Would the world be better off without Religion?

Conflict is one the very best catalysts for advancement, especially from a research and development standpoint. One of the very core ideas to evolution, "survival of the fittest", is a direct result of conflict.

Yes, that is very true. But, look at it on a broader scale, my own personal belief believe there are many many other species/creatures/life forms within our universe/parallel universes so now if we could evolve to that point where we are as one we could then compete with other species, which would be on the much broader scale.

On the subject of religion itself and if the world would be better off without it, I'm not sure that we would be. Religion has inspired such a massive amount of Arts and such that the world would be a vastly different landscape than what we know now. While there is much to deplore about religion, there is also much to rejoice in my eyes.

Good point, we would have no Pyramids, no Cistine chapel, no old Roman structures or Colosseums, No massive churches that you can find worldwide, etc.