The argument is not defensible, since we simply don't know how religion originated.

We do know how some particular religions originated, and none of them seem to have been created to control people.

For example, Christianity was originally an illegal religion, that for centuries had no resources to control people; nor can this idea of controlling people be found in early Christian writings, such as the patristic writings.

Islam seems to have originated in an effort to unite the warring tribes of Arabia and to stop the incessant low level warfare between them. While Islam did set up a state, its control is no different from any other state that was set up in the period in its use of controls.

Buddhism doesn't seem to have originated with any idea of controlling people in mind.

The other religions we don't have much information on how they originated.