Religion and/or spirituality can be a force for good, both in society and in the lives of individuals. Or it can be the opposite, degenerating into superstitious claptrap like astrology or the racist and misogynistic wealth-worshiping hellscape of American evangelicalism.

Good religion leads to mindfulness, humility, kindness, curiosity, and love of truth in all its many forms. The religions that inspire that kind of growth IMO are the ones like Buddhism that don't involve the worship of a god.

There are mainline Christian congregations and denominations (like the UCC) that embrace science and reject intolerance. As a person who was never into "believing" the unbelievable, I personally found a much better fit with the Unitarian Universalists.

It is long past time for action to be taken to limit the ability of people to abuse the minds of children with such caustic creeds as you experienced in that school.