I agree that small talk is useful, especially when you first start talking about someone, you can't go to a random person and tell him or her "hey, let's talk about religion, because it's interesting".

However I also believe trying to move the conversation from small, not really interesting things, to more complex subjects, is a good idea, and the sooner, the better.

Anyway, I understand your point of view, thank you very much for your comment :)