To clarify my previous post, and to answer yours, Joined: The Bible does mention religion several times (James 1:27, for example, which states that "true
religion and undefiled is this"). Also, define religion for me.
Taking my cue from theologian Richard Watson, no one is exactly sure what the etymology of "religion" is. It could be from "religare," how we are bound to God, or "relegare," how we relate to God. Either way, it does not have the modern connotations that many Americans give it.
Therefore, "religion" is not evil, "false" religion is evil.
it's from religare, but not about being joined to God. Religio, religionis means "a duty" or "an obligation" - in the context of the Roman religion this describes, it's something like "Go make sacrifice X on the third day before the Kalends of March" or "Don't eat that. Ever."