This made me sad. I don't agree with your opinion on religion, but I do agree with your take on school. School is way harder than it should be, way too structured, and astronomically overrated by adults and students alike. It has its place, as well as definite benefits, but as a whole it's failing on a nation-wide scale in regards to educating people.
On a different note, you obviously don't think false hope is better than no hope, so my question is where do you think hope should come from?
Keep writing! Emotion poured off this piece in buckets. But also, no pressure.