I always saw it as a crutch for those who can't cope with the cruel harshities of life and need to affix meaning and reason to the randomness we live in.

Program libraries are for people who can't code themselves

Operating systems are for people who can operate their system themselves

Thought frameworks and books are for people who can't think and figure out stuff themselves.

We have limited time and capital, so we create abstractions and frameworks and follow them so we can build further. Otherwise, we would still be trying to make tools out of stone because every person had to figure it out for themselves. This is a huge part of what makes humans different from animals like birds and fish.

Averroes agrees but recognizes the vast majority of us simply lack the time, resources, and - primarily - capability to acquire the level of demonstrative proofs which grounds understanding hence the necessity of rhetoric and those brilliant enough to do to lead.

It takes a lot of reading and self interpretation of texts, which to me is "figuring life out themselves."

In the context of Christianity, i don't think you can say anyone is ordered around by religious leaders anymore - we live in a thoroughly secular society, and people know they can just walk away if they don't like what a priest/pastor is saying (Or find a different one).

Can't really speak for the other religious in that regard.

But maybe you can see that discerning between "which leader do i listen to" is an act of figuring life out by yourself.