I know what you're all thinking; "not another religious argument", but this was something that I really had to get onto this site, because it's been bugging me for a while. There is an underlying feeling that all religion is pointless, no matter which one it is. Maybe it was useful in a previous age, when we needed it for comfort and answers, but there is simply no need for it in modern society.

Although it's true that many of the laws and morals that we live with in modern society are drawn from religion, it can also be said that these values are too old fashioned for a rapidly changing world. A study taken in the US showed 2/3 of the over 65 population felt that religion was important to their lives, whereas under half of the under 50s felt the same way. This trend seems to spread around the globe, with the system of religion feeling very outdated and irrelevent to their lives. There is also the issue of time; as people work harder and longer hours, they are less likely to wish to spend any of their free time worshipping. Besides, if religion was no longer worshipped, it's not as if the world would look considerably different because of it - the same values would remain, because we've already adapted to living our lives around those rules. 

There was once a time when religion was used as an answer to the questions of the universe. How was the world created, and the formation of mankind were both answered in various Holy Books around the world, and until fairly recently (on a human timescale), we used these to form our beliefs of how we came into existance. Although this still remains in limited forms today, the beliefs of many people have turned to science. In a similar way, religion was also used as moral support for those who've lost loved ones - this still remains today, but one wonders if it's only a matter of time before this tradition also begins to fade away. Not to mention, these Holy Books were written at a time when life expectancy was very low, and there was not much known about disease etc. We live much longer today, and we don't need to blame our misfortunes on it simply being what "God" caused it to be - we have much more control over our own destinies.

Finally, over-zealous religious organisations can cause more damage than good to the world due to their fighting amongst themselves to prove eachother right/wrong. In a world where general beliefs in religion seems to be dropping, there are also a number of extremists who are keen to prove that their religion is the true path to the afterlife through violent measures. If religion adopted a less important role in society, then there would likely be fewer disputes between different people and countries. In this respect, the question is not whether religion is still relevent in modern society; rather whether the world would be a better place should that be the case?

Sorry for the rant - I just wanted to get some of my thoughts out there. Anyone else feel the same way, or people that completely disagree with me?

There are certain commonalities between all major religions and certain structural similarities across all stable societies, and (while some would use this to argue about the truth of religion) it could be argued that a form of societal evolution determined that these features were necessary for a stable and successful society. The decline in religion throughout much of the western world has translated to a weakening of many of these values and structures, and there have been many adverse impacts on society in general.

While I think society can survive without religion, we need to find a way to maintain/preserve order in the absence of religion for this to happen; which probably means protecting these values/beliefs and structures without religious justification.

Can't just make religion disappear because you don't agree with it my good man. It may "not have a purpose" (assuming science is right about big bang/evolution/etc) but there are still billions around the world who are religious.

I've kind of outgrown religion myself but I still think it serves a good purpose of teaching kids good values. It teaches not to kill, not to steal, to be faithful to your wife/husband, not to lie, etc. If it wasn't for all the extremists in religion nobody would have any problem with religions.

I would argue that factors like rule of law and low corruption have increased apace with the lessening of the importance of religion, barring societies where institutions that delegitimized such factors were also atheistic in composition (e.g. Communism)

oh, a thread for me! can't wait to actually contribute!

That's a beautiful post.

Religion is awesome. In general. Just like the atheism is awesome. In general. They both contribute some way in society, or modern society.

If it helps both sides to sleep better at night by poking fun at each other, go for it. Have fun at the expense of each other.

I  really think religion should not be pressed on children how it is now a days. It's almost like people wanna scared the living crap out of kids to make sure they stick to it. The whole ten commandments, don't kill, steal, don't fuck your neighbors wife, it's all common sense at this point and any reasonable parent should teach this to their children, without even mentioning religion. Parents should plant a seed of interest and see if their children show interest on it. Then once the kid grows, he can chose to stick with it's current religion, another or simply do away with it. It's sounds weird, but for me, I'm glad my parents never forced me to go to church or made me recite verses of the bible and whatnot. They told me to faith in god and that you can speak to him on your own time, that going to church served no purpose and now that I'm grown, It makes prefect sense. They told me I am free to choose my religion as I see fit. However at this point, I don't know where I fall in this whole religion thing. Still, religion has usually been the least important/influential part in my life.

fail edit -_-

It depends on the society and how it's structured. In Western Europe religion is mostly irrelevant today, because a majority of people are non-believers and because morals are not dictated by religion anymore. Although, of course, religion is still very important for some sectors of society.

Obviously, in some nations religion plays a big role and is one of the foundations of society, so it would be very relevant in these. So much so that religion dictates law in some countries.

This answers whether religion is relevant. Another question is whether they should be relevant, which I guess is what you may be really asking, but that is a much more complex question. My inclination would be to let a majority of people decide how to run their society, based on their religion or not, but this may raise other questions like whether minorities are respected, possible external influences and manipulations, etc, so it can't be easily answered with a yes or no.