Fear Behind Religion?

I feel as though college is much better for me than high school was. I've always been an outside-the-box kind of thinker, and I feel like Loyola has helped expand my mind, while the Catholic high school I attended tried to shove all of us into the conservative, religious mold they had created. I never really understood why there's such reluctance to doubt and question; some of my teachers even told us that doubting is a sin. This didn't sit right with me because humans are naturally curious. Why can we test the limits of math and science, but religion is untouchable? The more I thought about it, the more I came to suspect that this refusal is based on fear. Religion gives people something to hold on to; it can give people meaning in their lives. The thought that there may be nothing "out there" and that we're just a small speck in the universe can definitely be unsettling. It can turn people's worlds upside down because they have put so much faith and have structured so much of their lives and identities around the concept that God exists. People don't even want to explore the grounds for their own beliefs. I've come across so many people who don't even know why they follow the religion they follow; they were simply raised that way and aren't willing to try and break away from the path that's been set out for them. I don't mean to sound arrogant or self-righteous, but I almost feel bad for these people. Our world can be so much more than the one society tries to shove down our throats. I would hate to live in the reality completely constructed by religion because in a sense, it strips away our imagination and ability to explore.