I believe that any possible benefits given by religion are far outweighed by the thousands of years of suffering they have caused.

I tend to agree with you. From my experience, the greatest thing that religion brings to the table is fellowship and organization. Organized fellowship, the gathering of people to coalesce around a common idea, philosophy etc. is a powerful thing. Could this exist without religion? Absolutely. Would people still be able to do great things, help their fellow man etc. without religion? Absolutely. Therefore, in my opinion organized religion cannot justify the amount of atrocities that have occurred in its name with the good that has stemmed from it.

That said, I am of the opinion that spirituality and moreover the quest to answer certain questions that fall in the spiritual realm are incredibly important to society and the individual. In fact, I would love to see a world that embraced the ideals of Jesus Christ without having to create a religion out of it.

The next Hubski podcast asks the question what is the difference between spirituality and religion? I'm almost done with it and look forward to yours and others' thoughts on what it has to say.