Religion is important because it deals with the most important questions like 'What is the purpose of life?', 'Why am I here?' 'Is there a God and if so what is He like? etc. And because it is super important you often get zealous people who often drive other people crazy! People act weird about religion because their whole purpose for living is based on their beliefs, be they flawed or not. I hope that helps. I wish I could find you a good hand book on world religions for you. I would give to you and say 'read it carefully'. Why? Because if you look hard enough you will notice conflicts between religions. But I got the feeling you instinctively knew that! Can I give some advice? Go where the evidence leads rather than what feels good, because feelings can be deceptive. I kind of agree with you a little bit: Religion has done much to divide and hurt humanity. A true and pure religion would have to be true.