Religion certainly can delude and blind people, like anything else used to avoid life (and there are a LOT of things in the world that will accomplish that in a handy fashion). However, for everyone that uses religion to escape, there're just as many that use it to become more involved and to search more deeply into their feelings and motivations and into the reality of their life.

Like most things, it all works both ways. As Thorne pointed out, it's the individual that REALLY matters.