Again, You're more sure of my position than I am. I'm not convinced of anything that I myself haven't experienced. And (to clarify a point) my ghosts and my religion are not one and the same. In fact, I dare say my minister would be quite upset to hear about them. And I'm not trying to convince you either. Simply to make clear my reasoning. Convincing one another is irrelevant. Understanding one another is important.
You're also mistaking a church for a religion. Christianity is a religion. Catholicism, Anglican, United, Mormon, etc are all churches. Religion never oppressed science. Churches did. Symantics, in your view, I know. But an important difference from my position.
Now, just to get us onto level ground, I'm gonna ask you to back up a few millenia for a minute. Sorry, but it's necessary to get us back beyond your view of religion to start off.
The first religions were, in your opinion, based on what?