Religion does not lead people or cause them to be good any more than meditation does. While religions may support and help people to maintain a good life, they may also do just the opposite.
It is true, I think, that religion can support the benevolent tendencies innate in humans. However, religions are equally capable of supporting malevolence and separation. There are many situations where religion validates and gives permission to the human tendency toward suffering and away from benevolence.
Religion typically is an expression of the innate and natural inclinations of people. The inclinations are innate and already part of who we are. Religion may offer a way of expressing those inclinations, but not always.
Religion has offered me ways of expressing what was already present in my human nature. It added nothing. I was born with all I really needed.