Or conversely, it seems the non-religious tend to take Rand’s philosophy beyond the political realm and into being its own secular faith - with all the dogmatism and intransigence of any of the other secular faiths that have plagued the world for the last century - and that turns people off. It’s odd that Rand didn’t seem to like anyone in her lifetime - not Democrats, not Republicans, not Libertarians nor other 3rd partyers, both progressives and traditionalists were attacked with equal vehemence. When you declare war on the whole world, don’t be surprised if you’re left without too many allies and a whole lot of opposition.
You may be right reagrding the self sorting along religous / non-religous lines.
As to here not having many allies though, should that be the final arbiter of a thought’s legitimacy?