[Aegis]

One aspect I am rather surprised has not surfaced (especially given the pedigree of some of the participants) is the nature of why religion came about to begin with. You have all touched on many of the fallacies, accuracies, misconceptions, inconsistencies, and many other wonderful notions you can associate with religion, and whether it is good or not, yet have not addressed the simple question of its core.

Religion was a means to understand that which could not be understood, at the current state of human development. Many of these religions came from a simple fear of the world around them, one they could not possibly fathom an explanation. Take the Greek pantheon for example. They did not understand the finer points of ocean, and what influenced gale winds, or large tidal waves, or other phenomena, beyond claiming it the will of a greater being. Same could be said about Egyptian religion, and even elements of the Judeo-Christian faith. You can read some of the old surviving accounts of people, and they are ripe with superstitious belief and understanding of God and his interactions with people. Hell, Martin Luther's conversion can almost be directly connected with a thunderstorm!

To get back to my point, however, religion, and invariably faith, have their roots in the desire to understand, and quantify human surroundings. As such, in its most base form, you can argue religion has been a good thing for human development, as much as it has been a negative. It has driven some of the greatest scientific minds (whether it was out of curiosity, or to disprove some notion) to learn and understand physics, the elements and energy, as well as having lead to great persecution and hardship.

The dividing line, though, comes from those who steer such power. It is the organizations that can sour a religious fervor, or make it the most pious of forces. Religion in its purest form, whether one has faith or not, is inherently a good thing, but the potential of being something truly terrible.

And just for a quick disclaimer, I am in no way a spiritual or religious person, but I have seen how it has helped other around me find some form of balance in their life. While it is not my way, it may be others. It is for the individual to decide whether it is good or bad.