The author and his book reviewer have made some very good points, yet they have missed one very obvious and central issue:  Idolatry is NOT a religion.  It is based on false belief.  Not so religion.

Until less than a hundred years ago, before there were vaccines and antibiotics, people who got ill and were in danger of death often had near-death experiences that for the most part included an experience of God's Love, an experience so profound it changed their lives.  So for many people God was not something they were told they must believe, but something they knew first hand. 

Also, modern consumerism is more like an addiction.  
Today the market economy has lost all its checks and balances and has become  unbounded greed--and greed is called a mortal sin in the Bible because it hurts everyone--individuals and the community--and today is threatening Creation.