Agreed with most of this, but...

I think the facade of successful argument is absolutely crucial for religious people to maintain the pretense that they are actually smarter than atheists.

Very few of the religious people I know attempt to frame themselves as smarter than atheists (nor as smarter than members of other religions). Rather, they attempt to frame themselves as more moral than atheists. (Although the constraints on discourse usually obligate them to do so very indirectly.)

That said, the facade of successful argument is admittedly crucial to avoid being framed as dumber than atheists. Which isn't the same thing at all.