is Buddhism is religion?

In a religion, the main characteristic is that
there is a Creator God. But in Buddhism there is
no Creator God. In that sense Buddhism is not a
religion. The devout followers of all religions in
the world believe that there is a substance (permanent
entity) called atman or soul. But in Buddhism
there is no permanent entity called soul.
In that sense too Buddhism is not a religion. On
the contrary, in religion there should be some
organized institutions like churches and temples
and there are also some mediators such as
reverend fathers, monks and nuns to conduct
pujas and prayers etc. On this ground we can say
that in Buddhism too there are such institutions,
monks and nuns.
Simply because there are institutions, monks,
nuns and some sort of performances and offerings
and some pujas for the worldly pleasure of
the followers, one cannot say that Buddhism is also a religion. As there are no
major characteristics of religion in Buddhism, it is not a religion. Some say that
it is a philosophy. But it is neither a sheer philosophy. Of course in Buddhism
too, there is epistemology, psychology, metaphysics, logic and ethics, which
consists in a philosophy. But I should say that it is neither a religion nor a philosophy.
But it is a way of life which could be applied in our daily life. To be
exact, this way is nothing but practising and developing one's mind through
meditation.............