The point of all religion is power.
Not exactly...Well, not ALL of them anyway.
Generally Fundamental Evangelical Christians teach humility and service to others and subscribe to the view that others are more important than me. That's exactly opposite to what you claim "ALL" religion is.
Quit focusing on the supposed virtues that are "extolled" and look at things which are fundamentally more important than surface teachings.
Surface teachings... Sir, I believe you are *confused* about the level of the teacher being quoted. This was a quote from THE teacher, head honcho, primary authority etc. Others may assume to speak for him, but if what they do or say conflicts with what HE did or said, they don't represent Him accurately. HE is teaching that if you want to be first, you must serve others. What's more HE demonstrated this by taking on the role of a servant multiple times, and it is His example we look too. So if somebody is telling you to submit to them and their teaching they are NOT students of or followers of this same teacher.
1. Look at the power-structure within the group organization. Typically each church or congregation has a few leader which tells everyone else what to believe, how to behave and promotes a very specific culture. This is structure is all about power and dominance. It is not egalitarian.
That may be typical, but I can assure you it is NOT universal. The person who you would consider to be "in charge" in the church (Head Pastor/Elder) I go to is often heard to say "Don't take MY word for it! Go figure out what it means to you on your own. I want you to be INDEPENDANT seekers of truth!" Which is not what you are describing. This person does teach, but the students are expected to be independently looking at things themselves and making up their own minds not just swallowing the opinions of the teacher.
2. Look at what a person has to believe about themselves in order to be a Fundamental Evangelical Christian. The fundamental premise is that we are inherently tainted by sin. This is a direct attack on the self-esteem of the individual in order to dominate how they think, reason, and move through the world. You are fed a story about how bad you are and how much you must be saved. This is tremendously about thought-control. Power.
I really don't agree with you on this part. Where sin is indeed inborn and we earn punishment for sin, the story does NOT end there. You also misunderstand the means of salvation to be somehow feeling sorry enough or do enough good to meet some kind of standard. This is incorrect thinking, which is inconsistent with both the historical tenants of Christianity and with the declarations of the Apostle Paul who said: "The wages of sin is death" (you got that part, but you miss the next part) "But the free gift of God is Eternal life though Jesus Christ our lord." So salvation is not earned, it is free. And something given for free does not require the receiver to pay by word, deed or even cash to receive it so it cannot be about what you claim, control or power.
Further, this free gift which comes at no cost to me and you was actually purchased for us at GREAT cost. Legally, death is the required payment for sin, any sin, so the free gift being offered cost the purchaser death, and not just any death, but the death of the sinless. What would motivate someone to die for me? After all, I am a sinner, worthy of death.
Which leads me to my objection to your "self esteem" statement. What kind of value must I have if someone was willing to pay such a high price for me? You see, it's like I was a slave, old and weary, having nothing left and somebody comes up to my owner and offers to trade for my freedom. I know I'm worthless, but how does that slave feel when this somebody offers to become a slave and take my place? That's not a blow to one's self esteem. Neither is Christianity a blow to self esteem. Somebody paid MY debt for me, they must care about me! How would that make YOU feel? Bad about yourself? I don't think so.
The focus on the virtues is a distraction in order to infect you with a debilitating self-belief and instill a willingness to participate in the herd of followers.
This is a common misconception. There is no "focus on virtue". I have NO virtue of my own to offer, nor can I conger up enough virtue by doing good things to be worthy of more than just death. "All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one." You and I are both part of the all. We cannot do anything to become worth of the previously mentioned free gift we just have to accept it. The Apostle Pal put it this way: "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." It's not about trying to be good, or doing the right things, it's about the acceptance of the free gift so I don't get what I've ALREADY earned by my sin (which is death as you will recall from before).
As I 've sad before, free is free, and that precludes this idea of yours that all churches/religion is about power. Fundamental Evangelical Christians (which is not a denomination or a church but a description of what is believed) is therefor NOT what you claim all religion is.