What does religion do?

So I missed out on the "what is religion" debate, but I've gathered together bits and pieces from other people's blagoblogs... Here's my take:

Religion provides some functions:

1. Wish fulfillment: religion provides an answer to empirically unanswerable questions, which points to a supernatural power/realm. (i. e. an afterlife where everyone gets their just desserts, a loving all-powerful god that forgives you for your bad deeds, a "higher plan" to events that appear to be random)

2. Ethics: regardless of who "really" wrote the Scriptures of whatever cultures, they provide a commonly agreed-upon set of rules to live by, and enforce social order.

3. Culture: In a group of people who share a common religion, the same symbols and stories will be recognizable, and provide a 'bedrock' starting point for the visual arts, music, theater, and idioms in the spoken language.

Regarding the "Why We Believe" and Neanderthal articles, the idea that religion is sort of innate to human existance sounds reasonable -- I can't come up with a counter-example of a human culture that gets by without some sort of religious belief. (The idea of the symbol-free, languge-free and religion-free Neanderthal culture is interesting to imagine. I think the author speculates too much about its specifics, but it makes a good counter-example to solidify the claim that religion is part of human experience.)