As for dropping out of other religious communities, well, they're the quintessential bad guys, right? Not only do they believe in all kinds of unsubstantiated woo, they suck you into a dense network of personal relationships -- which we at Less Wrong want earnestly to re-create, just, you know, without any of the religion stuff.

Churches have art. I like art.

There is a meme on Less Wrong, though, that rationalist communities are not just better-suited to the unique needs of rationalists, but also better in general...back off of your pleasurable belief that rationality is better than other belief systems.

I think "better in general" is a stand in for a lot of specific things that can be better or worse. I shouldn't expect one action to help according to every metric.

...if your answer to the challenges of life is to self-medicate, you're taking on a whole lot more risk than the present maturity of the discipline of rationality would seem to warrant.

Rationality, the gateway drug.

...quitting religion offer excellent rewards now, but may involve heavy costs down the road.

Words fail me.