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I say don't attack the foundation, change the process. What I find interesting about "One" is that it seems to take place in a medieval time, even if it could be fantasy and the message was meant to be universal. Now, when they burned those pages, did they stop a war? Mankind was fighting before religion came to be. It is the nature of man to want what another has. A peaceful people would only last so long before they would be forced to defend themselves. Would Richard or his wife have regrets if they went out into the world and saw that men were fighting each other over land, wealth, and power, anyways? They could stop it if they presented those pages. It would place a standard on people, that most would believe in and follow. That is, until, they found a better excuse to wage war, such as religion vs. religion. Mankind has done a pretty good job of accepting other races and learning to live together. Now does that leave religion as what separates mankind from becoming 'one'?

Maintaining that the scripture is the word of God has served to keep man from changing the rules to their own benefit. Whether you believe that the message has become distorted over so long a time, doesn't change what Jesus did. Really, you can learn from his story whether you believe he existed or not. He came into this world knowing what was in the hearts of men. He knew the evil of men and that he would be crucified, but his actions as a man set an example for how to live righteously in a unfair world. He died for the sins of all mankind, even those yet to come. We would continue to sin, but he didn't force the people of that time to change, and he didn't change what it is to be human.

Now, many people attack religion, bringing up its flaws and thinking that the people who believe in it are foolish. Those who don't believe in God, probably at one point, wanted to believe in something, but reason to them was more powerful than faith. It is said the most pious people in history often hide a great internal struggle over their faith. And there are people who don't allow their faith to be shaken, but that does not mean they don't question what goes on in this world. To them, religion is about being a good person along with their community. Most religious people accept others, even if they think you should believe in their message.

I think that religion is a necessary part of our evolution. Not much separates us from humans a couple thousand years ago. We have grown more intelligent, but morals are not embedded in our genetic code. Our selfish nature has not changed, in other words. Many of our institutionalized beliefs prevent humans from acting as barbarians, however, we are obviously still capable of doing so. No matter how non-religious you may be, your beliefs are still borrowed. They took root in religion. You may say it's time religion changed. Well, with as many denominations as there are nowadays, I say it is, and possibly has been for a while now. Actually, if it is true that a house divided can not stand, then maybe organized religion is on its way out. You've probably heard of the coming Age of Aquarius, when science becomes more powerful than religion, reason greater than faith. Every person becomes independent enough to decide their beliefs on their own, which means religion is no longer needed, but supposedly family ties disappear also. What determines value is cold logic. The question remains, are we advanced enough to no longer need religion? With religion there is warmth as much as their is darkness. Whatever replaces religion will not differ in that. As much as we may welcome change, we would be incompatible with a distant future that has totally done away with religion. I think we are just lucky to live in a time when religion exists, but we are free to question it.