Religion

Walking to school today (one reason why I like walking... gives time to think) I thought of a definition of religion:

Placing trust for future events in an entity more powerful/competent then yourself.

I started out thinking that religion may be an inevitable consiquence of conciousness. The awareness of the complexity and vastness of the world would, I think, put strains on a mind capable of comprehending the whole thing. Instead of trying to fit one's mind around the problem that which is not imediatly important is placed in the hands of someone else. Originally it might have been a tribal chiefton, then kings, then god-like-kings, then gods themselves. At all stages a form of worship is necessary to ensure that this bond of trust is not broken.

If this is true then where do athiest fit in? Science, now, is fully capable of filling in the role of protector. The society built around scientific institutions and their ideas is so abstract and convoluted that it appears, even to those inside it, as a separate entity with a mind and will of its own. Sure, no personality is necessarily prescribed to it but how many times have you heard "give it twenty years and we will have _____ technology/cure/theory-that-solves-everything"?

What is my religion? Humanity. I place my trust in the overwhelming goodness of men/women as individuals and more importantly as large groups, i.e. humanity. Eventually we will find how to live well without the corrupting influence of men in power and the need to dominate all that we see. Not in my lifetime for sure but... that is out of my hands.