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"In a secular society, our need for ritualized idol worship can be displaced onto stars..."
The author presumes that people naturally gravitate towards idol worship, which I believe is mistaken. I would also contend that celebrity and idol worship are distinct. Celebrity "worship" has far more to do with wanting to be that person, whereas idol worship has to do with being loved and accepted by a higher power.
When I wait in line at the grocery store to ring my things up, the celebrity magazines are not saturated with adoration. They're saturated with sensational vicarity. If we worshipped them, the racks wouldn't be overflowing with exposés of infidelity. Exposés that reek of jealousy, to my eyes.
No, we're merely interested in them because their lives are more interesting, if not necessarily glamorous. We're interested in them because they're The Beautiful People, in a station the overwhelming majority of us will never reach. The only way to get close is to read about it. I find celebrity fascination to be entirely secular.
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"The idea that money doesn't buy you happiness is a lie put about by the rich, to stop the poor from killing them." -- Michael Caine
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