I know one of the guys that this statistic is describing. He basically made no meaningful connections after college despite living in a few different big cities. He got into Jordan Peterson and "got more religious". Weirdly, he actually isn't interested in going to any churches. Anyways, he's a full on fascist now and I cut off contact.

Not saying you don't have a point. But a good church is actually a great 3rd place. When I was growing up most of my parents friends were from church. They hung out all the time outside of church. I remember going to watch parties for Star Trek DS9 and voyager with their church friends. Even all these years later they are still good friends with people they met there but that moved away.

I never believed in any of the religious part of it. I was a closet atheist from about 1st grade when I first heard the term. But I appreciated the social aspect of the (thankfully not fire and brimstone) church I grew up in. I went to church nearly every Sunday all the way through high school just to see my friends.

That social third place aspect is the only thing I miss as an atheist with few third places.

I'd be curious about how many of those "very religious" young men even attend church. Being told your hatred is righteous and part of an army trying to restore your rightful place at the top of society is a lot more fun than listening to some guy talk every Sunday or going out to volunteer at a soup kitchen.