abrahamic religions and even that god we have nearly disproven. What makes you think that after disproving the mainstream god that we have to then disprove the unheardof Great Joo Joo of the Sea?
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

You've only disproved creation, not the idea of a deity or several thousand.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

If a deity didnt create anything then it becomes useless. If god didnt make us and doesnt have the potential TO make anything then why believe in him? They just become even more illogical. And if deitys exist in despite this then they are just as bound by reality as we are.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

And if deities exist in despite this then they are just as bound by reality as we are.I do not dispute that.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

So many cultures also have absurd tales of beings we know to be false, like leprechauns, unicorns, fire breathing dragons, and bigfoot.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

How do you know they don't exist? Maybe there is some foundation to the tales, esp. dragons. I like dragons.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

We don't know for sure if anything does or doesn't exist. So that line of reasoning will get us nowhere. What I meant was, for example, no Irishman in his right mind actually believes there are tiny fairy beings in green suits trafficking gold over rainbows. Yet there are thousands of Irish Catholics generally considered to be "sane" who actually believe that a demigod hippie zombie walked the Earth before ascending bodily to a magic kingdom in the sky. Both of these beings, Leprechauns and Jesus, might have some "foundation" to their myths. That I don't dispute. I just find it kind of ridiculous most of humanity has no problem blowing off unicorns as a preposterous work of fiction while at the same time most of humanity believes in something equally absurd, they just call it religion. There's equal foundation (or lack thereof) for both of these kind of beings, yet one is regularly and casually dismissed as a fairy tale and the other is regularly and seriously accepted as the holy truth.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

And I quite like all the myths out there. They're interesting.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

That a majority of human beings have been and remain religious does not make that belief legitimate or factual. There is a fairly compelling case for religiousity serving an evolutionary function by serving as a coping mechanism during the earlier stages of the development of the human conscious and self-awareness.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

I was looking at the diversity of belief, and in all those religions some deities are really quite similar. Hekate and Brigit, for example. Or Thor and Zeus.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

That does nothing to address my point. Even if they are similar that does not make them correct.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

It's still interesting to try and find the truth behind them, and to do that you need to consider that they might actually be real.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

They are entertaining stories, but there is no truth in them that cannot be gotten through a secular approach more directly and without all the extraneous mistruths. Why would I consider something to be true when there is no reason to? Why also, when there is enough reason to think that religion is nothing more than a human construct?
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

Isn't it a little ignorant to deny something out of hand because you know nothing about it?
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

Not at all. There is not a single religion with an objective, rational explanation driving it. I know enough about religion to have a basis for thinking that it is nothing more than a construct of the human mind that developed as a consequence of evolutionary pressure.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

Buddhism, maybe?Or Wicca?
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

Buddhists believe in Nirvanna, reincarnation, etc. All of which are unfounded in reason or logic.Wiccans believe in some sort of deity or deities. Also unfounded and counter to reason.Both with nothing to offer that could not be ascertained better with reason.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

I don't see how any of that counters our reason. Reincarnation, possible. Nirvana, it's a different world .'. our logic does not apply. Deities, it's fully possible that there are higher beings.Meditation, Spellworking~ both have psychological value.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

Reincarnation, not possible. There is no such thing as a soul and the self is construct of the human brain which ceases absolutely to exist upon death. Nirvana, a transcendent world that does not exist because again the mind is limited to the physical reality of the brain. Deities, as I have said are readily explained as a consequence of human bio-evolution and as we possess a rational explanation for human religion we have fair reason to doubt the validity of a belief in any deity or deities. Meditation does have actual psychological value, but it is not intrinsically religious just because some faiths practice it. Spellworking, no value beyond a possible placebo value and certainly nothing which could not be obtained through other, rational means.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

Fine, if you wish to believe that.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

It is not a matter of belief. It is a matter of absolute fact.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

And what would any of us know about that? We cannot say for certain anything is true.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

For fucksake, I just gave you absolute facts about the human self and soul that are scientifically established and known to be true. They directly counter the validity of religion. Facts: I have them, you do not.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: No because...

