The sole purpose of religion is and always has been to control large masses of people.
There has never been any other purpose for religion. Take people's minds, take their labor, take their shekels. That's all it ever was for, a tyranny and a con so the worthless parasites incapable of making anything useful can leech off the masses and elevate themselves above their hosts.
Christians are especially guilty of this. Revelation says that God hates the heirarchical, pastoral grift model, calling it, 'The deeds of the oppressors of the people, which thing I hate.'