> I don't think my friends are very religious, most of them anyways. I have one friend who is very religious, but most aren't.

Ok. So they probably appreciate that their thoughts are their thoughts and they are probably be more likely to be accepting of other people thinking differently.

> For example, saying that evolution is guided by some "force" in any way makes me uncomfortable.

Well... Think 'causation' or 'laws of physics'. I mean... there are SOME physical constraints (guides) on evolutionary processes, surely ;-)

> I've read that beliefs in a higher power/spiritually can be inherited to some extent and that there may be some advantages to believing. Interesting.

I think religiousity is a (partly) heritable trait (it is kinda linked to temporal lobe epilepsy / religious experiences). Aside from that... You see a significant 'nurture' component where religions tend to be found in clusters around the globe rather than being fairly randomly distributed (if individuals were making up their own mind instead of going with what was taught, for example). Of course there are exceptions... But for the most part there are clusters, yeah.

With respect to advantages to believing... Very controversial, I would say. I think someone posted something about a link between religion and self reported happiness but then I'm fairly sure there are other links (e.g., epilepsy) so hard to weigh... Hard to weigh...

If you are interested in learning about religions there are books and stuff that you can get. I've taken a course or two in religious studies at university. You learn about religions / faiths through a sociological lens, for the most part. You aren't expected to believe in what they say but you are expected to learn what they say they believe and a little about their religious practices and stuff. Pretty darned interesting...

I developed a lot of sympathy for some elements of Bhuddism, actually.