I think you missed the point.
The point was to show how an intelligent person can believe in a ridiculous claim in certain circumstances and then open you to question why most religions use these circumstances.
Religious use these techniques because they work. Multi-level marketing uses similar techniques, I suspect politics too.
To forward your goals, you use what works. Where they stop working, you change your techniques to something that does. I think a lot of churches are in the process of changing their techniques.
As you become aware of how these techniques used to manipulate thinking, choices they loose their effectiveness.
Also, I'm not sure that without religion, no religion would be created. Religions are created all the time. New ones and re-hashed old ones given new life.
It also assumes there is some truth to be found that would be found. Even if true it's likely beyond the capability of most to find. In the mean time most people need something to believe in. If you don't give it to them, they'll create it for themselves.
The mind is a funny thing. If you hear some "truth" repeated over and over, consciously you may reject it but sub-consciously it can begin to affect your thinking to the point where what seem ridicules before starts to seem more reasonable. Almost like it's being programmed in and covertly becomes your own thoughts.
Folks may think they're intelligent and skeptic but that's no guarantee they are immune from this kind of subconscious influence.