What has religion given to the humanity?

I am always told by wise people that we should avoid discussion on religion as it is a very sentimental issue. So it always caused a curiosity in my mind, how important is this religion to me and to those around me and ultimately to the humanity as a whole? What did we get out of these religions? What have we paid to these religions? In the midst of all these questions, I remember my childhood, when we were told by our teachers that, there is only one God. I have never seen God but always felt the presence of a power every time I see an ocean or a river or a mountain. This is because every time I face them, I feel the hugeness of these creations and realize how small and powerless I am against their. The power of the creator who created me and everything around me is beyond my imagination. I consider this creator with such enormous power as my God; and in order to do so, I needed no religion.

We often feel that there is a soul living within us and it confronts with us sometime. This soul prevents us from doing wrong. It always tells us to love everything around us. I consider this soul within us as my God; and in order to do so, I needed no religion.

The question still agitates me, why are people dieing for religion which make no sense to me? The entire world is facing terrorism whose root lies in religion. Terrorism alias religion has taken thousands of life on the historical 9-11, religion has taken life of innocent people in the state of Orissa in India and it has taken hundreds of life in the city of Mumbai (Bombay) recently. All this happened because we pray in different way to the same God.

I just imagine that the entire world crisis can be solved if we abandon our religion. But I am afraid that by preaching to abandon religion may make some of us develop a new religion itself which will not believe in any of the God from the existing religion. This may lead to another disaster in itself.

So, the only way to solve it is to cultivate toleration and develop respect for each and every religion. We must all understand that a religion is only a way we choose to pray to the only God, the powerful Creator and the soul within us. If we do not understand it at the earliest, religion may turn out to be the biggest curse for the civilization and may lead to the end of humanity.