The accusing focus on religion blinds us for what politicians really do. Many politicians use divisive strategies in a number of social fields in order to mobilize followers, keep people away from dealing with essential issues, and cash in with the power they gain from strategies.
Think of how they amplify, intended or not, conflicts between political parties, territories within a country, national and international interests, ethnicities, tribes, car drivers and bikers, rich and poor, the sexes, or the police and demonstrators. The more you bring this political mechanism to the surface of your mind, the less you get distracted by the subject of religion. I’ve written about this hopeless delusion before.
The unconscious, shaped by genes and culture, as a behavioral driver, is even more basic than that political mechanism.