they didn't take a half second to grasp why religions exist in every civilization

Ironic that the explanation for it was discarded alongside it. Memes, in the Dawkinsian sense, are incredibly useful, even vital, to society. (Insert MGS Armstrong speech here) You don't kill a meme without something to replace it, it's just as bad as killing a gene. Anything, or nothing, could grow in its place, and both are equally dangerous.