I certainly understand why some people hate religion, but to want to do away with it is a bit extreme. It’s like wanting to do away with movies because there are some really bad ones out there, and some people insist on believing and imitating what they see on screen.
What were these stories anyway? They were our ancestors’ entertainment and escape just as much as movies are for us today. They were better than escape, because you could immerse yourself in them and pretend they answered all your questions. When I was young I wanted to be James Bond. I dressed up, bought myself a gun cigarette lighter and stalked the hallways in my apartment building shooting villains and seducing gorgeous women. I had a blast playing in that alternate reality. The problem was not in playing him, but believing it was real.
We’re never going to rid humankind of religion nor should we want to. Religion is mythology. The best way to teach mythology is to study it. All of them. Behind their mysteries, violence, bigotry, miracles, wonders, wars and atrocities is the story of the human imagination with all of its terror, injustice, fears, heroes and villains. Is it a mere coincidence all the Bronze age heroes THOR, NOAH, and SUPERMAN (Moses) and EXODUS (coming soon) are still big hits at the local cineplex, or that Ishus (Jesus), Yahweh, Krishna, Moses, Mohammed and Buddha are still packing them in worldwide? The problem is not in the stories, but in believing they are any more true or real than James Bond.
Radical Imaginism 