'To me life in Western Europe is full of ritual activity and pretty deviod of spirituality.'

Couldn't agree more, fitz!

As much as is possible in a society that seems to adore the capitalist excesses of Christmas, I avoid it. But I see the horrors that people face in thinking they have to conform to it - spoling their ungrateful children, getting into hideous and unnecessary debt, stressing about silly things like have they bought enough food, what will aunty smellbag think, etc, etc. This IS undoubtedly a ritualised behaviour that people wish to conform to because it is what society expects of them. I refuse to do this and people ask me 'why'.

I don't think ritual (or habit) has anything (necessarily) to do with religion. I like my getting-up-in-the-morning rituals, but that doesn't make me religious or even vaguely spiritual.

We all need ritual or habit; people thrive within it and need it to punctuate our lives. Just like we need the changing seasons, strawberries in spring and apples in autumn. Without it we don't know what to expect next, we feel unsettled.

Why would not have our ancient ancestors felt any different? They needed the regularity of the phases of the moon to mark time (and the patterns of moods of their women!), spring lambing to ensure freedom from hunger, new growth of willows and rushes for building and weaving...

Organised religions grew out of these patterns, which we like so much. Its easier for us to adopt the religion if it already follows stuff we like and feel comfy with.

J
x

PS This should be interesting at 8pm tonight: Channel 4 'The Root of All Evil?' Atheist bloke turns as fundamentalist in his vigour to promote atheism as the very religions he is 'dissing'.