this is an old post idea but a football stadium is the modern day cathedral...people get dressed up and you have your own team denomination that you root for and think that everybody else who root for a different team denomination are heathens except that you have a soft spot for certain people who are similar, can co-exist, and are not against your beliefs. instead of the donation plate that people pass around, everyone pays (in different amounts for different seating tiers) at the gate. there is music, synchronization of the audience to the people performing, jubilation, outcry, and people overcome with emotion when assimilating as one within the crowd. people deify certain coaches and players and make statues of them while hanging on to their every word and action as if it's the gospel to learn from. choosy people who are lucky can find meaningful connections towards finding people with the same beliefs that they can talk about and assimilate their lives into, etc. southern schools in general sometimes do not distinguish religion from football as long as you attend and you see mostly the same people on saturday as on sunday. so if even if people are atheists, going to a football game sometimes constitutes as the modern day church-going experience without too much of the religious overtones while still being able to (eventually) find your tribe, even after college
