Slightly off the topic of mainstream religion. It has often occurred to me that a lot of current beliefs share something with religious belief, but are not classified as religions. I call them pseudo-religions.
This happens when a system of belief, that has nothing to do with God or gods, becomes held to fervently as a result of a code of faith, instead of scientific or empirically based evidence. In these systems of belief, deviation from that set of ideas can be regarded as a form of "blasphemy". If not exactly responded to by head choppings, that "blasphemy" can still arouse an awful lot of hostility.
Almost anything ending in 'ism' can become a pseudo-religion as a result of the attitudes and behaviour of its adherents.
For example : I was once forced to sit at a table occupied by a bunch of radical feminists. While I kind of shrank back from them, as the only male at the table, I was treated to general hostility, even though I had no choice. That was the only table available at which to eat lunch. At one point, as part of that hostility, one fierce woman accused me of being a rapist. In vain I protested that I had never raped anyone, and never would - I was tarred with that image simply by virtue of being male. I consider those feminists to be members of a pseudo-religion. They hold to beliefs due to a decision to believe (faith), rather than due to evidence. This makes extreme feminism, in my opinion, a form of pseudo-religion.
In a similar way, the more radical environmentalists have joined a pseudo-religion. Certain ideas are accepted as being true because it fits the tenets of faith, rather than because they are supported by evidence. For example : all industrial chemicals are evil. I work with industrial chemicals. Recently I met and started to talk with a guy who responded with great hostility when I told him so. Not a pleasant experience.
Lots of political systems are pseudo-religious when adherents take the ideas to the extreme. Note that I am not having a go at moderate environmentalists or feminists etc. Just those that are too extreme.
Have other people had similar experiences? What are your thoughts on the state of mind of those who take such belief systems too far?