If you could push a button and make just one current religion vanish, which one would it be and why? 

The only rule:  No going back in time to eliminate an older “root” religion that would cause present-day variants, branches and splits of the older religion to vanish.  Just one modern-day religion gone. 

The people who practice the religion would not vanish, just the religion they follow.

Judaism,
It created a false nationality which IMO causes needless segregation.

Buddhism. The new-agy one. No good reason, it just irks the hell out of me.

I hear you on that, George.

But I think I’m going with Neo-Paganism.  It’s even more insufferable and annoying than the New Age Buddhism crap.

Scientology. Their overt practices of lying and manipulation of facts make it more difficult for other religions to pretend their not doing the same.

You people are going after quality (or the lack thereof).  I’d prefer quantity.  I believe islam has the largest worldwide membership.  I don’t care about the specific religion, but the thought of eliminating any religious thought from the minds of that many people sounds wonderful to me.

Occam

Christianity is still the world’s largest religion.  It’s got about a half billion people on Islam which is number two.

Oh, then I change my vote to christianity. 

And I like that more because I’m chauvinisitic and prefer the idea of the U.S. theist population dropping for 89% to something like 9%. 

Occam

Islam.  That’s the one I would make go away.  IMO, it is more boorish, oppressive, dehumanizing, and violent than any other religion.

Definitely Islam.  It’s the second largest religion (if you believe the artificially-inflated numbers for Christianity) and if you compare countries where Islam dominates versus countries where other religions dominate, Islam is the most likely to make my life crap, or simply end me altogether.  Presumably the replacement is unlikely to be worse than that, and might be atheism.

Mriana - 09 March 2011 08:00 PM

Islam.  That’s the one I would make go away.  IMO, it is more boorish, oppressive, dehumanizing, and violent than any other religion.

My friend is a Muslim and she is none of those things.

George - 09 March 2011 08:50 PM

Mriana - 09 March 2011 08:00 PM

Islam.  That’s the one I would make go away.  IMO, it is more boorish, oppressive, dehumanizing, and violent than any other religion.

My friend is a Muslim and she is none of those things.

All that says is that she is probably not a Fundamentalist Muslim and probably doesn’t read her book any more than Xians do theirs.

Christianity without a doubt, though that gets rid of “The Rapture” and I have my eyes set on a new house up the street that will be vacant
when the rapture comes.  Hopefully they’ll leave the keys to the cars also!

Hey, TS, you just gave me a great idea. I’ll volunteer to take care of the neighbor’s Rottweiler just in case, ya know. And casually ask where he keeps the key to his Boxster.

As for which religion I would eliminate: all of the above.

The question ignores the evolutionary nature of belief.

So is it our version of imagining a glorious afterlife?

Mriana - 09 March 2011 09:01 PM

All that says is that she is probably not a Fundamentalist Muslim and probably doesn’t read her book any more than Xians do theirs.

No. What it says is that Islam is none of those things you have mentioned above. Islam is one thing and Muslim fundamentalists are another.