Now mmmaaybe....

....there could be some sort of afterlife, but it wouldn't be anything religion has on offer, because of the inconsistencies I've pointed out.

And mmmaaybe there's a universal intelligence, but if so, it doesn't write books, least not lousy ones like the Bible, or Quran.
It'd have to be a vague Deist sort of God to be sure.

But I'd need evidence to believe in it.

But the faithful admit none will be on offer, so...

But given that, we come to the intersection of religion and politics.

I had a rant all cued up for this, but it was sort of sloppy, and Steve Zara just summed it up more precisely and succinctly than I was going to.

Link.