religious relevance in a modern society?

i have been pondering the relevance of organized religion in a technological, global, modern world and i keep coming up with one conclusion- it isn't. now, i know many people would argue that religion plays a huge role in millions of lives around the world- and i would counter with- why? why do we still need churches or mosques or synagogues and why do we still need 'spiritual leaders' whose job it is to indoctrinate the flock so as to perpetuate the religion's existence? people who are part of the religious community argue that science can't disprove the existence of god- and that is true. what is also true is that they can't prove that he does but they expect everyone to believe that god exists.

faith is a term that is bandied about frequently in religion because faith is what you must have in order to suspend disbelief at the crap that you are asked to believe. i have read the christian bible through twice and while that does not make me an expert, i am pretty sure that it puts me ahead of most christians who go to church in this country. at any rate, there is no where i can find that says that god wants us to kill each other or hate another religion or force others to believe what we believe through legislation. i am also more than a little annoyed at the holier-than-thou attitude of the believers in the 'holy three'- christianity, islam, judaism- that they have cornered the market on morals and ethics. some of the finest, most generous, ethical people are not part of the 'holy three'.

as a member of the world at large, i have witnessed ignorance, zealotry, hatred, intolerance and on and on- from the religious community in the name of god. i live in a country that used to believe in freedom- freedom to believe in what you wanted- but in recent years it has been increasingly clear that factions here want to turn this country into a theocracy. the middle east is in turmoil and chaos because of religious intolerance between muslims and jews- and now the christian west. many christians here in america- and even in my hometown- clamor for putting god back in charge of this country. they bemoan the fact that this is a secular country. hate to be the one to be a bearer of bad tidings- but the founding fathers set it up that way for a reason. religion should be a personal thing- if at all. there isn't a place for an organized, state religion in a free society. america's original constitution is the model to which the rest of the world aspired- to become or flee to. there is a reason for that.