"wasn't immediately completely successful"
Yeah, that might be one way of putting it.
Societies that assume there is no higher--or objective--reality than the inside of their own heads usually end up the same way.
In a recent poll, 62 percent of the French were Roman Catholic, 26 percent said "no religion." Muslim was 6 percent (at least when the poll was taken a few years ago).
Most modern "intellectuals" and "philosophers" are as full of shit as a Christmas goose. You're welcome to name some names.