I lost religion at the age of 14. I was studying for my bar-mitzvah (The Jewish confirmation ritual initiating a boy into manhood.). I did pretty well going through the procedure but it struck me at that time, after all the studying and learning the prayers when it was over, I discovered that I was no more manly than when I began. It started me thinking that perhaps I missed something. I thought that perhaps other religions had something going for them that I missed in Judaism. The closest one I could think of was Catholicism. (Islam was not even a consideration.)By the time I was 14 I no longer believed in any God or any religion. The reasons were multiple but when I discovered that the universe was many billions of years old and earth less than a third of that and further, that religions could not be traced back more than 5,000 years which would be the equivalent to a grain of sand in the entire Sahara desert, I felt cheated.Then, I realized that mankind had evolved from hominids, ape-like creatures similar to chimps or bonobos.It became increasingly evident that the many gods and religions were simply recently invented fantasies.So, what good was religion and what was it's purpose? It was mainly the subconscious urge to escape oblivion.Should the practice of religion be discouraged?No! Those who find solace in it should be left alone and even protected if need be.