The purpose of all major world religions was to restore you to your natural state as a conscious Spiritual Being. That purpose has been forgotten and distorted to some degree or other in all of the major world religions.
Religion is a pathway to help you reconnect with your Spirituality. Too often the path has become an end in itself.
All paths are useful, at least in their unadulterated form. The true teaching of every major world religion is that you and I are One. One with each other and with All That Is. You are One with the Divine Creator because there is no “Other”. There is nothing but the Divine Creator so you are a part of the Divine Creator.
Just like the wave is part of the Ocean so you are part of the Divine Creator. You would not call the wave the ocean but it is definitely part of the ocean. There are many waves in the ocean but when you look at the ocean you don’t say “There are many waves”, instead you simply see the ocean and know that the ocean has many waves.
The same is true with Humanity. Every human being is an expression of the Divine Creator. Just like each wave is unique so you and I are unique but we are all part of the same Divine Creator. In the final analysis we are One.
The true purpose of all true religions is to eradicate the sense of separation and restore us to the state of “Holyness” or “Wholeness”.
The true purpose of all true religions or pathways is to restore the conscious state of Oneness.
When religion becomes focused on dogma and focusing on the path more than the goal then religion has lost its true purpose.