I fall more in the philosophical camp than the sociological camp with regards to religion, as I use the term to describe a subject of thought rather than a cult

I fall more in the philosophical camp than the sociological camp with regards to religion, as I use the term to describe a subject of thought rather than a cultural institution, which is how your sociologists seem to be characterizing it. I'm not sure that your linguistic argument holds in this case, because we're actually discussing the specifics of what "religion" means and so we can't appeal to standard usage. I, for instance, wouldn't call someone's personal beliefs on God a "religion" any more than I would call someone's personal beliefs on mental illness a "psychology" or their views on continental drift a "geography". In my mind, it just doesn't make sense for someone to possess a subject of thought. If religion requires active participation in a community, then the existence of hermits who feel drawn to separate themselves from society to focus more on God seems to be a strong enough counterpoint that there's more going on. Like you say, there's disagreement about the term, but I'm just pointing out that this study only seems to make sense in a purely social way. People in these nine countries aren't going to stop thinking about God, death or any of the other usual subjects of religious materials, so I think calling for the extinction of religion is a bit premature.