Those are in no way absolute, or facts! They are just your opinions. Your soul is simply your identity, body, pattern and all. None of these claim that your soul does not exist: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul#Science
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

Did you even read what you just posted up? It explicitly states that science treats the soul as a "an object of human belief" and "as a poetic synonym for mind." The soul is a construct of the brain, and while it encompasses our sense of self, body, pattern or whatever that does not make it an actual unique entity that is capable of transcending the material structure of the brain.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

All I was pointing out about it that it did not claim nonexistence of the soul. And it didn't 'explicitly' anything. Plus, how would you explain astral projection? Self induced hallucination?
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

Explicit = verbatim, those were direct quotes explaining the soul as a mental construct that refers to the sense of self rather than any actual thing independent from the physical body.Astral projection and hallucination are products of brain chemistry; they are delusions caused when the brain creates an artificial, internal reality and do not reflect an external non-physically bound soul.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: No because...

No it will never be a good place if religion does not exist.. Because religion is the thing which tells us how to live our life with in a proper way.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

What, you think that atheists do not have a moral compass or ethical frame of conduct? Please, if you need religion to tell you the basic dos and don'ts of life then you are far more terrifying than a person who can figure that out without the threat of hell and damnation.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

More than half of your country is under rule of dysfunctional stone age tribes, ignoring human right, respecting only primitive Sharia system.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: No because...

I have lot of trust on my religion as a muslimPakistani Models
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

Awesome, I do not. Consider me unpersuaded by your assertion of personal preference. I tend not to place much stock in irrational beliefs and illogical faith.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: No because...

Religion is neither entirely good nor bad. There are people who belief that all of the worlds problems are caused by religion. I disagree. Religion is just an easy scapegoat to rally people behind a cause. Even if religion did not exist, dictators would just use something else, eugenics, nationality, or someone kind of propaganda. That being said, religion does have positive traits as well, granting inspiration, giving comfort, guidance... It would be wrong to Try to destroy it, since as a said previously, it's absence would do nothing to stop the worlds problems.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

I think you partially but not entirely correct. While religion may arguably be an expression of negative human aspects I would argue that religion is more susceptible to abuse than the secular. Religion is inherently a matter of faith and dogma, and is followed with little question and minimal accountability. Secularism can become dogmatic but has considerably more checks against abuse - scientific method, humanitarianism, etc. - than does religion. Religion also allows people to defend and rationalize their insecurities, ignorance, and prejudice without having to uphold any standard of reason or proof. The absence of religion would not end all of the worlds problems, but I sincerely think that it would be an improvement upon current conditions.As far as the positives go, I would contend that very few if any of those benefits are the unique purview of religion. Inspiration, comfort, support, guidance, and so forth are definitely available in a secular world just as much if not more so than in a religious world.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: No because...

I was once taking this anti-anxiety medicine or something that put me in a pretty bad state with chemical depression. I was on the verge of Suicide. What stopped me from doing so were two things, not wanting to hurt my family and my religion. I know this is a more subjective argument, which I typically try to stay away from, but when you talking about something religion it is always personal because religion, and sometimes even atheism, lay part of the foundations of who we are. Secularism may be less commonly used to create a dogma as you put it but it has proven itself to create just as much damage. Hitler used eugenics, Stalin used communism ( which forced atheism on the people of the ussr), North Korea just uses blunt propaganda, etc. I am not going to pretend like the crisis going on in the Middle East and Africa are not at least in some part caused by religion. It is just like all other things it has both good and bad traits. In the end I belief that a better world would be brought about if their was a balance of secularism and spirituality.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

I appreciate your sharing your personal story and in no way intend to devalue your experiences. However, I firmly believe that while religion can afford that support (or other benefits) it is not uniquely equipped to do so. I think that secularism is able to produce those same benefits for those who fully accept its perspectives, and without the harms. I think you missed my argument that there is a reason religion is more harmful than secularism: because it is canonical and dogmatic it is slow to change and has consistently lagged behind and impeded social progress. Hitler was not an atheist. Stalin enforced communism ineffectually and this create the damage, with atheism being a mild negative effect if not positive (though I do not support silencing anyone). North Korea has deified Kim Il Sung. In none of these examples has atheism been the primary force motivating anything, whereas in conflicts in the Middle East and Africa and throughout Euro-American history conflict and destruction have been directly fueled by if not immediately caused by religious belief.In the end, I believe in pragmatic and objective reality far more than superstition because the latter remains in my view as being more susceptible to abuse.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: No because...

