Everything Is F*cked

Interpersonal Religions
Every  Sunday,  millions  of  people  come  together  to  stare  at  an  empty  green
field. The field has white lines painted on it. These millions of people have all
agreed to believe (on faith) that these lines mean something important. Then,
dozens  of  strong  men  (or  women)  plod  onto  the  field,  line  up  in  seemingly
arbitrary formations, and throw (or kick) around a piece of leather. Depending
on where this piece of leather goes and when, one group of people cheers, and
the other group of people gets really upset.
Sports are a form of religion. They are arbitrary value systems designed to
give people hope. Hit the ball here, and you’re a hero! Kick the ball there, and
you’re  a  loser!  Sports  deify  some  individuals  and  demonize  others.  Ted
Williams is the best baseball hitter ever, and therefore, according to some, an
American  hero,  an  icon,  a  role  model.  Other  athletes  are  demonized  for

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coming up short, for wasting their talent, for betraying their followers.
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Yet, there is an even grander example of interpersonal religion than sports:
politics. Across the world, we come together under a similar set of values and
decide  to  bestow  authority,  leadership,  and  virtue  onto  a  small  number  of
people. Like the lines on a football field, political systems are entirely made
up, the positions of power exist due only to the faith of the population. And
whether  it’s  a  democracy  or  a  dictatorship,  the  result  is  the  same:  a  small
group  of  leaders  is  idolized  and  exalted  (or  demonized)  in  the  social
consciousness.
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Interpersonal religions give us hope that another human being will bring
us  salvation  and  happiness,  that  one  individual  (or  group  of  individuals)  is
superior  to  all  others.  Interpersonal  religions  are  sometimes  combined  with
supernatural  beliefs  and  ideological  beliefs,  resulting  in  pariahs,  martyrs,
heroes,  and  saints.  Many  of  our  interpersonal  religions  develop  around  our
leaders.  A  charismatic  president  or  celebrity  who  seems  to  understand
everything we go through can approach the level of a God Value in our eyes,
and much of what we deem right or wrong is filtered through what is good or
bad for our Dear Leader.
Fandom, in general, is a low-level kind of religion. Fans of Will Smith or
Katy Perry or Elon Musk follow everything that person does, hang on every
word  he  or  she  says,  and  come  to  see  him  or  her  as  blessed  or  righteous  in
some  way.  The  worship  of  that  figure  gives  the  fan  hope  of  a  better  future,
even  if  it’s  in  the  form  of  something  as  simple  as  future  films,  songs,  or
inventions.
But  the  most  important  interpersonal  religions  are  our  familial  and
romantic  relationships.  The  beliefs  and  emotions  involved  in  these
relationships  are  evolutionary  in  nature,  but  they  are  faith-based  all  the
same.
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Each family is its own mini-church, a group of people who, on faith,
believe  that  being  part  of  the  group  will  give  their  lives  meaning,  hope,  and
salvation. Romantic love, of course, can be a quasi-spiritual experience.
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We
seem  to  lose  ourselves  in  someone  we  have  fallen  for,  spinning  all  sorts  of
narratives about the cosmic significance of the relationship.
For  better  or  worse,  modern  civilization  has  largely  alienated  us  from
these  small,  interpersonal  religions  and  tribes  and  replaced  them  with  large
nationalist and internationalist ideological religions.
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 This  is  good  news  for
you and me, fellow religion-builder, as we don’t have as many intimate bonds
to cut through to get our followers emotionally attached to us.
Because, as we’ll see, religion is all about emotional attachment. And the
best way to build those attachments is to get people to stop thinking critically.

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