I can't help thinking organised religion was /the/ way to create a local community. Unless the state steps in and "forces" locals to gather regularly (in the way fear of god "forces" worshippers together) there's little reason for family X on road A and family Y on road B to meet, let alone shared experience for them to bond over.

Well, part of the issue is being able to find time+energy to be part of a community. With a "work/life" balance actually being a "work/children" balance in many cases, thanks to the nuclear family, it's very difficult to find time to do anything since the expectation is that you're keeping a hawk eye on your kids at all times.

Young people (or, at least, young people who don't feel the need to work 80-hour work weeks) do actually have a significant sense of community since they still have time to be active in communities. Personally, knowing that I have people I could arrange to be around on short notice who actually care about me is an incredible boost to my mental health.

I think one of the biggest missteps of modern industrial society was to disregard religion as outmoded without making any attempt to fill the psychological void it leaves. Seen in this light, atheism is clearly not interchangeable with religion. There are no weekly gatherings of atheists who praise the beauty and glory of creation. Religion is a reminder to take a step back and think about the big picture. Atheists can do that as well, of course; they just don't have much reason to do it, because atheism is not something you practice. It's not a way of life. It's just a void. And like you said, that void threatens the integrity of a community.

We need a new religion. Nothing out there right now is cutting it.

Another problem lies in the extreme pursuit of youthfulness, and the lack of respect for the elderly, the latter of which is opposite to what you find in "happy" cultures.

It creates a rather sad outlook on life.