Shambles sez: But it is very clear that organised religion still needs people in order to survive - but do people need still organised religion in order to survive?

This goes back to the very narrow concept of religion being simply a structure that allows some people to tell other people how to think and what to do. There's no simple way to define the function and essence of religion. It gives people an opportunity to reach out together and explore Whatever (or Whoever) is beyond us. It provides a community to give solace and strength in times of sorrow, and to join in celebration of joyful (and sorrowful) rites of passage. It allows people to join together in strength to pursue ideals such as healing the wounds of poverty and oppression in this world. It gives people an identity in an anonymous world, and allows them to join together to pursue and express what is best in ourselves. It can help people have the humility to understand that we do not and cannot understand all the mysteries that surround us - life, love, peace, death, beauty, pain, sorrow, and many other things - but that there is value in exploring these mysteries.

And yes, I acknowledge and deplore all the evil that has been done in the name of all religious denominations, including my own. Still, most religious peoople I know, don't do bad things in the name of their religious belief. I had a Catholic father-in-law who disowned his own son because the son joined another religion - but I didn't think this was right, and I told my father-in-law so on many occasions. Most Catholics I know don't live life perfectly, but they certainly wouldn't disown their children for joining another church.

So, maybe organized religion isn't something outside of themselves that people need - perhaps it's something that some people do to explore the depths of what is within them. And yes, if this is an individual process, then there's no need for organized religion. But if it's something communal, then I think it's natural to have some sort of structure or organization or community.

I firmly believe that people should be allowed to organize in whatever fashion they choose. If I'm Catholic and I like being Catholic and my being Catholic doesn't do any harm to you, who are you to suppress my right to join with others who share my perspective and tradition?

-Joe Offer-