Back in the day, the only worship that people did was in a church or a temple. Some folks even went as far as to die for their beliefs. Today, it’s all changed. Although there are still religious fanatics out there, their numbers have dwindled.
Instead, people have a whole lot of other obsessions . Does football or lining up for that newly released iPhone ring a bell? So when a recent Reddit thread asked , “What is not a religion, but people treat it with the same attention?” I was quite curious to read the answers. How about you?
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Brands
“Brands in general. People praising Adidas, Apple, Hugo Boss, etc.”
“And some of the stuff be so ugly! My cousins are materialistic like that and whenever I say, ‘You like that?’ They always give me a, ‘It’s (so and so brand)! Of course!’ I’m not wearing something ugly.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Disney
“Disney. Especially when you go down to Florida.”
I have to admit I’ve never been. I guess it’s because I didn’t grow up in North America, and in Europe — it just wasn’t a thing. Now, some people here are completely bonkers over it.
Elon Musk And Other Billionaires
“He’s annoying, he’s not saving the world so please shut up about what a selfless person he is. He exploits his workers. Stop being annoying fanboys. Don’t worship billionaires.”
I might get flack for that but I couldn’t have said better myself.
Influencers
“When Charli Damelio got famous omg did my little sister worship the ground she walked on. Charli was ALL she ever talked about, ‘omg did you see the new video Charli posted?’ ‘sis! sis! Charli like my comment!’ etc. She finally grew outta (sp) it but it drove me insane.”
“The popular girl or boy thing has been around since school. They’re the original influences.”
True dat.
MLMs
“Some MLM schemes.”
“When I was a cable installer. MLM people were my worst fear way more than religious people. One lady spent the entire 4 hours at her house trying to convince me. After 4 hours I still was not entirely convinced I understood what they sold. I am pretty sure they sold self-help books. But the self-help books were made solely to help you sell more of the self-help books to sell more self-help books.”
That sounds sketchy to me.
Celebrities
I feel like celebrities have replaced other people folks used to worship. It used to be only religious figures like the pope or monarchs like The Queen, but now it’s pretty much anybody who gets their 5 seconds of fame. Do you know what I’m saying?
Phish
“No kidding! My brother travels to the USA at great expense several times a year to go see them! There are pilgrims who do less traveling for their religion.”
Okay, is it bad that I have no idea what this band even is, haha?
Kpop
“As someone who also listens to Kpop, I think this is so true. I think the problem is how big and young the fandom is, and also immature (kpop fans on twitter can be so damn annoying and are constantly joining fanwars or pushing people to buy more, stream more, etc). On the other hand, I’ve made some online friends (most of them in their 20s) and they are chill people and we talk about everything not only music, also because it’s not our personality, it’s just something we enjoy.”
That fandom is strong.
College Football
“I’m a European spending a week in the south, and the feeling I get is — it’s country first, college football second, and God third. Seeing people sing the national anthem (at a college game lol) looked more like a religious experience for people than I saw at church this morning.”
Do you subscribe to that?
Apple Fandom
My fiancé … husband (still not used to saying that, haha) got me into Apple. But I definitely know my limits when it comes to buying new technology. I will never line up overnight to buy the latest iPhone. No, thank you.
Workaholism / Hustle Culture
“As a reformed ‘workaholic/hustler’ I can 100% attest to this. 70 hours a week isn’t ‘hard’ it’s unhealthy.”
I totally get that. I do work hard at both my job and my side gig but I definitely set some limits.
Fraternities And Sororities
“Fraternities and Sororities. Down to the recruitment/shunning culture.”
“And the hazing rituals that have literally killed people.”
I honestly don’t understand that at all. It wasn’t a thing back in Europe, so I found the obsession with them super weird when I arrived in North America.
Coffee
“For many people, Coffee. Don’t deny it.”
“I work at a local gourmet coffee roaster. We spend a LOT of time around coffee and trying everything IS homework because we have to know a lot about all of it. But the customers that come in, while not always knowing anything about it, are on a whole different level of consumption. We have so many people who come in on a weekly basis for several pounds of coffee. Not knocking, all of the regulars are great and we know them by name at this point. Honestly one of the coolest jobs I’ve had an incredibly interesting industry and market. Never thought I’d know this much about bean juice.”
Don’t mess with my coffee, haha!
Money
“Money addiction is a very real phenomenon.”
“It’s kinda insane that when I talk capitalism vs. socialism, the argument always skews to ‘how much money a country makes’ rather than the quality of life for their civilians.”
This is sad but true.
American Constitution
“The way Americans talk about their constitution is very reminiscent of religion. They worship it, but they haven’t read it in a long time. Maybe never. They insist that you should respect it, even if you’re not a member of the cult. They tend to assume that a justification for every opinion they have is in there somewhere. They treat the men who wrote it as if they were prophets. They can become sullen, withdrawn, or even hostile when you say it’s wrong and requires serious alteration.”
What do you think of that?
Politics
“You should vote for policies, not who has them. To head off all the people saying ‘Well, actually… if the politician is a [expletive] they will lie to get elected; etc, clearly some kind of reform is necessary so that manifestos become legally binding. There is a distinct lack of consequences in politics, and that needs to be changed.”
I so agree with that. It’s time we hold politicians accountable again.
Mommy Groups
“Started getting completely out of hand when my kids were teenagers. I’m a crunchy mom, I’m this kind of mom or that kind of mom. Those people get rabid. How DARE YOU listen to the advice given to you by a doctor about your individual child, MY group thinks ‘THIS.’ Heresy! Blasphemy! We will CRUCIFY you! They used to be helpful, now they are [expletive] cults.”
OMG, haha!
Wow, so many opinions here, huh?
It’s pretty crazy what people get obsessed about these days. I wish that life could go back to the simpler days when we didn’t have to worry about so many things. I guess, for some folks, these matters are a way to feel like they belong, whether it’s right or wrong. Have you gotten into anything that seems like it’s getting out of hand?
