Throughout history, man has debated the role that religion has for people, culture, and society. Religions and other philosophies give a reason for the meaning of life and how one should live. Some have theorized that life is meaningless and religion has no real purpose. Some go as far to say that religion has only caused harm to society. Salman Rushdie wrote an article discussing how the world would benefit from not having a religion. Rushdie sends a negative message to society as he suggests eliminating religion altogether. Rushdie begins by stating his theory to the six billionth living person “How did we get here? And, now that we are here, how shall we live?” He tells the six billionth person to imagine a heaven with at least one God.…show more content… He speaks of his negative experience with religion. Rushdie says,“As human knowledge has grown, it has also become plain that every religious story ever told about how we got here is quite simply wrong.” While Rushdie points to the personal experience, he fails to see the credibility found within religion. Religion has stood the test of time. It existed far before atheistic ideas, and far before the ideas of nihilism, and ideas that express meaningless in religion. Religion has lasted by making an impact on history and has gained…show more content… Rushdie gives legitimate points of the harms religion can create, and the negative experiences and confusion that can happen with religion. But, Rushdie fails to see what his message would truly be. Without religion, the foundations of humanity would be shaken and many people would be missguided in what they want to do in their life. By eliminating the idea of religion, it will not only force us to rely on our emotional sense, but bring us conflict in areas which religion would find peace. Religion is not the sole cause of conflict, but rather people’s different interpretations. Religion provides a guide that is more centralized. If religion were to be eliminated, conflict would not only take place of where peace once was, but it will increase far more than