honestly, when people ask me that question, and they really want an answer, I tell them the habs are my religion. I simply can't believe in the main ones, because i feel...(thats another thread on aother forum) but when it comes to the habs, I sometimes put them ahead of an exam(these days i prepare in advance knowing i will be weak and watch the game anyways) or simply idolise players like the rocket and ...
They talked about it on CKAC with the guy that did the study and said that the Habs were a religion "But all that was missing was an icon, an higher power that defined it"
They are. Many need some kind of collective movement to identify with, especially if their invidual outcomes haven't gone as planned. Up until 2 generations ago, Catholicism served this purpose in Quebec, along with the Habs to a lesser extent.
As the Church's influence was on the wane, secessionism and union-based socialism came to the fore.
Now that these options are also on the downslope, for politics and global economics-related reasons, there isn't much of a collective movement left in Quebec, except for the Canadiens.
They talked about it on CKAC with the guy that did the study and said that the Habs were a religion "But all that was missing was an icon, an higher power that defined it"
And to that I say "Maurice Richard".
Some might argue that Sergei Kostitsyn may be that icon....
Maurice Richard is not the higher power of the Canadiens.
The Stanley Cup is the higher power. It is what we strive for. Only through devotion, works and faith, can those who worship the Montreal Canadiens earn The Stanley Cup.
Many prophets (I actually misspelled that and wrote Profits. Wow, talk about a freudian slip...) have brought us to it. Many great men we now proclaim as saints. But none of those men are above the Cup, which while stained in the names of pagan religions, it beholds our faith the most.
We have higher beings, in heroes like Richard, Beliveau, Geoffrion. Yeah, Beliveau is still alive, so what? I met him once, the man is so fantastic it felt like meeting the messiah. The ambassador of the word of the Habs.
And we have a large collective love and we're loving them so much we can't all enter the temple and worship. Only 21273 at a time.
The only difference, is that you do not have faith in that the Habs exist and kick butts. They do. We know. Hence, you can't call it a religion. Surprisingly, the word "worship" is still very good at describing what the fans feel.
I'm not that hot about the idea. Not a religious type myself - however in order for something to become a "true" religion you would need some ingredients:
- Does it offer a particular approach to understanding the world ? Is there a structured system of beliefs ? Does it provide a sense of meaning to your life ?
- Does it have prescriptions on desired behavior - are your everyday actions guided by the values carried by this "religion?
- Does it offer a sense of transcendence, as in - "there is more to me than flesh and blood" ?
I would qualify this more as a high level passion or maybe an obsession when pushed to the limit, more on the psychiatric side then the esoteric side.
As other said - it mostly depends on how you define religion.
I'm not that hot about the idea. Not a religious type myself - however in order for something to become a "true" religion you would need some ingredients:
- Does it offer a particular approach to understanding the world ? Is there a structured system of beliefs ? Does it provide a sense of meaning to your life ?
- Does it have prescriptions on desired behavior - are your everyday actions guided by the values carried by this "religion?
- Does it offer a sense of transcendence, as in - "there is more to me than flesh and blood" ?
I would qualify this more as a high level passion or maybe an obsession when pushed to the limit, more on the psychiatric side then the esoteric side.
As other said - it mostly depends on how you define religion.
I think you're taking this a little too seriously NHF. Yes the Habs have been mentioned as a religion. But I don't think anyone here should or is thinking of it on the same scale.
It's more we love our Habs and they are quite important to us.
Edit: "Religious discourse is a distinct language game or use of language which neither has nor needs any justification outside of itself". - Wittgenstein.
Last edited by ToysInTheAttic: 10-15-2008 at 09:33 AM.
