Institutionalised religion as a support for unconscious living

My version of the world goes like this. The majority of humanity lives unconsciously, driven by motives they are only dimly aware of that lead to the insanity of our daily lives where we search for peace, contentment and tranquility as we create war, dissatisfaction and dis-ease. A tiny minority of people have begun to be aware of the contradictions they llive and deal in every day, and to observe these contradictions in an attempt to discover the real, as opposed to the rhetoric, and to draw closer to some kind iof intergration of the seemingly warring elements of the self. A third even tinier minority have attained self knowledge, and live effortlessly and truly without mistaking the details of their "life" for their real life. This being my world view, it brings me to a chicken and egg question. Does people's collective unconsciousness manifest institutions which are expressions of this unconsciousness, or do these institutions have a life of their own which helps create and maintain the unconsciousness that I witness in people who define themselves as Jewish, Christian, Moslem or Hindu, for example. To be continued...