Is 'religion' an arrogant attempt to harness the power of God for selfish reasons?

Religion is a natural result of the limitations of human intelligence and consciousness. It has been a tool for governments to instill unity and fear so they can rule people. In a way, religion makes civilization possible because it gathers people together. It is a self serving system since the power of God resides in every mentally capable language speaking human being in the form of intelligent consciousness and it certainly takes advantage of that resource. However, in taking advantage of it, the system also gives power back to the individual and in some ways can lead to an evolution into something greater than itself. So in other words, yes religion is a self serving system that reflects the selfish endeavors of an imperfect humanity, however at the same time, religion gives the opportunity for humanity to realize its imperfections so that it can eventually evolve and render itself obsolete.