they're getting out of religion?

1) Does "they're getting out of religion" mean "they're getting from religion"?
2) Does "and certainly the best and most esoteric things" mean "and (I also knew) the best and most esoteric things about religious people"?

Context:

So I just found myself well positioned to respond because I'd been reading the literature for long enough, I knew what Islam was and I didn't have to get up to speed the way most people did in this country. And I also knew that most of what people think they're getting out of religion, and certainly the best and most esoteric things, like altered states of consciousness and unconditional love and some of the rarified psychology that you get from the best of religious literature, that can be had without presupposing anything on insufficient evidence. You don't have to believe things on faith in order to go into the laboratory of your own life and see what the consequences are of
using your attention in different ways.