It seems that each segment of humanity finds it necessary to impose his beliefs upon every other segment. Was Man's first conscious thought Bash thy Neighbor? Social organization brought men into groups within which rules of behavior kept them from bashing each other, but individuals were expected to conform. Groups became nations, but those outside the nation were prey, subject to exploitation and domination. Religion became a powerful tool in exerting domination (Stalinism, which did not recognize a God, was as much a religion in practice as the others).
Contributors to this thread in part were attacking the practice of proselytization, forcing belief on others, and was not an attack on religions as a whole. It is the "spreading of the faith," often forcibly and without regard for the consequences that I bemoaned in my posts.
WYSIWYG, you say nothing about the religions that were wiped out by the religions of the invaders. I shouldn't speak for KatL, but like her, I feel great sorrow for the destruction of the cultures of peoples here, and I think many of us with native blood or close contact with natives feel this way. Thankfully those days are dying, but their sad legacy remains.
Much that religion has done is useful and has contributed to civilizing the beast in all of us; it has, until the last century, been a dominant force in the development of the arts and the promulgation of education and ethics, but religious leaders have too often imposed their will on the cultures and rights of others.