When religion first appeared it enlightened people, and lots of people's first book was a bible, a torah or a quran etc. It also gathered people together in larger tribes and communities.

So why is it that in the information age, with computers, the internet, libraries, public education, and the entire world at our fingertips, that religion is breeding ignorance?

For example, creationism, myths about homosexuality, the opposition to vital research, opposition to media and non-christian litterature, the idea that all non-christians are America's enemies, that our country has some sort of mandate from god and can do no wrong, and so forth.

Is it possible that religion has played out it's role in the evolution of mankind and that the only way forward, is to abandon it?

Actually, going through humanist and scientific history, you will probably notice that clerics and theologists put forth a lot of really great scientific theories and works. They also inspired ideas of human rights and such. Not that these would and did not have come about on their own and in paralell, but it would be foolish, historically false, and unscientific to dismiss the instances in which religion was a force, or a tool, for good, and for progress.

My point is: why is it different now? Why is it different in the US and other modern, industrialized countries?