Religion ..assorted thoughts

They say sex sells, on the contrary religion sells the most and still it is not recognized as it is somewhat not thought of as along the same lines. The church/mosque/temple is the biggest grosser of them all. The reason is that they say the money is for a cause. The only cause, as I see, worth contributing hard earned money can be humanitarian and not Christian, Islamic or Hindu. These funds are destined to be misused either in a bad way (Jehad) or at best spent on furthering the religion's popularity. I would call this as a misuse as well - because converting people from one religion to another which is the ultimate goal achieved/intended is not worth zilch to the cause of humanity.
Let us try and estimate how the religions came into existence The God(s) have never made a public appearance (or i missed one great show), well at least not one for the past millenium or two. The only evidence we have is books, scriptures that tell us a story. Now how are we to believe that the story is a historical one and not just another fantasy tale. We can't , and even this simplistic demand for reason and logic is seen as a form of develish impertinence & blasphemy. Were you to be told that your meeting is not to be held as earlier decided, wouldn't you ask for a reason? If such a simple thing breds a need for reason why should a man's need for reason in what is supposed to influence his thinking, his society and very much everything in his life ; be questioned.
I have been an agnostic since before I knew what the word meant- moving over to my birth religion on increasingly rare occasions ,chiefly in periods of despair ( or extreme happiness). It's something of a weakness, I am not ashamed to admit that I have been weak at times. But does that make me a falsifier? Quite on the contrary I believe it makes my believe in non-utility of religion more tangible. It clearly shows that man doesn't really need it, if he is strong enough in character. The more relentless advertising we see on behalf of every religion the more it makes me sure that it's a fake necessity. Our reliance of it is somewhat similar to our addiction to other best marketed products that we see advertised around us - like colas etc.

Competition

We know that the outlook one has is very important in what he becomes. That is true for nations as well. We see the US as a very developed/prosperous country. But why did it come by being so successful... Competition.. Thats what it was blessed with... it took to competing with Russia and Russia took US to great heights while it itself kept moving down. Come to India.. we are very happy and pumped up that India is progressing blah blah.. but is it real progress.. well the world is progressing and as circumstances would have it India is so strategically placed that it's man power is taking it to rise at a pace slighty above the world average.But do we have competition. We tend to compete with Pakistan - that's the enemy state. Well an unworthy opponent is a good way of defeating yourself. If instead we look towards competiting with China and let Pakistan burn in the fire they have light themselves.. !N if they keep pestering us we know its no more than a fly for India if we truly use the force that we have. !