Does Religion divide us?

I had posted an earlier topic about atheism but it got entangled into the topic of one religion against another.
Does anyone think that the world might be a better place without religion? Millions (billions) of people following some one unknown and some even wanting to eradicate people who do not follow their beliefs. If all religions teach the same thing, we should all be living harmoniously- but are we?
Countries are less divided nowadays by geographical boundaries and more by the religion they follow. We are welcomed or shoved out of countries by the religious identity in so many countries. Leaders of countries try to buy our votes based on religious rhetoric because they know that is what strikes a chord with the masses. Every religion has its faults (some more than others) but the belief in something so unknown is scary when it can lead to killing people.

I often wonder if religion did not exist, would that make the planet more conciliatory towards each other? Or would we find something else to fight about? Power corrupts people- is it this power which people use the disguise of religion for to attack other countries? Would leaders look for something else to divide us by if religion was not there.
The answer is probably yes but at the least we should try to eliminate religion from that list of things to divide us.

I often ask people if we can truly be under one religious umbrella and I often hear that their religion is supreme and if anything should be the one religion to take over the world. See the many religious institutions which serve not the poor but only the poor from their own religion.

Information would be the key- the more i read and watch videos about religion, the more I move away from that. Is it a wonder that the poorest countries are also the most religious or is it a fact that the most religious countries are the poorest? They can easily be taken advantage of by people who want to be in power.

We have to start somewhere- we have to enlighten the world that there is no need for us to be divided by religion. I mentioned this in my other post- my favorite line about religion is " A blind man leading millions and billions of people wearing a blindfold".

Thoughts- its frustrating me that in this day and age of information, we still get beguiled by religious leaders and hate people of our race- the human race.