This world we live in is very scary. I think people turn to love, and religeon to see their way through. We have to believe that there is more out there. That there is goodness beyond this world. I need to believe in something...to have something. I don't see it as a form of control or manipulation, but then again everything in this world seems to be hinged on sinister motives. I love my maker and we have a great relationship...but I do not in anyway use my place in the afterlife to excuse not giving it my all in this lifetime. The church is not a concrete goodness either. We are all human, and subject to error. One cannot measure the reputation of some religeons as a presadence for what God is like. God did not build the church or even run the church, that is man. And it has been proven over and over that man isn't always very smart.