The world would be great and wonderful without religions.
The meaning of life at the biological level is 'eat, survive, reproduce'. These are the biological imperatives. But we humans also have a psychological dimension but at this level, there are no imperatives so we are free to invent our own 'meaning' to life, and that is exactly what most of us do.
sure, life is what you make of it. you can find meaning almost anywhere.
I don't think that religion has any bearing on whether life is meaningful or not.
There are hundreds of straiter paths to perfect wisdom and thus peace of mind.
It is MORE meaningful being an atheist as a) we are dealing with the truth and not some rubbish superstition controlling our lives and b) we realize that this is the only life we have so we should live it to the full every day and enjoy the journey for what it is. I like the question though as taken a little further in the search for truth, atheism can easily lead to the conclusion that life is meaningless, which is the truth, but in discovering this truth I find I can celebrate what meaning I decide to bring into my own life and I can feel good about it as I have done it for myself so it wasn't 'given' to me by some spirit in the sky.
I suggest that it is much more meaningful without religion.
Yes, absolutely. Meaning is something we create in our own minds. Before leaving Christianity, I probably would've said no, because I couldn't imagine my life without the beautiful mythology that I accepted as real. I wrote lots of songs about it. But the freedom I experienced in leaving all that behind has inspired me more than religion ever did, and I still write lots of songs!
Life is what you make it, it is your actions that give it meaning. Giving something of yourself to others, the environment, the general social good or someone in need puts that meaning in it. I would hate the idea of looking back on a life that did nothing to make the world a better place.
I think life is even more meaningful without religion. When you aren't looking forward to dying so you can meet the big guy in the sky or you think there is another life after this one you don't really value the life you have. But when you don't believe in the afterlife then you treasure the life you have more and don't look forward to dying. Ricky Gervais explained this really well in an interview with Piers Morgan.