Do we need religion to be saved? Or should we actually ask: "What is salvation?" Do we need salvation?
I will start by saying that we do need salvation. The need for salvation came because we were alienated from God. God had created us in His image from the beginning. The concept of being created in the image of God is that we were made to be like God. We were created to fellowship with God. The original plan for the creation of man was to be a being that exists in fellowship with God. But sadly, something bad happened. What was that bad thing which happened?
The enemy of God script in and deceived man. He made man to leave the glorious estate which God had prepared for Him from the beginning. What a mess! Satan messed up everything and frustrated the purpose of God for humanity. So, now man exists in another state (a state which makes him to doomed). This is why we need salvation.
How do we get this salvation? We must return back to God. We must be reconciled back to God. There is no other way in which we can get back to God than to accept the teachings of God. Religion teaches us about God. It highlights to us how we can make our lives pleasing to God. Religion is the light which points humanity back to God. So, we need religion to be saved.