Professional golfers also satisfy points 1, 7, 8 and 10.
Belief in the elect: They believe that they are better golfers than others, and that only they are worthy of competing in the PGA Championship; lesser mortals must be relegated to less prestigious competitions and will be kept out of the clubhouse by armed security guards.
Belief that everyone who disagrees with them is a heretic: They laugh at and mock people who think that you should use a 9-iron when your ball is on the green, or that you should start off with a putter on a par-5 hole. These people are automatically assumed to be less skilled at golf than they are.
Sacred Symbols: They frequently carry around bags of golf clubs and wear special clothing; these can spark conversations with non-golfers.
Holy Script: Every two years, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews publishes a book called “The Rules of Golf”; this is accorded sacred status and anyone who refuses to follow it is expelled from the brotherhood of professional golfers in disgrace.
I maintain that insofar as we tick any of these boxes, we do so for reasons more like the reasons professional golfers tick them than the reasons the Catholic Church ticks them.
2,3,4,5,6,9 take a lot more explanation as they are unusual beliefs among secular groups, but all we can try to do is justify why we believe them. Have you tried reading the Sequences?
Professional golfers also satisfy points 1, 7, 8 and 10.
Although note that some sociologists have argued that modern sports do in fact act functionally like religions, although that claim is mainly made about the sports fans. So I’m not sure this is helpful, other than to suggest that religion is such a vague supercategory that noting that something has aspects of it just isn’t helpful.
Professional golfers also satisfy points 1, 7, 8 and 10.
Belief in the elect: They believe that they are better golfers than others, and that only they are worthy of competing in the PGA Championship; lesser mortals must be relegated to less prestigious competitions and will be kept out of the clubhouse by armed security guards.
Belief that everyone who disagrees with them is a heretic: They laugh at and mock people who think that you should use a 9-iron when your ball is on the green, or that you should start off with a putter on a par-5 hole. These people are automatically assumed to be less skilled at golf than they are.
Sacred Symbols: They frequently carry around bags of golf clubs and wear special clothing; these can spark conversations with non-golfers.
Holy Script: Every two years, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews publishes a book called “The Rules of Golf”; this is accorded sacred status and anyone who refuses to follow it is expelled from the brotherhood of professional golfers in disgrace.
I maintain that insofar as we tick any of these boxes, we do so for reasons more like the reasons professional golfers tick them than the reasons the Catholic Church ticks them.
2,3,4,5,6,9 take a lot more explanation as they are unusual beliefs among secular groups, but all we can try to do is justify why we believe them. Have you tried reading the Sequences?
Although note that some sociologists have argued that modern sports do in fact act functionally like religions, although that claim is mainly made about the sports fans. So I’m not sure this is helpful, other than to suggest that religion is such a vague supercategory that noting that something has aspects of it just isn’t helpful.
I have read the sequences, which is why I brought this up. My statements have either specific posts or specific comments in mind from the sequences.