Hi Jas,
I demoed the RRD Religion 7m last week in WA. I want to compare it to my 2011 Varial 7.

RRD is lighter on the bar than the Varial. Lithium would be heavier again.

Very stable. was only around 20 > 25 knots, can't talk about it's high wind performance.
Surged forward more than the Varial, got to the edge of the window bit quicker.

In small beach waves to worked pretty good. No problems there.

The only thing I didn't like was it's speed, to fast for me. Wouldn't take much time to get use to it though.

The Lithium would be somewhat slower, heavier on the bar than the RRD. Really not talking apples for apples. The Airush comparison would be the Varial.

For me I perfer the Varial but theres nothing wrong with the Religion.

You should be able to demo both in Perth.

I got a chance to ride the 8m and 6m 2011 Lithiums in the gorge recently. the Six meter i rode for two days in 25-45 knot winds. it did incredibly well in the gusts, turned very fast, and had surprizingly huge lift and provided soft landings. this kite has similar low end to my 7m Fuel. the only problem that i saw with that kite was its constant flutering canopy when depowered. The bar pressure is not too bad but a bit much for my taste. The 8m was about the same. i rode it in 20-30knots and it was a boosting machine. Overall both of the sizes were great for everything except unhooking... it feels okay to unhook when a bit underpowered tho.
Max