While it would be wonderful to live in a world free of religion, we must never destroy our history. Imagine taking a wrecking ball to the Rose Window at Chartres Cathedral, or the soaring spire at Salisbury. Imagine smashing Michelangelo's Pietà (though someone tried) or the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Imagine never hearing again Bach's St John Passion or Fauré's Requiem. You don't have to be a believer to cherish these things. They will not last forever, but we must keep them as long as we can.

When you consider most of the holidays are stolen to begin with you can return them to Winter solstice (Christmas), spring solstice (Easter) etc... I don't think destroying any history is ever a good idea. Religion is really an ever shrinking explanation of the unknown. As the world becomes more educated I think it will change on its own. The religions of today will become the myth and legend of tomorrow; the Bible of today becomes the Illad of tomorrow. The religions will become what they were to begin with, stories. If something beautiful comes out of it in the form of art, I say let it be.

I keep hearing this trope that somehow art was invented by the religious... art existed long before religion. Plus there exists art that is specifically NON religious - arguably more than religiously inspired pieces.

As a musician, my songs are inspired by my daily experiences. They are defined by human existence - not by non-existent apparitions...

The past shouldn't be erased. We can look back on these things and appreciate the history of them. I would liken it to looking back on ancient Greek religion.
As for holidays, I like the idea of celebrating the solstices and equinox. They don't have to be religious, just celebrating the changing seasons. Those are actual things that happen. Earth day would be another good one. Or significant days in history. Emancipation, women's right to vote, things like that.
Also, I've never been religious and have made plenty of art!

As adults we try not to believe in fairy tales. Should we then destroy any references to the Grimm brothers or their associates? Bring a torch to a library? Should we take hammer and chisel to the little mermaid statue in Copenhagen's harbour? Or the one by the banks of Warsaw's Vistula? Should we travel to Greece and Italy with sledgehammers?

Isn't this was ISIS did in the Middle East?

i was just wondering if those people who produced those works of art were actually doing it for the greater glory of god or if it werw always a very human endeavour to create something beautiful and different - They might very well have been killed for blasphemy if it had been known that they were nt truly engaged in gods works but their own. Singing in spaces that enhance beautiful sounds is a lovely pastime why would we assume their motives - just becaise teh church had a straglehold on just about every aspect of life didnt mean that people even knew their own true motives for creating beauty as they saw it .

I doubt that there ever has been a non-religious society, and I doubt there ever will be such a society. Religion is more about a systematic manner of behaving than it is about a mystical powerful creator. Here is a well known and regarded definition of religion:
" a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic." Clifford Geertz
There is no mention of god in his definition. This why Confuscinism can be considered a religion, as a civil religion. Here is an interesting conception from Oscar Wilde's 1905 "De Profindis"
"When I think of religion at all, I feel as if I would like to found an order for those who cannot believe: the Confraternity of the Faithless...Everything to be true must become a religion. And agnosticism should have its ritual no less than faith"

Imagine the human mind and creativity untethered.

I have always liked this quote, and why couldn't this approach be applied to art, architecture, literature?
A religion old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the universe as revealed by modern science, might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths. Sooner or later, such a religion will emerge.
Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot (1994)

While many great works of art have been inspired by religion, religion does not have a corner on the market when it comes to creating and appreciating beauty. We'll always have reasons to passionately express ourselves through art. The passion doesn't have to derive from fairy tales.

As much as I would like to see the political & social influence of religion eroded, I don't see & don't wish to see us abandon our history, art, literature, mythology & many of the original questions religion has tried to answer. I don't widh to expunge it, I wish it would lose its grip on people that it has now, & be relegated to the same place that the eddas, The Iliad & The Odyssey, & many other 'mythic' epics reside. To a valued history & backdrop for a rational society.

Ascertain that all people receive an unbiased education, on all scientific, artistic, and philosophic information available to date, and religion wiil not have a void available.

I’ve been looking for a great picture to put on my living room wall and I’ve found some religious pictures that are quite beautiful. However, I just can’t bring myself to purchase because I don’t want or need a religious person sighing in relief that maybe I’m not an atheist. But I now gravitate to Ancient Rome and Greece gods and goddesses.

