Human Rituals and Religion

Yes, its more about religious rituals than simple logic.

Humans do a lot of stuff for ritual purposes

Wasn't this merely part of a religious ritual?

“ritualistic or religious”, and “ritual” has a very broad meaning. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual: “Even common actions like hand-shaking and saying "hello" may be termed as rituals.”It almost boils down to “we can’t think of a way in which this got anybody (better) fed, clothed or housed”

What you're describing is a ritual in any interpretation of the word.

Religious rituals are meant to connect with the divine. The idea being they are not inventions of ordinary people. Some created superstition just gives some order in someone's life and is just a shadow of a proper ritual.

Totally tangential, but I was thinking this morning about my experience as a kid when my parents forced me to be an alter boy at our local church. There are these occasional observances where the church is obligated to put on a special service, part of a liturgical calendar. Sometimes these happen at like 11am on a Wednesday. It was nice to get out of school to go and burn some incense and follow the priest around while he mumble prayers, instead of sitting bored out of my mind memorizing times

Yes, that description represents my experience also. Even religious rituals were treated that way - as a means to develop focus and self-discipline.That said, in the same households, people can still be very superstitious, because practically, sometimes being that way helps you explain otherwise difficult things that happen in life.

I guess it doesn't make you feel better then :) Its subjective, but some can take comfort in rituals and beliefs that rely on a certain amount of doublethink.PS I don't think you need to compare and contrast, just go with say an interesting one like Jedi (lots in England according to the census) and see how it goes!

Your religious rituals are no more effective than theirs.