Ritual as symbol of social dependency

"Throughout most of our species’ history, ritual behavior has been far more critical than belief. Ritual solidified the group and the group was essential to everyone’s survival. In the past, a solitary human was a dead human. Our ancestors understood that brute fact. Believe what you want, but you will sing and dance with the tribe because without the tribe your life is worthless. And without you, the tribe is weakened. The Andes’ survivors were violently and shockingly transported back to that ancient calculus and they responded accordingly.

Fretting over correct belief is a recent and rather Christian obsession. In traditional Judaism, theological commitments take a back seat to behavior. A good Jew follows God’s laws. Whether he or she actually believes in God is secondary (not irrelevant or unimportant, but secondary). The same is true with ritual participation. While the beliefs behind ritual are not trivial, they are not the most important thing. What’s most important is that ritual is an acknowledgement of our communal dependency. No one is an island. Ritual reminds us that we are part of something larger than ourselves and that makes us stronger – doubts and all."


http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mortal-rituals/201306/behavior-over-belief