Religion is basically a massive coping mechanism. People in the past lived comparably miserable lives, had no real explanation for suffering, and needed something to make their pain feel meaningful. Instead of accepting that life is mostly luck, birth conditions, geography, and random circumstance, they invented stories that made suffering feel purposeful.The worse people’s lives are, the harder they cope, which is why religion is so prevalent in poorer and more unstable regions. It gives people hope and meaning, regardless of how delusional or fictional it may be.
In "the big 26", most of the world is still a horrible place to live , so religion ain't going anywhere.