‘Is fame a new religion? People used to worship gods, now they worship film stars, sports players, and pop singers.

In the past people respected faith, now they respect fame.’

I agree with the statement completely. As a person who prefers classical music to pop, who never watches any kind of sports match, and only know the actors by their role in the film, I do not understand the pervasive power of fame. Fame is achieved by many people through successful careers. A single goal at the last few seconds can catapult a soccer player to heaven, or bring the entire team back to Earth. A single observation I have made over seeing so many paparazzi material is that celebrities have an insatiable desire for more fame. Media darlings like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears are classic examples of how fame corrupts the famous and the masses. Film stars are just actors who are probably nothing their roles when the camera is not rolling. These people are just able to do their jobs better. Why does not, for example, a teacher who finally has a breakthrough with an autistic child have fame as a supreme educator?
Faith is something I believe in. The absolute truth of the world, the mighty Yahweh, the Eightfold Path, enlightenment, pagans, the Qu’ran. These are just words that are associated with the concept of faith and religion. I myself am a free thinker. I would rather believe that the universe, or as recent scientific studies suggest, the multiverse, is ruled by a strict set of physical laws and these laws are unchangeable and always-lasting, than we are ruled by god(s) that are in heaven and hell, ready to smite us at a moments whim. However, the only questions that humans try to answer with all the subjects and learning are: Who are we? Who are you? Why are we here? These three questions ask for our identity and reason for existence. Are we just a midget in the cosmic expanse, an invisible presence in the world, that we just are? Faith gives us the answer to all these questions that for millennia past all have been trying to answer but no two beings agree. We have been born followers, not leaders. Humans would follow an ethereal leader for guidance, for judgment, and rather not, cannot, be an independent existence.
In this new age, with the invention of films, of the glorifying of sports, humans have found a new group of leaders, celebrities. We dress like them, talk like them, act like them, and commit every single thing he or she has ever done to memory. As we gradually find that not all things are as the deities dictate. Other humans that are just slightly more successful than us seem like a more achievable goal. People do not just respect fame; they immortalize those who have that fame. A simple wave by our favorite idol can send us screaming, totally forgetting the few hundred dollars we had to pay in exchange for an admission to be a few thousand rows away from our idol. It seems illogical, insane, but that is what we do. Faith has lost its charm for many as it is no longer expected to provide the answers that we all seek, but also to satisfy our material needs.
God(s), it seems, have become but an all-provider.