Do We Need Belief?

Sometimes, there seems to be no escape from Religion. More so in the Arab world than here. The power of something so purely abstract shouldn’t be so powerful. Belief is smoke. Only books and buildings give any reality to it. To give substance to that which has no substance. And what is organized religion but a political organization devoted to the manipulation of both behavior and the mind?
The need for external restrictions of behavior is a the result of a lack of backbone and self-control. To seek self-improvement and the betterment of society for its own sake is the purist motivation. To embrace goodness just because God is going to "get you", is contrived and childish. Both the believer and the addict are looking for escape from the inevitable pain of exsistance.
Belief can give credence to the most unlikely of things. Eternal life with no pain? That is asking far too much of the universe. And eternal suffering for people you arn’t worthy of such a thing? How could a loving God do such a thing? This is pure Orwellian double speak.
Some people believe they are destined to win the lottery, or otherwise "hit it big." Some people think they can abuse their bodies and not pay for it some day. Others believe there is a God who loves them. Same thing, in all cases.
And what of "God’s will"? Its whatever the believer wants it to be.
And society gives such special rights and privilege for people who believe such things.
Belief, at best, is a set of training wheels for people who have yet for find their balance.