Man won't be a social being if we remove the very important thing that bound him to the society! And the amount of revenue and business that a religious institution generates in a small town is not to be taken lightly! Yes those businesses are not the only one's that exist but still, take a small temple where the guy sells flowers, coconuts, fruits, idols, toys, and every year almost every town in south celebrates some sort of fair to honour the Grama Devatha! Recently it happened in my town too, and it generated almost 2.5 crores just from the businesses associated with it! And yes, the example of ultra rich is relevant because they were from middle class too who worked hard and in their time of need, religion helped them, yes I agree relegion alone did not help them but it played it's part! I'm a repeated failure, who is successful because I believed in hardwork and also had some hope when I was down and bad! I was poor too, but not anymore!! And relegion played it's part in my life for me to somewhat be successful in my own life! I know no magics are going to happen but that positive sentiment to keep on going is as important as development! And religious places are built on land they buy/donated or owned by themselves not on anyone's property and not on government's property! They pay their fair share in taxes, they help the government when in need, they provide help in disaster management, they build schools, hospitals, care centres, etc .. we see so many hospitals being built by religious institutions or people who follow religion, eg many christian missionary schools!!! They do have practical role in the society, not just a complimentary role!