I agree with everything you just said headshake!! Absolutly. Spot on!
I have contemplated my existance for as long as I can remember. I have always been fascinated with History, and Archaeology, and have searched for over 50 years for the reasons why we are here.
I have been a Baptist, and a Catholic and back to Baptist again. I studied every book I could get my hands on concerning prophesies, and Biblical facts.
I eventually came to the conclusion that the worlds religions are a bunch of crap. I am no Religion now!
I love my Creator, and I believe there is a Jesus Christ so dont get me wrong.
I am deffinetly not atheist because I know I have a soul. My soul lets me know by guilt or pleasure if I am on the right path.
Alot of Religions use the wrath of God to manipulate their followers and I dispise this endlessly. Religion is like you say; " a business".
I might add that the only exception to this is the Spiritual path that Native American's follow.
To me their religion is based on Spirituality. No strings. No tithes. No pressure. No BS. I feel it is better to be Spiritual, than to be religious. So I follow the Red Road.

I have delved into the subject of NDE's. (Near Death Experience) and found that alot of people have returned and shared there experiences of a God that has a love for everyone so vast, so immence, and so powerful that it cannot be described into mere mortal words.
The more I read about NDE's, the more my own beliefs about my soul are realized. No Religion has ever done this for me. All they do is make you feel like shit and take your money. IMHO.