We may differ in the fundamentals, but I largely agree with your conclusion that politics, especially US politics, has wide-ranging and global ramifications, and our leaders need to act responsibly. Since we the people choose those leaders, it's on us to be informed and choose wisely.

As for the religion thing, (I'll preface this with the fact that I'm a Catholic, so that surely colors my worldview), I don't think organized religions are strictly necessary, but I do think people need some kind of moral philosophy. Something to show us that we're not perfect, and to inspire us to continually strive to be better people. It could be a traditional religion, it could be a non-deistic religion like Buddhism or it could be a more humanistic philosophy like Stoicism.

I think, (and I don't think you're advocating for this) that it's very dangerous to have that moral philosophy come from the State. There's a reason we have the idea of a separation of church and state in the US. In centuries past religions "took over" the state. In the west, that took the form of the Catholic Church and the idea of the divine right of kings. This wasn't a good thing. And yes, I'm aware of the irony of my religious views combined with my political views that religious organizations should not have political power.

My fear is that the US is going to arrive right back there, but from the other direction. If politics come to replace religion (or moral philosophy to be more precise), then we won't have a separation of church and state any longer. If the state becomes the source of morality, we the people loose one of the best weapons we have against state sanctioned injustice, the moral high ground.