People will simply find another way to implement their beliefs and ideas. Religion is simply the most convenient. I honestly cannot conceive of a human reality without the concept of religion (not necessarily religion being true, but rather the human nature to categorize groups of people with the same or similar belief system as them and put a label on it).
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: No because...

A world without religion would be complete and utter chaos.The reason that there is chaos in spite of religion is because many different religions have sprouted over time and fought each other to what seems to be an ever-unattainable distant survivor of all religions (which I hope is Buddhism).
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

Why would it be chaos? That makes no logical sense. Without religion we would be guided by reason and logic, rather than prejudice and ignorance.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: No because...

Because the gods of every religion was based on what the followers desire as a moral guide. It does not have to be a loving model, just someone that everyone can look up to and try to immitateIt instills order and power. Without that god, the people will have only themselves to follow and the hierarchy of mankind wont take effect
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

We live in secular societies where legal system is isolated from religion blobs. World based on regions, Somalia, Sudan... that's a pure chaos.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: No because...

Your talking about Fanaticism. Its a different topic, Though its quite understandable why some can mistake it as effects of Religion
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

Religious systems are always fanatical and brutal without exception.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: No because...

Buddism, Taoism, Confusianism, Shintoism. All peaceful religion.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

have you ever visited Sri Lanka? :D
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

Im afraid not. What do you want me to see about it?.....................................
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

If religion is just a moral guide created by the people who follow it then it is no different than the secular moral guide which would grow up to replace it; both are created by human beings. Imitating a religious guide just for the sake of it is stupid, particularly when there is an alternative of intentionally creating a model which maximizes compassion, inclusiveness, and human rights by prioritizing them as goals over that of satisfying some fictional deity.It is an intrinsic and universal aspect of human nature for us to order ourselves into societies, and we establish hierarchies just as easily. The atheist still lives within a moral framework, the difference is that that framework is objective and rational so it does not actively discriminate against people like religion does. A secular model is also more able to accommodate change.Basically, we currently do only have ourselves to follow. That is all we ever have had. We just displace the responsibility of that reality onto a fictional scapegoat instead of assuming it ourselves and being intentional about our conduct.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

meh, im never really interested in Religious debates. So, I will just let you have this one (¬‿¬)
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

You were interested enough to put your beliefs out there, just not interested enough in actually having to defend them.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

What can I say? Im still exhausted from work. I have no energy for a debate that I am not interested in
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

These are a bunch of religious people saying, "the world would be chaos because I like my religion" or "I like religion so it wouldn't be better" no facts. The point is this, the world would obviously be a better place with out religion, but, here we are today. This question is irrelevant in that people clearly THINK they need religion. Whether they actually need it or not is not something one could even say.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

I largely agree. I think that for some people religious belief is still a necessity. Some people simply are not capable of living without religion, which has evolutionarily served to insulate people from their fear of death.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: No because...

Buddhism is the religion of logic and reason. Have no doubt, my friend.
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

You obviously know shit about Buddhism .
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: Yes because...

I have no doubts and I am not your friend.Buddhism is a religion which adheres more to rational structure than other faiths and is more in tune with emotional reality, but ultimately it is afflicted by many of the same problems of other religions - it adheres to a notion of afterlife for starters.You also did not answer my question: Why would the absence of religion lead to chaos?
Debate: Would the world be a better place if religion didn't exist?
Side: No because...

Without religion, there is no reason to maintain order or peace.