Religion is busy self-diluting in my view. Liberal Christianity is an excellent example. At some point the ideology becomes indistinguishable from secular humanism in anything but name. Fundamentalists have railed against this for decades, to no avail.

Even when it's not self-diluting, it's ruining whatever credibility and moral authority it once had, and as a consequence, hemorrhages young people.

Personally I don't think it's an explicitly religious impulse that's ingrained in humanity, so much as a desire to find meaning and purpose and to transcend the human condition in some way. In the modern age, religion no longer has a monopoly on that sort of thing.

@mordant You summed up what I meant by the religious impulse. It’s also a glimmer of awareness that brings deep awe and wonder, and a desire to understand nature.

I agree with your response. Yes, I think gradual changes are in store—changes for the better.