Non-religious Religions.

The third-largest city in the state, on Game Day.

The ideas are very much in the news these days, drawing my already-alerted attention, so I'll stay with the topic. It's at the margins of my focus in this journal, but absolutely falls on the inside edge.

Rivalries between religions have been legendary, perhaps the mother of them all in western civilizations being the Protestant Reformation. In our times we see the emergence of a higher-order rivalry, between atheism and theism, the rivalry taking on such intensity I think of it more as anti-theism than a-theism.

In the context of the conversation it's useful to offer the observation that reference to religion is not limited to consideration of Theism. Consider these:

Sports.
Politics.
Consumerism.
Pornography.

These are the four proposed by Stephen Mattson, writing in God's Politics, a blog on the Sojourner's website.

Each of these command sizable, some might say massive, followings. The most obvious is sports.

The stadiums are their churches, the crowds their parishioners, the coaches their preachers, the athletes their Saints, the opposition their Sinners, and the referees their Satan. They dress according to custom, follow strict doctrines, attend weekly scheduled events and gatherings, and are unified through a shared belief in their savior — the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Yankees, the Boston Celtics, Real Madrid, or any other sports entity that they piously follow.

Moving to Nebraska, home of Big Red, was my first exposure to Sport as God. Or more specifically in this instance, Football as God.

Statewide hypnosis on game day, with all services shut down, every television and every radio, public and private, broadcasting play-by-play to a silent, captivated population. Pity the traveler who asks a question at the gas station, wants service at the pharmacy, is in a hurry at the fast-food joint.

To the newcomer to the state it was a wonder to behold. An Outsider to this faith and a busy life to live, I never fell under its spell. I'm sure this was one of the important reasons I never bonded with the community--statewide as it was.

Amongst the masses who follow sports, how many consider themselves atheists? How many then deride someone who is so stupid as to believe in a God of some sort?

Belief systems are belief systems. Only the focus varies.

Search crazy sports fan, then take your choice of images.