If you believe in god, you're an idiot...

[fugazi]

Believe is the idea that one day reality will bow to your desires and demands, human stubborness in its most primal form, showcasing our refusal to accept our unavoidable faith - death. The simple idea that life is a game you can only win by avoiding death in whatever way, be that an afterlife or reincarnation, lays at the core of believe. Altering that idea takes away the entire base of religion and would in the end, greatly benefit mankind.

Also, religion is culture, faith is a personal process. Mixing these two into the parental process of raising small children means you are not giving your children any chance at true personal growth, instead you're railroading their lives and minds. This is why religion is so universally spread, it gives aging people power over the next generation and the idea that they'll live on after they die.

So, personal profit through deception and lies lays at the heart of it all. It makes the knowledge that Wall Street scammed you all 'with your best interests at hearts' a whole lot easier to bear huh, knowing parents all over the world have been doing it for milennia?

Sorry, had to drop my two cents on this one in here. One last point, history. Grab a real history book, read where a specific religion comes from and tada, mystery solved, mysticism gone.