Let's compare and contrast the Animal Mind and the Spirit Mind to see if religion is driven by animalistic desire or by Spirit consciousness.  The Animal Mind is driven by the fear of punishment and is motivated by the expectation of reward.  It performs a task to get a reward, a blessing or a treat.  The Animal Mind cannot comprehend the value of connecting to the Creator as an end in and of itself.  So it performs good deeds to get rewards, rather than having as its purpose to feel the connection to creation and Creator.  The Animal Mind asks, "What will I get from this connection?  What's in it for me?"  It fails to see that connection to Source is connection to self and also the bridge to inner peace.
 
The Animal Mind can typically be recognized by its instinctive desire to survive and to flourish by means of domination and even destruction.  Instinct justifies pushing a sibling away so that it might receive the best nourishment and create the most favorable odds for survival for itself, even if a brother is excluded, starves and dies. 
 
The Spirit Mind is different from the Animal Mind.  The Spirit Mind is not driven by the need to survive as it is aware of its eternal essence.  The Spirit Mind senses that we are eternal spirits having a temporary experience in earthly expression.  The Spirit Mind is secure in its divine nature and does not express insecurity by means of domination.  The mature and secure wield and wear their power lightly.  The Spirit Mind celebrates dominion, which is a shared power, as opposed to domination.
 
In ancient Rosicrucian philosophy, the character called Lucifer was representative of the intellectual mind without the illumination of the Spirit Mind.  Intellect can imagine harnessing power and then creating a bomb, establishing domination and threatening human destruction.  However, it requires the Spirit Mind to envision harnessing power and then using it to spread love, create unity and increase peace.
 
The Animal Mind desires to relegate the Christ to a specific person or single religion.  However, the Christ Consciousness will not be subjugated by animalistic limitation.  Centuries before Jesus arrived, philosophers spoke of the Mind of Christ and the necessity of putting on this mind.  When they referred to the Mind of Christ they did so in contrast to the Animal Mind.  They held that putting on the Mind of Christ was essential to mankind's realization of peace.