How can religion contribute to uplifting a political situation?

The simple answer is that it cannot. Religion is the politics and system of a belief. It is impossible for one political system to help another. Belief cannot help politics much either, unless you have high integrity, or you have learned how to foresee (Numbers 12:6) which is the basis for all major beliefs. So in that religious leaders offer nothing spiritual (use of dreams and visions) there cannot be any uplift... but they pretend that they do and offer soothers as a placebo that the unknowing accept.