It is very much a religion. It has gods and goddesses, scripture, ritual practices, priests and monasteries. I know in the West there is some confusion, but mostly because Asian societies do not tend to make that divide.
On the other hand, Doaism is not really dogmatic, so nobody really gives a shit if you believe in this god, that god, or none at all.
I'm a Daoist. Teaching my children techniqes of meditation, which have positive influences on mental health (don't even @ me, I will flood you with peer-reviewed citations) is abuse? Teaching them the benefits of regular exercise is abuse? Teaching them to pay attention to what's going on with their bodies is abuse? Encouraging honest self-reflection is abuse?
LMAOOOOO take my upvote