Religious ritual happens to be one of my particular interests, and one I studied at reasonable length in college and graduate school. Here is a definition of ritual you have likely not seen: Ritual is an act of intrinsic worthlessness from an evolutionary perspective, but which nonetheless elicits a strong dopamine response.
Take the Eucharist. I doubt any long term readers I may have will be surprised by what I am about to say: the whole thing is bullshit. God is neither in the host figuratively, nor literally. God is away on business.
But any honest Catholic who goes to Mass every Sunday FEELS something in this ceremony. They feel better, in most cases, I would think. They in any event feel they have fulfilled an obligation, met a duty. They have DONE SOMETHING.
But they have not done something in the sense of digging ten post holes in the backyard, doing 8 hours of accounting, made 25 prospecting calls, or seen three legal clients. The world is not changed in any way. There is no relic left of their having been there. There is no hole left in the air, or in the incense.
Many commentators–myself included–have noted the religious flavor of Leftist rhetoric and idealism. They work in this world, but never connect themselves with it concretely, emotionally. They connect, rather, with SYMBOLS of this world. Their God is Social Justice. Their God is the Earth. Their God is emancipation from limiting categories, which is a prison made all the worse by their refusal to think in any other way THAN rigid categories.
And just as God does not act visibly in this world–have you ever actually seen God?–their Social Justice never actually has to land anywhere. It is implied as the result of any work done by people calling themselves Social Justice Warriors, or Antifa, or whatever nonsense they choose to put on with their make-up that particular morning.
Here is my point: such “work” is inherently ritualistic. Winning an election is a ritual activity. Passing a law that has no chance of solving an actually existing problem is ritualistic. Shouting down unbelievers is ritualistic, and serves to protect the Faith.
I remember Tony Robbins–remember him?–many years ago saying, in one of his highly derivative but still somewhat useful books: show me how someone gets their sense of importance, and I’ll tell you who they are.
Can I say: show me how someone gets their dopamine hits, and I’ll tell you who they are. Was actual work done? Is the world changed in any way, and is it changed in the way it was supposed to change? Is this person living on the same planet as me, or are they wrapped in fog and mysteries only they can see or explain?
If you think about it, amorphous concepts like Social Justice exist at roughly the same level of tangibility as the Holy Spirit.
But this is the point, don’t you see? If they spoke and thought clearly, it would be possible to falsify their Gods, and most of them–being atheists to begin with–have nothing else.
As things stand, they have a faith, a ritual activity, and a Church. That’s all you need for a full blown religion.