"Not every religion is abusive. If were were able to function as Christ expressed (with the Golden Rule), the world's religions could be a positive force."
I think the "golden rule" applies to individuals, as it is written (do unto others as they would do unto you), because what do you do 'unto' a religion? You do things 'unto' other people.
I believe people can create a positive force. Anytime a religion gets to a certain size, it becomes bogged down with rules and becomes overly concerned with its own self-preservation. Any ideals that it started out with get lost, due in part to the need to keep control or hold sway over a larger group.
I think people following the ideals laid out in the Sermon on the Mount would definitely be a positive force, whether those people work individually, in small groups, in social service agencies, or whatever.
Attaching charity to religion often (though not always) implies a sense of obligation toward the charitable religion. It reminds me of how groups who sell expensive time-share vacation condominiums lure people with a free gift, contingent on those people sitting through their 90-minute sales pitch.