Religion was invented when the first conman met the first fool.
Market Twain

and power...

I think there are too many varied reasons that people use religion or are used by it to explain simply.

Religion was initially begun to teach people how to behave to each other. That very quickly accelerated into a way to control a large group of people.

I would say it is pretty much the same as what is the purpose of life. It is whatever you make of it and is different for each unique individual.

Control.

Simply put, religion is a business whose only purpose is provide employment for the clergy and support staff..

Were it not for the government sanctioned tax breaks I believe religion would go out of business very quickly.

In my opinion religious institutions should be taxed just like any other business.

Religion does not offer any meaningful education; religion is the perpetuation of a gross lie upon one's fellow human.

It's just another way of exploiting the natural fear of the unknown. For the leaders own lust for power.

What you describe is called philosophy.

Religion is merely supernatural philosophy.

If you wish to make up your own gobbildygook and even use it as a method to live by, by all means do so. For others who are wise to the usage of religion your chances of convincing them will be minimal ?

In a word, CONTROL

I think the truest purpose - was convincing men to die willingly in warfare. The promise of a glorious afterlife was an effective incentive.

Religion was supposed to be an organized way to know god. The whole conformity thing was a way to keep people from being wild. Look at prisons, how they find Jesus and then become more moral. But religion CAN serve a good purpose, for people who lack organization in their lives. People aren't going to want to go to work and be a cog in the machine, if they know they are just putting a roof over their heads and it's not going to end. Being told if you suck it up while you're down here, you will be rewarded later, because God likes to see you suffer, was a way to keep the masses working for the elites.

The discipline you are trying to describe is called philosophy with strong emphasis on ethics. In science a PhD means Doctor in Philosophy. Philosophy and science has always been interlinked. Buddhism is considered atheist being more philosophy (self-aware) than religion. The Japanese are considered atheist because Shinto is focused on nature rather than a single deity.
When a supreme being emerges and is recognized as the head of a philosophical thinking, it becomes a religion, ceases to be objective hence it becomes a way to control the weak minded masses.

As far as I can see ...to create war and division .

Send me 10% of your income and I will tell you.. you just have to "Believe" and have "faith".. trust me.. ??

It's how the first athiests controlled the gullible.

Who knows? Religion came to be from an animal on this planet called a human being. Just knowing that gives me plenty reason to believe it's originality was self centered.

It's sauve for the original authors.

To assign credit or blame to/for events that could not yet be explained by science that was commonly understood. Or that people choose to be willfully ignorant of.

Why is the sky blue? God made it that way.
Why? God works in mysterious ways

And then, of course, power and control.

It appears to me religion has served many purposes at different points in history, in diifferent cultures. It seems to have evolved as a mechanism for power, control, and in some cases, money.

Control.

To delude, divide, confuse, and control.

The concept of “Gods” began as an attempt to explain the unexplainable. As beliefs deepened and became entrenched, kings and other elevated men leverage these “beliefs” to control the gullible

Answer = So you don't feel small!