It seems that there is no sadness so great, no tragedy so horrendous that some atheist or malcontent will not exploit it.
Religion, whether you follow a faith or not, was invariably formed, in all cases, out of respect and care for our fellow human beings.
Religion by its very nature is extremely vulnerable to exploitation but is not the evil.

Bill D beat me to it. Those are the lines of an apologist.

Religion may have formed to teach people how to get along, how to level a playing field in a given environment. They worked as long as they stayed local. But when they become regional (or larger) and industrialized (like christianity or judaism or muslim) then they are a power game and often a power grab.

SRS