Honors - Is religion darkness or light?

In Chapter 4 of Life of Pi, Pi says he knows that "zoos are no longer in people's good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both" (Martel 19).

When Pi describes his first meeting with Satish Kumar, the biology teacher at Petit Seminaire, they have the following exchange:

"Religion will save us," I said. Since when I could remember, religion had been very close to my heart.
"Religion?" Mr. Kumar grinned broadly. "I don't believe in religion. Religion is darkness."
Darkness? I was puzzled. I thought, Darkness is the last thing that religion is. Religion is light. Was he testing me? (Martel 27)

In a well-developed blog post of 1-2 paragraphs in length, please answer the following questions:

• Does religion provide freedom or restrict freedom?
• Is religion better characterized as darkness or light, and why?

This post should be a personal reflection on a complex idea presented by the text, so it is appropriate to use first-person pronouns. Please cite textual evidence, real-world examples, or both in your response.