Would the world be a better place w/o religion?

[Kelly]

Since this hasn't been discussed let's open up this can of worms.

Below is a list someone created a couple of years ago.

Few ways in which the world would have been better if there had been no religion:

1. There would have been no suppression of science and no stifling of human knowledge.
2. There would have been no holy wars responsible for the slaughter of millions.
3. There would have been no Inquisition.
4. There would have been no crusades.
5. There would have been no witch hunts.
6. There would have been no Dark Ages.
7. There would have been no Ayatollah Khomeini.
8. There would have been no Taliban, Bin Laden or 9/11.
For the sake of argument, let's leave out any personal affect religion has had on your life.
Edit: If you feel religion has been the basis of positive things in this world then list them. If you feel religion has been a hindrance throughout civilization, then post examples. I'm sure everyone understands what I asking?

Maybe, maybe not...
But there would be no

1.)Earth
2.)Me
3.)You

Lol, no seriously I agree with what most everyone is saying. I believe there would be confusion and a sort of emptyness in us all. It would really suck to not have someone there to comfort me the was Jesus does.

[NEONRACER]

Does the world need religion, the answer is YES. Is religion always correct, NO. Look at what happened after the Roamn empire fell and what sort of choas the world fell into. The same thing would happen if the information was released to confirm religion is false. The world needs religion we can see that from our past. Religion is not always right but the basic concept and beliefs are a goof foundation for humans to live by. even if religon is the cause of most of today's problems, the problems caused by not putting fear into people to be good would be greater. We need heaven and hell and god to control the masses. Whether what people believe is true or not doesn't matter. For the sake of the world I hope religion is never proved false in public, the consequences would be too great.