I like what Christ said, but that doesn't mean I believe he was the only person who figured most of that stuff out.
I'm mainly interested in the Bible as allegory and how that pertains to human psychology and it's impact on history and culture. That's pretty much it.
As far as religion, I'm a universalist because I believe all of it is valid insofar as any mythos was and is valid because of it's influence on people and culture. That alone makes it a very real thing, even if the reality is because of the enactment of belief, not because of it's ability to be literally proven by any scientific means.
As you say, it's as powerful as people allow it to be, and that's actually more than enough power to be important, for good or worse.