I am not sure who the undamaged people are who are out there. Perhaps it is true that we are somehow fundamentally different than "normal" people.

I know that we have explicitly talked about creating a faith out of damaged bricks. Perhaps if we are different than "normal" people, then normal people have failed to provide for our needs.

I am quite happy to see some qualifiers placed when talking about what religion is, and would congratulate you for putting them in.

It is something you haven't touched on, but very strong left wing movements have come out of, or been lead by people coming out of religion. Think of Dorothy Day for example.

_{aspiring to genteel poverty}