Does religion as such lead to enmity and violence?

Many are firmly convinced that religions are the greatest obstacle to peaceful and prosperous coexistence among people.
I do not think the religions as such are the problem. In my opinion, the greatest obstacle are the "Coalitional intuitions" or "tribal instincts", i.e. the mental differentiation deeply rooted in our minds: WE (the good and pure ones), vs. THEM (the bad/impure ones).

Some have posed the question whether these "tribal instincts" are 'hardwired' or not. However one answers this question, the fact is that they are ubiquitous, whether latent or manifest; that they can be suppressed or domesticated but not eradicated; that they can easily be triggered even on trivial occasions, and then often do great damage.

The thesis is: Shiites and Sunnis (to name but one current example) could live peacefully together if they were only separated by their different faiths ; if there were not the tribal instincts that are hijacked by the respective faiths.

That is why it is so important not to give these instincts any room, why we have to constantly monitor them, to expose their toxic effects wherever they appear.

If the tribal instincts are contained and held at bay, people with different religions can live peacefully side by side