religion；andasiftoenforcetheargumentandfirmlyestablishthecloserelationshipbetweenthesportingtemperamentandthearchaicdevoutness，theselayreligiousbodiescommonlydevotesomeappreciableportionoftheirenergiestothefurtheranceofathleticcontestsandsimilargamesofchanceandskill。Itmightevenbesaidthatsportsofthiskindareapprehendedtohavesomeefficacyasameansofgrace。Theyareapparentlyusefulasameansofproselyting，andasameansofsustainingthedevoutattitudeinconvertsoncemade。Thatistosay，thegameswhichgiveexercisetotheanimisticsenseandtotheemulativepropensityhelptoformandtoconservethathabitofmindtowhichthemoreexotericcultsarecongenial。Hence，inthehandsofthelayorganizations，thesesportingactivitiescometododutyasanovitiateorameansofinductionintothatfullerunfoldingofthelifeofspiritualstatuswhichistheprivilegeofthefullcommunicantalong。
Thattheexerciseoftheemulativeandloweranimisticproclivitiesaresubstantiallyusefulforthedevoutpurposeseemstobeplacedbeyondquestionbythefactthatthepriesthoodofmanydenominationsisfollowingtheleadofthelayorganizationsinthisrespect。Thoseecclesiasticalorganizationsespeciallywhichstandnearestthelayorganizationsintheirinsistenceonpracticalreligionhavegonesomewaytowardsadoptingtheseoranalogouspracticesinconnectionwiththetraditionaldevoutobservances。Sothereare“boys’brigades，“
andotherorganizations，underclericalsanction，actingtodeveloptheemulativeproclivityandthesenseofstatusintheyouthfulmembersofthecongregation。Thesepseudo-militaryorganizationstendtoelaborateandaccentuatetheproclivitytoemulationandinvidiouscomparison，andsostrengthenthenativefacilityfordiscerningandapprovingtherelationofpersonalmasteryandsubservience。Andabelieveriseminentlyapersonwhoknowshowtoobeyandacceptchastisementwithgoodgrace。
Butthehabitsofthoughtwhichthesepracticesfosterandconservemakeupbutonehalfofthesubstanceoftheanthropomorphiccults。Theother，complementaryelementofdevoutlife——theanimistichabitofmind——isrecruitedandconservedbyasecondrangeofpracticesorganizedunderclericalsanction。
Thesearetheclassofgamblingpracticesofwhichthechurchbazaarorrafflemaybetakenasthetype。Asindicatingthedegreeoflegitimacyofthesepracticesinconnectionwithdevoutobservancesproper，itistoberemarkedthattheseraffles，andtheliketrivialopportunitiesforgambling，seemtoappealwithmoreeffecttothecommonrunofthemembersofreligiousorganizationsthantheydotopersonsofalessdevouthabitofmind。
Allthisseemstoargue，ontheonehand，thatthesametemperamentinclinespeopletosportsasinclinesthemtotheanthropomorphiccults，andontheotherhandthatthehabituationtosports，perhapsespeciallytoathleticsports，actstodevelopthepropensitieswhichfindsatisfactionindevoutobservances。
Conversely；italsoappearsthathabituationtotheseobservancesfavorsthegrowthofaproclivityforathleticsportsandforallgamesthatgiveplaytothehabitofinvidiouscomparisonandoftheappealtoluck。Substantiallythesamerangeofpropensitiesfindsexpressioninboththesedirectionsofthespirituallife。
Thatbarbarianhumannatureinwhichthepredatoryinstinctandtheanimisticstandpointpredominateisnormallypronetoboth。
Thepredatoryhabitofmindinvolvesanaccentuatedsenseofpersonaldignityandoftherelativestandingofindividuals。Thesocialstructureinwhichthepredatoryhabithasbeenthedominantfactorintheshapingofinstitutionsisastructurebasedonstatus。Thepervadingnorminthepredatorycommunity’sschemeoflifeistherelationofsuperiorandinferior，nobleandbase，dominantandsubservientpersonsandclasses，masterandslave。Theanthropomorphiccultshavecomedownfromthatstageofindustrialdevelopmentandhavebeenshapedbythesameschemeofeconomicdifferentiation——adifferentiationintoconsumerandproducer——andtheyarepervadedbythesamedominantprincipleofmasteryandsubservience。Thecultsimputetotheirdivinitythehabitsofthoughtansweringtothestageofeconomicdifferentiationatwhichthecultstookshape。Theanthropomorphicdivinityisconceivedtobepunctiliousinallquestionsofprecedenceandispronetoanassertionofmasteryandanarbitraryexerciseofpower——anhabitualresorttoforceasthefinalarbiter。
