I also fall into the "God 1st Bible 2nd" camp, not because I don't believe the Bible to be true, but because I came to God without studying it seriously in the slightest.
Unconvinced, you're right. There's a lot of religions in the world, all claiming they're right. What I've been wondering about recently is why the most prominent, [that is Judaism, Christianity and Islam] all managed to sprout from such a small region of the earth. What do you reckon? Statistically, they make up a huge proportion of the monotheistic religious groups on the planet. Why aren't there other monotheistic religions in the mainstream that have appeared from different geographical locations? Sorry, just something that occured to me the other day. Anyway, your and anyone else's opinion would be welcomed.
As for the topic:
Doesn't religion make people happy? I mean really happy. Not just smiling or temporarily doped up, but completely, under the surface happy. I've tried a lot of stuff in my life to keep me smiling. Even after becoming a Christian I've plumped for drinking, aspiration for money and self importance to cope with life. And all of them have failed miserably, leaving me desparing until I turn back to God. All I can say is that without him I'd be a wreck.
If you could take my God away from me, magically creating a "world without religion", I for one could not bare to even live in it.
Nick