My only objection to your excellent essay is that you are equating religion with theism. Yahweh and Allah hold sway in much of the world, but Buddhists, Confucianists, Taoists, and several other groups do fine with no imaginary friend.

Religion, while certainly not necessary, can be a good thing when practiced as a meditative discipline focused on virtues such as humility, patience, kindness, generosity, self-awareness, reverence for the earth, etc. It is theistic religions that promote stupidity and violence.