Maybe I missed something (which is possible) but do you think God is a creation of man to help him feel better about his place in the universe?
For me personally, I believe that something similar to the symbol God was erected by mind as soon as mind realized that existence was finite. In the modern world all human groups have attempted to cope with finite consciousness, and all have employed the same mechanism: a form of conscious infinity. Pinpointing exactly when our ancestors started to do this would, in a sense, be finding the origins of religion because all religions share a similar understanding of super-nature. But since we can’t study the behaviour of early Homo (or even the australopithecines) we may never really know how this belief manifested and developed over evolutionary time. I also believe explanation and scarcity play a role in the creation of symbol God. For more: http://theadvancedapes.com/religion-and-our-evolution/
I think that religion is certainly a way to give life meaning and that that doesn't have to be a bad thing. I think religion is an attempt to try and explain what happens around us. That said I'm not religious.
That is that way I like to view it to, but I still think religion and belief has a place in society. A smaller part probably but still a part. Where I live most people are secular and consider themselves atheist/agnostic but many believe in maybe an afterlife or something like that too. I don't, but I think it is reasonable to think that and believe that.