I agree with you on a few points.

I think there are a few more theories that are actually superior to the BBT as we receive it like Walter Russell's special periodic table and cosmology or even Dan Winter (www.fractalfield.com) and his proven physics of implosion, as opposed to explosion. But for a litany of reasons, these ideas don't get the mainstream attention that they deserve. But that is a conversation for another time.

Yes, religion has been used to wage war, kill, control, and suppress alternative viewpoints, much like modern science, but whose counting? 🙃

I'm not saying that the adherents or proponents of religion are all correct, but let's take a step back. 'Religion' is composed of 're ~ to do again' and 'ligare ~ to yoke, bond, or tie'. So in earnest, 'religion' means to 'reyoke, rebind, or retie'. The next obvious question is 'To what?' This is at the heart of 'religion', regardless of how it is practiced or propogated.

I heard somewhere once that science without religion is dead, and that religion without science is lame. The shortcoming seems to be in us humans, and not the idea or ideals of 'optimized religion'.

Another quote that I like: I think that's the nature of a more evolved species . . . they finally figure out that science and religion converges into cosmology. That understanding the universe in which we live, also causes us to understand ourselves -- which is the purpose of religion and science . . . or at least should be. ~ Dr. Anderson (The Labyrinth Group)