Is religion based on intolerance?

I may kick myself later for writing about religion and politics, but here goes!

Yesterday I posted this to my Facebook wall:

saw this in a Washington Post Article "DC protesters denounce gay marriage": by the organizing pastor to the protesters "I am appointing you to take the word far and wide and speak up for Jesus." So, he's got a pipeline to Jesus' opinions on same-sex marriage? Didn't Jesus espouse love and tolerance?

I got the typical, supportive responses I expected from friends and family, but I also got a response I wasn't expecting at all from a family friend. He said "all religion is based on intolerance." While that's certainly not stated out front in the bullet points, I suppose this statement is basically right. In its most basic form religion was invented to answer the question of why the world is the way it is. Most religions seem to take the stance that "we've got it right and you've got it wrong", with little room for accepting the differences or admission that maybe they're both wrong.

I came to the conclusion years ago that most of the world's ills were perpetrated in the name of religion and concluded that I didn't want any part of that. A religious person says that there is a god; an atheist says there is no god; an agnostic says he just doesn't know. I consider myself an apathist; I just don't care. A person doesn't need religion to have morals. When I'm forced to label myself I actually consider myself a secular humanist, holding the idea that reason, ethics, and justice can serve as the basis of moral reflection and decision-making.

A friend of mine liked to say that religion was invented by the devil as a way of dividing mankind. I believe that religion was a human invention, but it has achieved the same result.