It seems obvious to me that human beings have a deep seated need for spirituality. For centuries, religion filled that role, giving people a common purpose and a shared belief system. In America, religion was the backbone of the culture. Keeping a community tied together in countless unseen ways. We were taught that rugged individualism was the highest ideal and then the internet came along and made it possible to finally be alone.
We got rid of religion but didn’t replace it with anything.