but come to think of it, religion is not that bad either- even if you don't believe in a God. Psychologically and evolutionary speaking, it has survival value so its actually supposed to be good. it gives you a place to belong which fulfills one of the needs in maslow's hierarchy, it gives that feeling of certainty and pesce which is basic to human nature, it's also an affirmation of your own self because from social psych, we always make comparisons with other people to know our place in the world- ie. seeing other people believe in the same things as you do, makes you feel good and affirms your self, it gives you an explanation for the unknown... i can go on and on. the list goes on and on. i think religions are essential in the survival of the human race. just look back at history- the native people who survive centuries with their nature religion, the ancient babylonians, egyptians and many ancient civilization which fluorished and survive because of their religion (ie. what started out as looking in the sky or gods lead to astronomy- science). People always have a religion. even if all else fails, i think people will always revert back to religion. think of the lord of the flies.

it's just since religion is man made, it can't be totally perfect- there will always be bad things associated with it just as there are good things associated with it.
right now, i think we tend to emphasize the bad things that's why we're giving it so much criticism but without religion I don't know if we'll ever survive or come to this kind of world as we know it.