What if it were for some other abstract ideal? When we worship "love", it permeates our society's entire way of thinking; you have to ~find someone~, participate in romantic days (both publicly universal, like Valentine's, and private-but-expected, like anniversaries), undergo certain ceremonies; even people who deliberately choose to do none of that are aware of what they're contravening. Or when we worship "health", it changes everything we do--we're willing to change what we eat, to have our chests cut open, to revile our bodies, to fundamentally change our whole ways of being. We're willing to endure open-heart surgery because we believe it will help.
This is the same social process as religion. Some religious people have had direct contact with the spiritual--and some people have known true love or excellent health. Some never have, but pursue these rituals, these dates and diets and blessings, in the vain hope that someday they will. Some have reasoned objections, or unreasoned rejection, and some are mostly apathetic but don't go against the grain.
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Date: 8 Mar 2013 06:56 am (UTC)This is the same social process as religion. Some religious people have had direct contact with the spiritual--and some people have known true love or excellent health. Some never have, but pursue these rituals, these dates and diets and blessings, in the vain hope that someday they will. Some have reasoned objections, or unreasoned rejection, and some are mostly apathetic but don't go against the grain.