Inthelaterandmaturerformulationsoftheanthropomorphiccreedthisimputedhabitofdominanceonthepartofadivinityofawfulpresenceandinscrutablepowerischastenedinto“thefatherhoodofGod。“Thespiritualattitudeandtheaptitudesimputedtothepreternaturalagentarestillsuchasbelongundertheregimeofstatus，buttheynowassumethepatriarchalcastcharacteristicofthequasi-peaceablestageofculture。Stillitistobenotedthateveninthisadvancedphaseoftheculttheobservancesinwhichdevoutnessfindsexpressionconsistentlyaimtopropitiatethedivinitybyextollinghisgreatnessandgloryandbyprofessingsubservienceandfealty。Theactofpropitiationorofworshipisdesignedtoappealtoasenseofstatusimputedtotheinscrutablepowerthatisthusapproached。
Thepropitiatoryformulasmostinvoguearestillsuchascarryorimplyaninvidiouscomparison。Aloyalattachmenttothepersonofananthropomorphicdivinityendowedwithsuchanarchaichumannatureimpliesthelikearchaicpropensitiesinthedevotee。Forthepurposesofeconomictheory，therelationoffealty，whethertoaphysicalortoanextraphysicalperson，istobetakenasavariantofthatpersonalsubserviencewhichmakesupsolargeashareofthepredatoryandthequasi-peaceableschemeoflife。
Thebarbarianconceptionofthedivinity，asawarlikechieftaininclinedtoanoverbearingmannerofgovernment，hasbeengreatlysoftenedthroughthemildermannersandthesobererhabitsoflifethatcharacterizethoseculturalphaseswhichliebetweentheearlypredatorystageandthepresent。Butevenafterthischasteningofthedevoutfancy，andtheconsequentmitigationoftheharshertraitsofconductandcharacterthatarecurrentlyimputedtothedivinity，therestillremainsinthepopularapprehensionofthedivinenatureandtemperamentaverysubstantialresidueofthebarbarianconception。Soitcomesabout，forinstance，thatincharacterizingthedivinityandhisrelationstotheprocessofhumanlife，speakersandwritersarestillabletomakeeffectiveuseofsimilesborrowedfromthevocabularyofwarandofthepredatorymanneroflife，aswellasoflocutionswhichinvolveaninvidiouscomparison。Figuresofspeechofthisimportareusedwithgoodeffecteveninaddressingthelesswarlikemodernaudiences，madeupofadherentsoftheblandervariantsofthecreed。Thiseffectiveuseofbarbarianepithetsandtermsofcomparisonbypopularspeakersarguesthatthemoderngenerationhasretainedalivelyappreciationofthedignityandmeritofthebarbarianvirtues；
anditarguesalsothatthereisadegreeofcongruitybetweenthedevoutattitudeandthepredatoryhabitofmind。Itisonlyonsecondthought，ifatall，thatthedevoutfancyofmodernworshippersrevoltsattheimputationofferociousandvengefulemotionsandactionstotheobjectoftheiradoration。Itisamatterofcommonobservationthatsanguinaryepithetsappliedtothedivinityhaveahighaestheticandhonorificvalueinthepopularapprehension。Thatistosay，suggestionswhichtheseepithetscarryareveryacceptabletoourunreflectingapprehension。
MineeyeshaveseenthegloryofthecomingoftheLord:
Heistramplingoutthevintagewherethegrapesofwratharestored；
Hehathloosedthefatefullightningofhisterribleswiftsword；
Histruthismarchingon。
Theguidinghabitsofthoughtofadevoutpersonmoveontheplaneofanarchaicschemeoflifewhichhasoutlivedmuchofitsusefulnessfortheeconomicexigenciesofthecollectivelifeoftoday。Insofarastheeconomicorganizationfitstheexigenciesofthecollectivelifeoftoday，ithasoutlivedtheregimeofstatus，andhasnouseandnoplaceforarelationofpersonalsubserviency。Sofarasconcernstheeconomicefficiencyofthecommunity，thesentimentofpersonalfealty，andthegeneralhabitofmindofwhichthatsentimentisanexpression，aresurvivalswhichcumberthegroundandhinderanadequateadjustmentofhumaninstitutionstotheexistingsituation。Thehabitofmindwhichbestlendsitselftothepurposesofapeaceable，industrialcommunity，isthatmatter-of-facttemperwhichrecognizesthevalueofmaterialfactssimplyasopaqueitemsinthemechanicalsequence。Itisthatframeofmindwhichdoesnotinstinctivelyimputeananimisticpropensitytothings，norresorttopreternaturalinterventionasanexplanationofperplexingphenomena，nordependonanunseenhandtoshapethecourseofeventstohumanuse。Tomeettherequirementsofthehighesteconomicefficiencyundermodernconditions，theworldprocessmusthabituallybeapprehendedintermsofquantitative，dispassionateforceandsequence。
