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Comment on There are 4 types of people out there. Those that are for a cause, those that are against a cause, those that don't care either way, and those that don't understand what the cause is to begin with.

ArgumentativeMonotheist@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

Pretty good showerthought, NGL. And yes, likewise about sports teams, what meaningful connection do I have with these people? Lol. I’d get it if your brother played for the team, or you had money on them winning, but if not the outcome it’s just inconsequential, right?

But then you see all these people in love with their preferred teams, crying even, and I’m like “why?”, and if this is how you feel about some strangers good at moving a ball, did you have a heart attack from happiness when you got your first kiss? Did you have to be resuscitated when you learned your wife was pregnant? Usually, from what I’ve seen, they didn’t, but they did have all these feelings for these random groups of people. 🤷

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FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Jerry Seinfeld had a bit where he says it makes no sense to root for a sports team because the players change, the strategies change, everything changes. All you’re rooting for is the uniform. And if I guy changes teams, then you liked him one team but suddenly don’t like him cause he’s wearing a different shirt. I don’t know how accurate that assessment is because I don’t care about sports

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aMockTie@piefed.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
My understanding is that these experiences with sports are very similar to the equivalent of religious experiences. Both have songs, chants, and rituals. Both provide a sense of belonging and community. Both have an in group and an out group. Both highly revere influential figures, both past and present. Both have clearly defined enemies. Both follow a regular yearly schedule, with important dates throughout the year.

Most of those attributes can also be applied to a wide variety of human interests. I would be very surprised if those who didn’t share any particular interest weren’t also confounded by the intensity of some of those engaged in that interest.

On an unrelated note, it’s good to see you again friend. It’s been a “long” time eh?

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- ArgumentativeMonotheist@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  It’s only superficial though, and completely circumstantial (I was born here so this is my team, or this is my dad’s team, idk). Sure, many people who consider themselves religious also don’t believe in anything actually and just go along with the rites and like to be part of a larger group (whatever the group is or stands for is inconsequential, I guess, just like in sports) because they’re silly people. I just couldn’t, I’m not ignorant enough not to recognise it’s completely shallow and meaningless. Like, what does it mean to be to support different teams when, in the end, we both love football? And again, I have IRL enemies such as Zionists, general imperialists, rapists, etc, because we fundamentally disagree on the basis of morality but when it comes to football how does that apply? You like football, I like football, we both like football, it just so happens that I was born in this city and you were born in yours! We don’t disagree on anything, we just want this team or this other one to win because of whims and habit. But if, for example, the average American experiences and processes belief the same way they do football teams, I guess that explains a lot, lol.
  
  And hi! 🤣
  
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  - aMockTie@piefed.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Very true! But the same could also be said of many, if not most religious people. I was born to parents who followed this religion, grew up following this religion, and therefore this is my religion.
    
    What does it mean to believe in different Abrahamic religions if they all believe in the same God? What about polytheists or atheists who follow an identical moral compass without the belief in the same God?
    
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    ArgumentativeMonotheist@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    It’s the tenets that they choose to value what makes the difference, I guess. Those who don’t even read and just wear a cross and say “Jesus!” every so often, I’m not really sure what they value… but every Paulian doctrine has a clear disconnect between actions and the destiny of your soul (because you don’t merit God’s promise by your acts but it’s all grace and believing Jesus is God or something like that, whatever that means, lol) whilst Islam and Mosaic Judaism don’t (Jesus included, ofc). As much as I dislike saying this out loud because I don’t feel like hurting some good people’s feelings, the reality of things is that Trinitarians are slightly confused manworshippers who follow state Roman doctrines more than Jesus and “the law and the prophets” he followed, so I don’t really consider them as part of the same group. Islam and Judaism (and the OG Jesus followers who called him rabbi and not God are part of both or either, ofc) are actual Abrahamic monotheists. Like a disciple says in the Bible (the author escapes me right now): “you believe in God? Demons do too! Show me your faith without works and I’ll show you my faith through my works!”
    
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