What I envy that religion seems to create for its followers is community. It is lonely out here when you break away from the heard.

I also appreciate religion for those people who engage it seriously as a path of transformation, seeking to better themselves. It is a slow path, but it is still a path. I can't knock religion when people engage it for self-development. I can knock it for causing people to feel too comfortable with their reflected and parroted understanding. The fuel to go beyond our current understanding comes from its failure to cope with existence. In that sense, the community generated and everyone parroting the same beliefs at each other helps make for a comfortable sleep.