Is religion good for us?

I've always liked this graph, though I'm sure it's far from accurate: The video I got that from, I think linked to this subject: Linky

Yes, it is an explanation for the unexplained. People don't like having no explanation, so they invent shit to be able to explain and "control" what they don't understand. Don't understand the rain? Invent a rain deity and make sacrifice to him to make it rain. If it doesn't rain, well, that's because the deity is pissed off at you and you need to sacrfice more. And so on and so forth for everything else you don't understand. Growing ever more elaborate and intricate, until nobody knows what's what anymore and you get different sects of the same "religion" to interpret all the different things said about a particular deity. Let's hope so.

Well, other than educate people, there is preciouss little we can do. Ultimately, it is a decission someone has to make for themselves: do they care if their beliefs are true or not, and can be demonstrated as such, that's what it all comes down to.