Religions I can actually respect (not merely tolerate)

But I still think that the "attack" on ideas is good.

. . . .for instance, is that it literally calls for my eventual destruction (as an infidel) . .

PLAYBOY: Has no religion, in your estimation, ever offered anything of constructive value to human life?

RAND: Qua religion, no—in the sense of blind belief, belief unsupported by, or contrary to, the facts of reality and the conclusions of reason. Faith, as such, is extremely detrimental to human life: it is the negation of reason. But you must remember that religion is an early form of philosophy, that the first attempts to explain the universe, to give a coherent frame of reference to man's life and a code of moral values, were made by religion, before men graduated or developed enough to have philosophy. And, as philosophies, some religions have very valuable moral points. They may have a good influence or proper principles to inculcate, but in a very contradictory context and, on a very—how should I say it?—dangerous or malevolent base: on the ground of faith.

Playboy's Interview with Ayn Rand  (March 1964)

... just because something effectuates happiness, doesn't make it respectable.

... studies have shown that Buddhists are pretty damn happy.

Ed (To Posts 16 and 19): I fully agree with what you say and thanks for requesting my opinion. I am also convinced that bad ideas must be attacked, in spite of then running the risk of suffering a personal physical assault, as it happens with the Danish Mohammed cartoonists. The least that will happen is a totally furious reply as has just happened with Claude Shannon's reply on Post 25 of "Religion is Totalitarian" [http://rebirthofreason.com/Forum/GeneralForum/1185_1.shtml#23] to my comment on Post 22 of the mentioned thread. Objectivism and Objectivists cannot expect any better from people that lack arguments as soon as they're out of their depths, and they immediately are, for they belong to that part of the human population that the Arab Abu'l-`Ala' al-Ma`arri (973 - 1057) classified as follows: "The inhabitants of the earth are of two sorts: Those with brains, but no religion,
and those with religion, but no brains."

Such attacks, which are typical to all religions (as well as to many political movements, such as, for example, the Nazis and the Communists) characterize their intellectual inferiority, since they evidence their lack of any convincing arguments by resorting to violence. Further on, both the threat and the carrying out of violence to shut dissenting voices continuously blocks both the advance of new ideas and what I would call the progress of progress itself.

As history shows, it is this that has prevented mankind's advancement towards a general well-being for the general population, and only favored the commanding coterie involved. Moreover, this delay, which also involves scientific evolution, can easily mean the destruction of the whole planet (incoming asteroids and such). I took up this subject in my book "Ayn Rand, I and the Universe", which was published by "Rebirth of Reason", for which I will always be grateful. Charles Freeman clearly analyzed Christianity's obstruction to science and general progress in his book ""The Closing of the Western Mind". As I mention in my reply to Claude Shannon (Post 28 of "Religion is Totalitarian" - http://rebirthofreason.com/Forum/GeneralForum/1185_1.shtml#23) Objectivism presents a totally different option to the world.

Thus, overcoming this habit of throwing threats and using violence to obtain one's aims will be, as I see it, the final confrontation with the up to now existing root of human societies (See http://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/Schieder/Ayn_Rand_and_Rational_Egoism_The_dynamo_of_human_progress.shtml). Evidently, defending what is right can, unfortunately, be very costly in every sense.

... it seems you're looking for religions that yield people who spend time enjoying and personally growing, as well as to get viable values.

The self-actualizers also had a different way of relating to others.  First, they enjoyed solitude, and were comfortable being alone.    And they enjoyed deeper personal relations with a few close friends and family members, rather than more shallow relationships with many people.

They enjoyed autonomy, a relative independence from physical and social needs.  And they resisted enculturation, that is, they were not susceptible to social pressure to be "well adjusted" or to "fit in" -- they were, in fact, nonconformists in the best sense.

They had an unhostile sense of humor -- preferring to joke at their own expense, or at the human condition, and never directing their humor at others.  They had a quality he called acceptance of self and others, by which he meant that these people would be more likely to take you as you are than try to change you into what they thought you should be.  This same acceptance applied to their attitudes towards themselves:  If some quality of theirs wasn’t harmful, they let it be, even enjoying it as a personal quirk. 

On the other hand, they were often strongly motivated to change negative qualities in themselves that could be changed.  Along with this comes spontaneity and simplicity:  They preferred being themselves rather than being pretentious or artificial.  In fact, for all their nonconformity, he found that they tended to be conventional on the surface, just where less self-actualizing nonconformists tend to be the most dramatic.

Further, they had a sense of humility and respect towards others -- something Maslow also called democratic values -- meaning that they were open to ethnic and individual variety, even treasuring it.  They had a quality Maslow called human kinship or Gemeinschaftsgefühl -- social interest, compassion, humanity.  And this was accompanied by a strong ethics, which was spiritual but seldom conventionally religious in nature.

List of 12 Characteristics shared by people who are self-actualized. Note: not all self-actualized persons show all these characteristics.

1. Perceive reality accurately. Not defensive in their perceptions of the world
2. An acceptance of themselves, others, and nature. The AA Serenity prayer. Acceptance not same as happiness.
3. Spontaneity, simplicity, & naturalness. Do not live programmed lives.
4. Problem-centered. Possibly the most important characteristic. SAs have a sense of mission to which they dedicate their lives. Einstein once said "the man who regards his life as meaningless is not merely unhappy, but hardly fit for life".
5. Like privacy & detachment. Enjoy being alone; can reflect on events.
6. Freshness of appreciation. Don't take life for granted.
7. Mystic or peak experiences. A peak experience is a moment of intense ecstasy, similar to a religious or mystical experience, during which the self is transcended. More currently, Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi developed the term "flow experience" to describe times when people become so totally involved in what they are doing that they forget all sense of time and awareness of self.
8. Social Interest. Similar to Adler.
9. Profound interpersonal relationships. SAs tend to attract admirers or disciples.  

10. Democratic character structure. SAs display little racial, religious, or social prejudice.
  
11. Creative. Especially in managing their lives.
12. Resistance to Enculturation - SAs are autonomous, independent and self-sufficient.