There is one thing peculiar about religious beliefs. We do not choose religion. This is thrust upon us on birth and we go on blindly believing every thing related to that. 

I do not think so. Religion  can be chosen. There are many people who are converted from Chritianity to to somr other religion

Gulshan Kumar Ajmani wrote:

There is one thing peculiar about religious beliefs. We do not choose religion. This is thrust upon us on birth and we go on blindly believing every thing related to that. 

Absolutely. That is the curse of taking birth as a human. All of us are born innocent, instinctive, free from prejudices and lies, just like any other animal. Then we are introduced to the big, bad world, given an identity and a religion. And the rest is our struggle to get out of this materialistic web, only to get further trapped.

Religion like other institutions such as marriage and family is essential to some extent. Like everything else in life it has been manipulated by all . Religion by itself without the interference of others,  does regulate lives of people who are unable to think and decide for themselves.