religion by country

A poll has parsed the countries in the world that embrace or prefer religion as part of their social or cultural panorama. Sometimes the linkage is largely ceremonial. Sometimes it will screw you where you live.

Anyway, it makes me ask again in my mind, "What would happen if religion simply dissipated -- dripped off some descriptive, well-charted blackboard. I mean, what would it be like if this aspect simply ceased to be relevant, pro or con? OK, OK ... I can quote Voltaire too: "if God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him." OK, now we're got the facile quotes out of the way. And still, I wonder.

Anyway, here's The Guardian's news story:

More than one in five countries has an official state religion, with the majority being Muslim states, and a further 20% of countries have a preferred or favoured religion.
A slim majority (53%) of counties has no official or preferred religion, and 10 (5%) are hostile to religion, according to a report by the Washington-based Pew Research Center.

Setting aside the caterwauling pro or con, does (wo)man have a need for god or some similar entity? After 50 years of puttering, I honestly don't know. The best I can come up with is, "don't be a bigger jackass than you need to be."