It is long overdue that we humans stop arguing over what others thousands of years ago claim someone else said about what a god that might or might not exist has decreed is rightful conduct. As a famous singer once said it is time we imagine a world with no religion. Because no matter how much tolerance pastors, rabbis, and imam's preach, as long as we identify ourselves as Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and all the other dozens of religions we will build walls of misunderstanding and distrust between us.
And when we finally transcend religious identification we will liberate ourselves from yet another mental construction that confines us. For if anything, religion trivializes the power that created all of life. An entirely rational mind must conclude that there is a power much greater than us at work in the universe, but it is the height of insecurity and myopia to attribute all forms of petty human traits to this force. It is both amusing and disturbing that human beings are so lacking in humility that we believe whatever created these billions of galaxies cares about which days of the week we work or whether women should cover their bodies in public. It reminds me of the Greek myths where the gods engage in a cosmic soap opera all too human. But at least the Greeks were up front about their desire to anthropomorphize things they couldn't understand. With science starting to fill in some of the major holes in our understanding of life, we can no longer fall back on the excuse of ignorance.
Many people are scared that a world without religion will lead to a loss of morality in human society. First off, humans have never needed an excuse to engage in depravity and oppression, and many times these have been, and still are, perpetrated by highly religious societies. As to a future without religion, it is time that we realize we are capable of establishing moral codes completely independent of holy books and the words of so-called saints, as we have already demonstrated in our nation's founding documents and in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.
Above all else, we must come to realize that morality derived out of fear of divine retribution or as a down payment on a heavenly afterlife is exceedingly feeble. A man or woman who looks out at the universe in all of its glory and mystery, acknowledges that they have no idea where life came from and where they will go when they die, and yet decides to be a good and righteous person simply because it is the right thing to do in the here and now is truly a moral person. For it takes courage and will to accept that even if we are all alone and there is no God, heaven, or hell being a good and upright person is its own reward. This is the destiny we should all strive for.