Ed writes that he finds atheists depressing when they throw away the "real message" of religion.
As an atheist, I have to agree — though it depends what "the real message" is. I grew up believing that Christianity taught that being a good person was what got you into heaven; it was only when I started university that I learned that actually, it’s believing in Jesus that gets you into heaven (or, more accurately, they redefine "good" to mean "believing in Jesus"). This is what put me off religion, long before I ever read The God Delusion.
You can’t even, unfortunately, argue that that’s an issue with the Church and not the religion, since it has its roots in a verse from the Bible, where Jesus is quoted as saying "nobody gets into heaven except through me" (more or less). The problem is, though, that despite the reasonable moral guidance provided by religious figures such as Jesus, they get overshadowed by the bits that give the Church power to control people, and that is why I object to religion.
Sure, you may say that the crappy church is not a good reason to avoid religion as a whole — but what other reason is there to pay any attention to it? Morality doesn’t require some Israeli carpenter/hippy to make it moral, or a Saudi merchant, Nepalese prince, or Prussian writer, and it’s perfectly possible to live a moral life without paying attention to some cosmic Jewish zombie and his imaginary friend.
So, serious question: what, exactly, is religion needed for? Answers on a postcard.