Do we need religion to bind a community?

"Is a sports ground a place of worship? 12,000 people attending a match in a ground outnumber those in a religious building, but the passion is as intense, if not more so. The sense of community, camoradory, worship is the same as in a church or mosque, yet we can see what we worship in the sports ground. Do we need a deity to build/bind communities, to look after fellow season ticket holders/pew sitters?

by either watching, conversing, and 'bloodletting'. The result can be uforic or depressing, but the social interaction is intense, binding/life affirming. Is this what a church, a religion and a deity offer? Maybe, but at least you can see and even touch your 'Gods' in a sports ground.

Do we therefore need a deity to be able to worship, bind communities together and offer support to the needy?"

ACL, January 2014