religious people are easier to control (marx: opium for the masses) and our political masters need every bit of control now that the ship is slowly going down (crisis of modern capitalism). debating religion skews and diverts focus from the real issues (just look at all the comments about this topic) so i won't even try cause i find it silly anyway - we should never let religion be institutionalised but should be up to each and every individual to deal with and figure out for him/herself. it's the most intimate matter there is imho and should never be taught to anyone
the real issues? well, we're all slaves for one. nobody is talking about it cause it's being packaged in this free trade capitalist envelope that says: you're payed work force, not slaves, everyone is free to seize the oportunities that the system provides, everybody is equal, etc.
sure, on the expense of others. and you're that "others". the system is designed to the needs of the few (in relative terms) people who are at the tip of the pyramid, exempt from "natural" laws, while the majority lives in a fantasy of free will and choice. there is no real choice unless you like living in a cardboard box or move to some far of hippie commune in india. nobody is even debating the option of some new, better system - like market capitalism is here to stay for ever. it's easier to imagine the end of the world than a significant change in the established system (parafrasing slavoj zizek here)
so what do we need to make something, anything, change? we need a catastrophy. shock therapy. clash of the civilisations, natural disaster, nuclear war, whatever... i still hope that this won't be the case but right now it's hard to imagine any other event that would stir things up (maybe a visit from our alien friends out there? alf, i miss you . we are at the breaking point or close to it, i think. meaning either we change our mentality and give up on some old, primitive notions (like religion e.g.) or we die as a race.