Religion has made civilization possible. An effective religion can make a community strong and prosperous, an ineffective one can bring it to its knees. A study I read some years back (sorry, don?t know the source or any of the really necessary details) of aboriginal tribes which found a homicide rate approaching 10 per cent, which was also true for many of the native American tribes when Columbus dropped in. Not even Somalia approaches this figure today. The world is a much kinder and gentler place (to borrow from G.W.H.B.) than it has been through the past, thanks to civilization and religion, despite its flaws.