Oh My Darwin! Art and culture existed before religion. Do we really need this explained again? Easter and Christmas etc - stolen from pagan beliefs by the christians to exercise control over the plebs. No doubt the pagans took it from other civilisations before them, when ignorance and wonder created gods. Why can't we just clebrate the joy of nature reviving at easter instead of the death cult of xianity? Doesn't have to be connected to religion. And as for art, those guys were just trying to earn a living, (and trying to avoid being burned at the stake if they disagreed with the status quo) and painted religious scenes because the thieving religiiots had the money to pay them. Look into all the homoerotic inferences in major works of art to undersand some of the real feelings of the artists/patrons. My point is this - art and culture reflect the powers of the time - they have been religious, but they don't have to be. Art and culture are deep within us, and will manifest themselves without religion if they get the chance!

Artists just went to where the money was, in the same way most scientists in the past were religious because pretty much everyone was back then--no surprise there. The money was in religious art and structures for thousands of years. This is changing gradually.

Crossed my mind as I visited Spain, London.. Truly, what would drive our inspiration? In London, Royal society provides a prime example, honoring explorers, scientists, artists with marvelous, sophisticated, grand works of art.
In the US, the national mall is truly captivating in its grandeur and it honors not any diety or myth but more importantly people who lived, struggled, gave their lives to make a difference. The Smithsonian..
Humans are not short on imagination without having to worship their imaginary creations and eventually inevitably kill each other over who's imaginary friend is the real one

Our history good, bad, warts and all is simply our history and can't be changed. learning lessons from the past to make a better future is very important so all our past stays. it's not like you can actually stop it being true any more than you can stop an earthquake.

The classic art and architecture of churches could be relegated to museum status. Moral philosophy would guide our law. We
already have Codes Of Professional Conduct codified in certain professions so it’s not like we would be starting from scratch. I’m not sure but I think the growing Humanist movement is into the development of moral philosophy

I do not wish to "excise" religion. Everybody is entitled to their lifestyle, as long as they do not force it on anybody else.

All art becomes Art History within a relatively short time, and I see nothing wrong in religion-based art keeping its place in this context. In fact, if we accept people with religious beliefs, we cannot realistically expect that their art will vanish (together with all their artifacts). Nor should it/they. We need all of our history in order to reference and make sense of the present, including contemporary art.

Evolution is slow in human terms. On that basis one might reasonably suppose that it is possible to accurately predict the next stage in the development of art by fully understanding trends and applying sound judgement. Yet who could have predicted that evolution would be replaced by revolution in Tracey Emin's tent: [en.wikipedia.org]
and the fact that she refused to re-create it when destroyed by fire? My point is we can't predict the future of art, or the possible changing, or otherwise, of belief systems any more than we know the precise moment we are going to die (unless we choose suicide, that is).

Although I understand why you wish, jperlow, to discuss these issues, I cannot understand how you might think anybody here could do more than wildly speculate about the answers to your questions. That might seem an unfriendly reply, but surely we are on this forum because we rate evidence-based living better than a walk in the dark with a belief not supported by science?

Oh I can only imagine. Only imagine. We would be looking for advancement and compassion that is universal. We would be a species on the honorable path of truth and science. We will have to erase the terrible guilt instilled by religion but that can happen within a few generations.
we are good to go.

I always had this dream of buying a small farm, and growing all my fruits and vegetables organically. But it is a fantasy....I'm too lazy...I hire a guy to cut my grass rather than doing it myself.

I'm not sure if forcibly destroying religion would be the answer.
We have always had religion while arts and culture have thrived, Science has always progressed. Islam puts science at the forefront of its beliefs and we owe much a due for that.
Education and communication is the only way to break down such barriers. You don't have to be a scholar to realize that religion has had zero positive impact on their reality.

My ideal futuristic world allows for believing or not and is a personal expression of who we are as individuals. In essence, Tolerance. Historical references to some are meaningful icons to others, just as they are today. As far as what to celebrate, I personally would love to see a return to Mother Nature and to celebrate the equinoxes and other celestial events. Nice discussion

Whatwe see here is wht is taht you want to achieve go to the root of the issue
if you like a merchandise but the funds go to terriorism is your call do you support them
I see what am i contributing towards the purchase. I really don't care what other people thing but what i think of the product.
i evolve with time used towrite handwritten letters, to now text to speech words etc etc
Evolve is making life easier to move on
those old days to travel to othe rpart of the world steam ship rail and takes months to reach time was an issue, nowdays i am talking and writing to fellow friend across the pond and i get instantly replies wow now that is evolve

History is a layering of the past--nothing would change. It would be our job to add layers of deeper understanding based 'both' on that past, as well as brave new discoveries.