I haven't read any of this thread. I'd like to add my opinion though.
Religion is bull-somethingnegativethatwon'tgetmebanned and I honestly cannot understand how people can be so passionate about it - do they not have a sense of logic?
Now I haven't studied EVERY single religion in great detail, but from what I have learned in school, most religions do not make sense/are hypocritical and the way people defend them is by saying that since times have change, you have to apply it to the new context or something. Uhm, excuse me but thats fucking stupid and to me just is says that the bible was written by wacks on magic mushrooms(Moses anyone?). Why is it that Shakespeare's writing can be eternal but not the bible?
I don't know much about the other 'higher beings'(or whatever they're called) in other religions, but in catholicism, God seems to be the biggest asshole, as well as being a huge hypocrite. He displays so many negative qualities in the bible, he gets jealous, he holds grudges, he seems to be an attention seeker... just to name a few. Why would anybody want to 'praise' him?
Meh I've lost direction in this post and now I'm just rambling so I'll stop before I get too emotional.