I heard, “religion” is a story wrapped around God, or our Higher Power.
When a religion becomes divisive, it is because one is stuck in that particular “story” rather than focused on the truth (God) that the story is wrapped around.

Turtles all the way down.
The same is true of us. We each have our inner soul/spirit/True Self which ultimately is connected to our Higher Power, but also wrapped with our own unique story based upon our personal life experience (or religion, the “story of me!”).

When we get stuck in “the story”, and forget about our True Selves, then there is suffering. This is also why a spiritual awakening, at least for me, felt like finding a lost hidden treasure.