What about religion?

I'll start with the standard answer: Everything here is ego-made by default, and supports ego by default. But everything here can be utilized by Spirit, if offered willingly.

The one advantage religion has (as does science) is that it purports to be searching for and/or proclaiming truth. Any search for truth will ultimately succeed, because truth is all that exists.

So the question then becomes: Is religion helping or hindering? And the answer is, depends on how the individual is using it.

Most religious practices and traditions are obviously ego-based. Sermons, talks, posts, callings, offices, priesthoods, clergy, etc. all offer wonderful opportunities to 'serve' while still inflating the sense of separate self.

But in every religious faction you can find individuals who are honestly using their religion as a spiritual path. These individuals will not be obvious, because they're not going to be showy and ostentatious. In discussions about how 'true' their religion is, these individuals will become strangely quiet, recognizing that no one organization has all the answers for every separate individual.

One word of caution about religion: the ego offers several counterfeits for the Peace of God, and one of these is the peace of conformity. It feels good to be part of a group, to go someplace each week where people know your name and accept you as an individual. If your religion seems to offer peace, you need to ask if this peace comes from the teachings or from the culture.