First, I'd note that among people who question the status quo, you are going to find a much higher number of atheists (at least in America where Atheism is relatively rare) and members of small religious groups. That's just the nature of things, so I am not surprised to find that both PJ and GC have a large number of Atheists and Wiccans. Both groups consist of people who are not exactly in the majority.

That said, there are some good things about old, organised religions. First of all, they may mete out judgement, but they also tend to emphasize mercy, love, and forgiveness. As the example I know best, Christians may want to distance themselves from the secular world, but they also acknowledge (and often tend to prefer) secular authority. Naturally the majority of any dominant religion will follow the passions of the day, but there is always a core group of believers who will fiercely defend the whole faith, not just the parts that are popular that day.

As a matter of fact, I was just thinking today what would happen if Jack McClellan came to Springfield in a Simpsons episode - and I figured that most likely the only man who would defend him would be Ned Flanders, who might be willing to alter the First Amendment to make some speech illegal, but would uphold the secular authority of the Constitution because God mandates that believers obey their rulers; and who would defend Jack simply because he is a human being made in the image of God.

Also, many of the man-hating variety of feminists are atheists. It is true that these atheist moralists have joined forced with Christian moralists in order to bring us to our sorry present state, and that many of these Christian moralists have been extremely unwise in how they have pursued their goals. Nonetheless, most Christian moralists also value mercy, redemption, forgiveness, and so forth - and a few will even recall that sins such as gossip, worrying, laziness, and gluttony take equal billing with the more exotic varieties in the Bible.

In short, it is easy to see why many posters here bash religion, as it tends to be religionists who are most visibly attempting to force their ideas about morality on others, but the reality is a bit more complex.