Thank you all for responding, I think I'm in the right forum.
That is to say that I agree generally with everything that has been said.
historycircus, I loved your little analogy and greybeard your opinion is respectfully taken aboard.
IMO...
To answer my own question (apologies that I didn't initially), I think religion is an institutionalized version of one man/womans path toward bringing about a sense of sentient responsibility which precipitates in some form of illumination or connection with the <insert label for creator here>. Of course, the map is not necessarily precise and there are no guarantees that it will work nor is it any more valid than any other external source, but it is only one persons way, which I guess is fine for anyone wanting someone else for an authority, before the source. I just question the worth of secondhand information which may not apply to the individual.
I don't think religions are completely worthless, but from the results of some major institutions it appears as though they might have missed the mark or are working, which might be more disturbing. I've just found that people who claim to be religious don't behave according to the doctrines they espouse and almost 180 degrees opposite. In general, I find non-religious, spiritual people much more in tune with themselves and easy to be with.
I think there are some good guru's out there like some Zen Buddhists that teach through not teaching, but they are like guides that might push you in the pool when you ask a silly question like, "How warm is it?", so I can't say that all religions are "bad" but mostly they place themselves before that unnameable source. Inevitably though the guides only lead you to the door.
Spirituality, for me, is self responsibility for my own actions toward finding that sense of the unnameable. So, it's a direct connection to that source. It's a co-creative process rather than ritual although the intended goal might be the same. Even the mystics never needed the religions they ultimately inspired to arrive where they arrived.