To answer Mal's comment aikido is considered by most not to be a religion, however, most people will recognize the fact that aikido was most definitely built upon religion, most specifically Shintoism and Omote-kyo, in which O-sensei was a follower of. However, the fact remains that most of the aikido practiced today, both in Japan and out, is focused on the more secular aspects of the art (i.e. martial art techniques) and not the religious ends which O-sensei "preached" about. However, I agree that when people proclaim the goal of aikido to be "to become one with the universe", and other such statements, one would be led to believe aikido is more religious in nature than not when followed to that degree.
Even though most aikido practicioners choose to practice aikido not as a religion it doesn't hurt to understand how some of the exercises one may do in the dojo have connection to or origin to certain religious beliefs and exercises. A lot of the misogi exercises fall in this category. For instance the torifune (funekogi) and furitama exercises are good examples. Here is a link over to that topic on an Aikido Journal forum thread that may interest Damion:
http://www.aikidojournal.com/forums/...=4248&start=15