I just heard Oxford biologist Dawkins interviewed on NPR for his recent book The God Delusion, articulating the hazards of belief in God, and why there is no need for God. He treats the Old and New Testaments not as word of God, but as
great stories that we can pick and choose the parts the are useful to us and safely ignore the rest.



Dawkins on theology:

The central predicate of theology is based on God exists. If God doesn't exist, most of theology is garbage. There are pieces of theology, such as Bible criticism, biblical history, etc. are still valuable, but they don't have to be part of theology.



My thought: despite thousands of years of effort in theology, it hasn't come up with any convincing proof that God exists. The psychological need for God, in one form or another, is why people believe.
Enlightenment frees us from the need of any form of 'crutch'. That's why the Buddha is called 'teachers of gods and humans.'