Two faces of religion. Did it hurt you, or help you?

I think religion can be either helpful or harmful depending on how you practice it. I know many people who are in religions that don't make them happy, and I always wonder why they stay there. Is it out of fear of the afterlife? Or fear of society rejecting them when they no longer follow the religion that is accepted? My religion is a very positive thing in my life, but I've seen the same religion be very negative for people. I've also seen a religion that has caused people to do much harm to me (abusing and ostracizing me for not being of that religion) be very positive for other people who follow it in a different way. So I think it's not the religion itself that makes the difference, but how the person involved interprets and follows it. I personally believe that all religions have merit, and all religions also have problems. Many of these problems have to do with the way individuals choose to follow the religion, and many of them have to do with social rules of the time the religion came about being written into "doctrine". I think everyone should make an effort to find a religion they can be happy in, even if it's not considered socially acceptable where they live. And if what feels right to them is having no religion, then I think that is also a valid option. What matters more to me than what people believe is how they treat each other, the earth, and themselves.