That's up to the individual. Choose wisely.

Why do we need philosophy if there is religion? And why does philosophy need so desperately to eliminate religion as a point of reference? Its more widely accepted than any book on philosophy.

Religion is a delusion for weirdos who allow mind controlling people to brainwash them into bull$hit and lies. Religion is stress related due to peer pressure and causes psychological damage. Philosophy is an individual perception of things. Since we are all different with views, each person has their own philosophy and they are free to create and share their philosophy with others. Religion is meaningless and for shallow minded people who can’t prove their point while philosophy has meaning in which there is freedom that welcomes the idea of anything that makes sense towards reality. There is no need for religion because it’s full of lies and bull$hit. Religion is a corruption of the mind that religious weirdos fail to understand since they are shallow minded people.

ONE POSSIBILITY (and it seems quite a persuasive argument to me) is the concept of "social evolution". That is to say: societies with certain traits out-perform and out-survive societies without those same traits. Until relatively recently, historically, societies with religion have tremendously out-performed and out-survived societies without religion (and indeed: the MORE a-religious a society, the LESS well it performed...until relatively recently). SO: it may be that the "social environment" FAVORS societies that are religious...or it may be that ***until recently*** the social environment favored such societies. The social environment DOES CHANGE, and we may be entering a phase in which religion is less important to a society's survival. We MAY even be entering a stage in which religion is ADVERSE to a society's survival, in which case we should see the least-religious societies (on average and over several decades or centuries) out-performing the more religious societies.

You yourself may find it easy to live a virtuous life, without the assistance afforded by religion; you having a clear perception of the advantages of virtue, and the disadvantages of vice, and possessing a strength of resolution sufficient to enable you to resist common temptations. But think how great a portion of mankind consists of weak and ignorant men and women, and of inexperienced, inconsiderate youth of both sexes, who have need of the motives of religion to restrain them from vice, to support their virtue, and retain them in the practice of it till it becomes habitual, which is the great point for its security. And perhaps you are indebted to her originally, that is, to your religious education, for the habits of virtue upon which you now justly value yourself. https://wallbuilders.com/benjamin-franklins-letter-thomas-paine/

Do you want to live longer: "A recent study finds that people who regularly attend religious services live approximately four years longer than average."

It's a good question, thanks for asking it. To answer it I'm going to distinguish between religion which means "the belief in worship of a god or gods, or any such SYSTEM of belief and worship. Philosophy means 1) the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline. 2) A theory or attitude that acts as a guiding principle for behaviour. So I question "What is the difference between Philosophy and religion?" The answers, 1) Philosophy moves away from "dogmatism," which is a character present in religion. Philosophy has a character of scepticism. This means that not unless something is proven to be certain (that which is indubitable or cannot be doubted) philosophy would recognize its validity (quote (Heidegger, 1956). Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. Phenomenology is the philosophical study of the structures of experience and consciousness. Hermeneutics is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. And existentialism is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centres on the subjective experience of thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and value of human existence. In the view of an existentialist, the individual's starting point has been called "the existential angst", a sense of dread, disorientation, confusion, or anxiety in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world. Here’s another answer for the difference between philosophy and religion:  the ethical and moral rules of the philosopher are not to follow an external obligation, (dogmatism) but are born from an internal, or “self” need, a result of experience – including the mystic experience – and of the development of the consciousness, slowly matured with time. Hence, many famous philosophers studied the philosophy of religion ie the existence of God, and believed in the existence of God, but did not follow dogmatism. The philosophy of religion contains epistemology, (the nature and scope of knowledge), ontology (the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality), and the theory of value. So they are only different from each other by the ritual aspect, the dogmatic aspect of religion. I’d encourage the exploring and questioning of religion and religious belief, and any idea, that could actually prevent you from experiencing truth, or mystical experience but it's not for everyone. The thing that religion ie the systematic side, fulfils is the ritual exoteric side, that offers comfort and a yearning to improve oneself. This has been performed by the magi, the etymology of this is "skilled magicians, astrologers," from Latin magi, plural of magus "magician, learned magician," from Greek magos, a word used for the Persian learned and priestly class as portrayed in the Bible. Religion is an idea past down from generation to generation, aeon to aeon, and despite it's metamorphosis, the premise remains the same and points to the beginnings of civilisation, so it has an origin, as all ideas have to have an origin, and so these stories surround something that did happen to man. At the very least, that's what the written record shows us. On top of which there has always been rites and rituals, and secret rites and rituals, re-inacting something which has an origin. There have always been mystics, some go silent, some pass on wisdom without wanting to give the answer, so they prevent the person from clinging to the answer, and not having the experience. But there has always been some spiritual teaching, priests, and kings from the beginnings of civilisation. Even the banking system came from there, we didn't always farm the land, and we also learned to domesticate cattle and other animals, prior to this we were nomads and hunter gatherers. We built the Ziggurat.

Note to Linda Joy, the only time I've taken an IQ test, my score was 135. I never thought of myself as a genius. My area of special skill was spacial relations which raised my score that high. Of course, I've lost some grey cells since then but I still have a very active mind.

You don't need Religion, but faith instead. Religion relies on traditional ceremonies, cult memberships such as how the scribes and Pharisees lived. Jesus condemned them for their hypocrisy. With faith alone, it is the complete trust and confidence in someone or something. John 4:24 "God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."