What good is religion?

Story about an old rabbi and one of his congregants, who was a soap manufacturer.

One day the two of them were out for a walk and the soap maker asked, “What good is religion? Look at all the trouble and misery of the world: still there, even after years – thousands of years -- of teaching about goodness and truth and peace; still there, after all the prayers and sermons and teachings. If religion is good and true, how can this be?”

The rabbi said nothing as they walked along. They continued on until the rabbi noticed a child playing in the gutter by the side of the road. “Look at that child,” said the rabbi. “You say that soap makes people clean, but see the dirt on that youngster! Of what good is soap? With all the soap in the world, with all these years, the child is still filthy! I wonder how effective soap is, after all?”

“But, Rabbi,” the soap maker protested, “Soap can’t do any good unless it’s used!”

“Exactly,” replied the rabbi, “Exactly!”

Source-1, Source-2