Asseenfromthepointofviewofthelatereconomicexigencies，devoutnessis，perhapsinallcases，tobelookeduponasasurvivalfromanearlierphaseofassociatedlife——amarkofarrestedspiritualdevelopment。Ofcourseitremainstruethatinacommunitywheretheeconomicstructureisstillsubstantiallyasystemofstatus；wheretheattitudeoftheaverageofpersonsinthecommunityisconsequentlyshapedbyandadaptedtotherelationofpersonaldominanceandpersonalsubservience；orwhereforanyotherreason——oftraditionorofinheritedaptitude——thepopulationasawholeisstronglyinclinedtodevoutobservances；thereadevouthabitofmindinanyindividual，notinexcessoftheaverageofthecommunity，mustbetakensimplyasadetailoftheprevalenthabitoflife。
Inthislight，adevoutindividualinadevoutcommunitycannotbecalledacaseofreversion，sinceheisabreastoftheaverageofthecommunity。Butasseenfromthepointofviewofthemodernindustrialsituation，exceptionaldevoutness——devotionalzealthatrisesappreciablyabovetheaveragepitchofdevoutnessinthecommunity——maysafelybesetdownasinallcasesanatavistictrait。
Itis，ofcourse，equallylegitimatetoconsiderthesephenomenafromadifferentpointofview。Theymaybeappreciatedforadifferentpurpose，andthecharacterizationhereofferedmaybeturnedabout。Inspeakingfromthepointofviewofthedevotionalinterest，ortheinterestofdevouttaste，itmay，withequalcogency，besaidthatthespiritualattitudebredinmenbythemodernindustriallifeisunfavorabletoafreedevelopmentofthelifeoffaith。Itmightfairlybeobjectedtothelaterdevelopmentoftheindustrialprocessthatitsdisciplinetendsto“materialism，“totheeliminationoffilialpiety。Fromtheaestheticpointofview，again，somethingtoasimilarpurportmightbesaid。But，howeverlegitimateandvaluabletheseandthelikereflectionsmaybefortheirpurpose，theywouldnotbeinplaceinthepresentinquiry，whichisexclusivelyconcernedwiththevaluationofthesephenomenafromtheeconomicpointofview。
Thegraveeconomicsignificanceoftheanthropomorphichabitofmindandoftheaddictiontodevoutobservancesmustserveasapologyforspeakingfurtheronatopicwhichitcannotbutbedistastefultodiscussatallasaneconomicphenomenoninacommunitysodevoutasours。Devoutobservancesareofeconomicimportanceasanindexofaconcomitantvariationoftemperament，accompanyingthepredatoryhabitofmindandsoindicatingthepresenceofindustriallydisserviceabletraits。Theyindicatethepresenceofamentalattitudewhichhasacertaineconomicvalueofitsownbyvirtueofitsinfluenceupontheindustrialserviceabilityoftheindividual。Buttheyarealsoofimportancemoredirectly，inmodifyingtheeconomicactivitiesofthecommunity，especiallyasregardsthedistributionandconsumptionofgoods。
Themostobviouseconomicbearingoftheseobservancesisseeninthedevoutconsumptionofgoodsandservices。Theconsumptionofceremonialparaphernaliarequiredbyanycult，inthewayofshrines，temples，churches，vestments，sacrifices，sacraments，holidayattire，etc。，servesnoimmediatematerialend。Allthismaterialapparatusmay，therefore，withoutimplyingdeprecation，bebroadlycharacterizedasitemsofconspicuouswaste。Thelikeistrueinageneralwayofthepersonalserviceconsumedunderthishead；suchaspriestlyeducation，priestlyservice，pilgrimages，fasts，holidays，householddevotions，andthelike。Atthesametimetheobservancesintheexecutionofwhichthisconsumptiontakesplaceservetoextendandprotractthevogueofthosehabitsofthoughtonwhichananthropomorphiccultrests。Thatistosay，theyfurtherthehabitsofthoughtcharacteristicoftheregimeofstatus。Theyareinsofaranobstructiontothemosteffectiveorganizationofindustryundermoderncircumstances；andare，inthefirstinstance，antagonistictothedevelopmentofeconomicinstitutionsinthedirectionrequiredbythesituationoftoday。Forthepresentpurpose，theindirectaswellasthedirecteffectsofthisconsumptionareofthenatureofacurtailmentofthecommunity’seconomicefficiency。Ineconomictheory，then，andconsideredinitsproximateconsequences，theconsumptionofgoodsandeffortintheserviceofananthropomorphicdivinitymeansaloweringofthevitalityofthecommunity。Whatmaybetheremoter，indirect，moraleffectsofthisclassofconsumptiondoesnotadmitofasuccinctanswer，anditisaquestionwhichcannotbetakenuphere。