If we don't need religion now, then we never needed it. If its a dangerous influence now, it always has been.
I'm inclined to think that's a bit simplistic.
Religion has been part of the glue that binds societies together. Maybe we don't need that today, because we have radio, television, cable, the internet, rapid travel in aircraft, rock music, etc.
It is easy to pick on the downside of religion. Many of the bad points are quite apparent, with the crusades being a particularly bad example. But perhaps there is a good side that hasn't been noticed.
Here is an interesting question for your crashfrog. Why did the industrial revolution happen? A lot of the technological, mathematical and scientific discoveries had been made earlier in other places - China for example. Why did they treat it more as a pastime, and not push it the way western europe did. Was this something peculiar about the British? Or was it christianity? Or was it protestantism?
I think the answers are not known, but there apparently are some strong hints that religion was involved.