Does "as" here refer to "because it happens at the same time that"?

Context:

Since the nineteenth century, it has been widely assumed that the spread of
industrialized society would spell the end of religion. Marx, Freud, and Weber - along with innumerable anthropologists, sociologists, historians, and psychologists influenced by their work - expected religious belief to wither in the light of modernity. It has not come to pass. Religion remains one of the most important aspects of human life in the twenty-first century. While most developed societies have grown predominantly secular, with the curious exception of the United States, orthodox religion is in florid bloom throughout the developing world. In fact, humanity seems to be growing proportionally more religious, as prosperous, nonreligious people have the fewest babies. When one considers the rise of Islamism throughout the Muslim world, the explosive spread of Pentecostalism throughout Africa, and the anomalous piety of the United States, it becomes clear that religion will have geopolitical consequences for a long time to come.