I've been using No State Religion to not piss off neighbors

[stormwriter]

In the early game, i'm fine with a state religion and spreading it, but mid-game i find the other civs getting too pissed at me. Almost all of them say that i've fell under a heathen religion, and it gives me -3 or -4. So, as soon as i switch to No State Religion, they're all happy with me - for the rest of the game it seems!
I hate war, so this seems like a great solution for pacifists that want to be left alone.
The only thing that pisses them off now is when i trade with their enemies.
Also, a good tip i noticed is that if you had built the special shrine with the Great Prophet, even though you aren't using a State Religion, as long as you have the little religion icon in the city, you still get the 1 gold! That's cool.

[joncnunn]

The down sides of no state religion are:

1. Conversely, no plus points for sharing the same religion.

2. Every religious civ except for Free Religion does no good without a state religion.

[OzzyKP]

Yea, the religious civics are some of the best. Plus religion gives you culture.

[Commy]

Pacifism gives +100% Great People growth...expensive for military units, but has no upkeep...

In the early game, spread the religion as much as possible to everyone on the same continent...if everyone on your continent is your religion, all is well...

The religion doesn't even have to be one you founded...just make it one that everyone on your continent will adopt...

Even if civs on other continents have different religions, you will still hopefully have 2-4 allies that are your religion...having no state religion means no negative relations, but it also prevents super strong ones as well...

If you have 2 or 3 very good allies, and make defensive pacts with them, it is highly unlikely that a religious war will ever rise...

[LDiCesare]

In my current (monarch) game, I went no-religion early on for the same reasons. My neighbours were buddhist, hindu, christian, and confucianists. The civ which liked me best was taoist. Picking any religion would have ment war early on, decided by the ai rather than me. In particular because the religions which would have been worthwhile (hinduism and taoism here) didn't spread. Also, the religious civics are nice but they are very expensive, so I waited until I was strong enough to be able to withstand a second war front before I'd switch to a religion and this worked quite well.
I think it's a matter of how many neighbours you have and how many religions they have. If going for one religion gives you friends on one side and as many or less on another then go for it. If you founded it, spam missionaries and go for a shrine. Otherwise, staying neutral is probably the safer route.

[The diplomat]

It does depend on the game. I played a game as the Americans were I started alone with Montezuma on a continent. We both colonized about half of the continent. Montezuma founded one religion, I founded another. Without thinking about the effects on diplomacy, I made my religion my state religion and spread it to my cities and started building temples and monasteries. It wasn't long that Montezuma declared war on me and he wouldn't make peace. I got embroiled in a very long protracted war that I was not ready for. It was only when I switched to no state religion that I was able to make peace with Montezuma. I eventually switched to his state religion and he loved me for the rest of the game.

That's a case where not switching to my state religion as soon as I founded the religion would have been a good move.

[stormwriter]

Diplomat,
Yeah, that sounded like my exact game last night! WAr-mongering Montezuma to the north, taking up half the continent! I didn't seen it coming, cause i was only -1 or -2 with him, then BAMM - he attacks.
I swear over an HOUR went by of him sending a stream of horse archers to one of my cities, and EVERY TURN i had to defend my city. I must have killed 200 of his units until he FINALLY got me.
I think it doesn't matter what religion, cause i had NO state religion yesterday. It's just that Montezuma is aggressive, and if he's your neighbor - prepare for WAR.
I had one game where i had Montezuma, Napolean, and Huaya Capac as my neighbors early on, so i just quit that game. haha

[lockstep]

Originally posted by stormwriter
It's just that Montezuma is aggressive, and if he's your neighbor - prepare for WAR.

Possible exception: Montezuma converts to your state religion and finds someone else to conquer. I once managed a diplo victory with Monty voting for me (while wiping the floor with Elizabeth ).