Coincidentally, the Rod-Andrew Tate- Islam- religion as political statement phenomenon was the subject of today's column in the Free Press, and one of their better ones (often a low bar to clear):

https://www.thefp.com/p/embracing-god-to-own-the-libs

Rod is name-checked as someone who admires Islam because it's "self respecting" and associates it with manly lack of compromise, which lead the author to conclude that for these guys (Ahmari is another) religion isn't about religion, per se, it's just another aspect of the culture war, or as the title puts it, another way to own the libs.

It's a good column, by a real (and not own-the-libs style) Muslim.