Religion, as a whole, attempts to justify who we are, what we are, and where we came from (much like science). However, unlike science, religion is a much more primitive way of thinking and simply falls short of providing viable answers to what humanity may or may not be.
Perhaps the greatest flaw of the human mind is its insatiable desire to discover its own origin, and to explain things around it. I'm sure, on more than one occasion, early man tried to explain his own surroundings, just as modern man does with religion and theories such as evolution. If a cave man goes to the river to get something to drink, and it starts to rain, he can scoop up water with his own hands and make it "rain", as well. He thinks "By Jove, I've got it! There must be someone like me, but bigger and immortal above me making it rain!". If there's a forest fire, early man can come to the conclusion that since he can make fire, there must be great gods in the skies making fire on a larger scale.
Religion generally offers a set of ideas; some good, some bad. Christianity, for example, teaches good virtue and morality. According to the Bible, you must live a somewhat Christ-like life to gain admittance into Heaven and become born again. This requires having faith in God and Christ without having any solid facts or clues that point to their existence, or proof of the validity of the Bible.
The Bible states that God is an all-powerful, all-loving, and all-merciful lord that created humanity as well as the world we live in. However, if he's so merciful, why is it if we don't follow his teachings, we are condemned to eternal suffering in the pits of a fiery Hell? Is God not just a tyrannical overlord that continuously bullies his subjects? Christians follow the Bible blindly. For example, Christians will praise God for saving one survivor in the infamous World Trade Center attack, yet not blame him for killing the other three thousand. If Hurricane Katrina spared a family's home, it's clearly by God's mercy and love, yet it's Satan that brought about the destruction and pain for the thousands of others.
Then there's the issue of proving whether or not God exists. "The Celestial Teapot" is an analogy written by Bertrand Russell, a philosopher, that helps show that it is entirely the Christian Church's responsibility to prove the existence of God and their Bible. Atheists and other non-believers should not have to prove why God
doesn't exist or why the Bible is wrong.
If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is an intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time.
The reason organized religion merits outright hostility is that, unlike belief in Russell's teapot, religion is powerful, influential, tax-exempt and systematically passed on to children too young to defend themselves. Children are not compelled to spend their formative years memorizing loony books about teapots. Government-subsidized schools don't exclude children whose parents prefer the wrong shape of teapot. Teapot-believers don't stone teapot-unbelievers, teapot-apostates, teapot-heretics and teapot-blasphemers to death. Mothers don't warn their sons off marrying teapot-shiksas whose parents believe in three teapots rather than one. People who put the milk in first don't kneecap those who put the tea in first.
This applies to other parody-religions, as well. Who can say that the Flying Spaghetti Monster doesn't exist? How about the Invisible Pink Unicorn? Atheism has brought evolution and facts to the table, but what do Christians have to show? For that matter, what does any religion have to show? Certainly the Bible isn't based on fiction alone. I'm not trying to say that none of it is true. I'm sure some parts were based on actual events, places, or people. However, as far as "God" goes, I see no evidence, facts, or proof of his existence.
This post is intended to show my view on religion, not attack Christianity, or any other religion. I use Christianity as an example, because it's probably the religion most are familiar with. I have nothing against Christians, or other religious orientations.