If God hated religion, why did he give one to Israel? Is not religion a system of faith and worship? Are we not called to have faith and worship God? By definition then we have a religion.
Religion does not automatically mean man-made. If you say, I have no religion, I'm a Christian..will that make sense to anyone in the world?
I'm just a bit confused by this or perhaps by your definition of the word.
James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
It is not religion that is bad..it is how we practice our religion.
I think what he means by religion is organized religion and I agree with him. True Christianity has never been an organized religion and never will be. It started with a homeless man named Jesus who was kicked out of organized buildings! So were his followers! :)