@badams (Rewritten this 4 times now :D)
Throughout history, there are numerous examples of how religion has been weaponised, or utilised as a tool for control (opiate of the masses etc.).
But, it's not mass/organised faith/belief that is typically the issue,
it's those in control.

@badams Many religions have teachings of empathy, acceptance etc.
And yet you'll find some asshole picks out 4+ parts about violence, and 3 bits about "offenders",
and uses those as reasoning to do something nasty.
The worst part is ...
... the majority will permit it.

@badams Politics is no different.
Parties.
Alignments.
Societal values (of their choosing!).
Businesses do similar - mega-corps pushing their own preferences/perspectives etc.
The root of all evil is not money, nor religion, nor politics
(not even lawyers ;)).
It's assholes.

@badams And I'm struggling to think of a "modern" society that doesn't have them, nor permit them power.
Which, when you consider historical examples,
suggests (again) that the issue isn't religion et-al,
it's people.
Human nature itself seems to produce prize pricks.