IFF wrote:
"1) religion can serve as inspiration to people to discover God's creation."

And if there aren't any then it is just deception. And a deception that teaches people to not think for themselves and to follow self-annointed leaders like kings, emperors, and dictators.

IFF wrote:
"2) religion might give people raw ideas that can then be tested."

You mean like electricity?
Or antibiotics?
Or the internet?
Or the internal combusion engine?
Or the GPS?
Or ultrasound?
Or ...

So far religion has inspired and/or supported a huge percentage of the wars we've had. It has sanctioned overpopulation. It has blessed pollution of the environment (we were given dominion over the earth).

But inspire science? I'd suggest you ask Galileo how well that worked.

DA Morgan