Fraternities' fraternity

I was looking around this evening, and came across J.B.'s post on fraternity. At the top was a picture of the Eta Alpha Gamma Fraternity. I was expecting his post to connect the idea of fraternity (as in the movie red) as serving the same purpose as religion to the (capitalized) Fraternity, like the one pictured, as sometimes being a religion-like. While he talked about his ideas on the former, he did not discuss the latter, making the picture almost unnecessary. I'd like to briefly share my naïve ideas on the matter.

Besides the bonds of fraternity similar to that found in any other group of friends, Fraternities often employ different rituals and bonding activities, not unlike religious tradition. I recently had the pleasure (?) of witnessing some such display. While sitting in Riverview, I watched as many young initiates were led blindfolded (and likely drunk) to the top of Union Hill and rolled down the hill (yes, still blindfolded). When at the bottom they lit the campfire, and hooted and hollered at the end of each sentence in the reading of a text by a black-robed figure. The reading of a specific text is obviously religious-like, and creates a sense of unity among members. But as to the stranger ritual, I asked myself, "Why would one do such a thing?" The answer lies in the name of the organization—Fraternity. While one might say that fraternity, or human connection, can be found outside a Fraternity, I can understand the bonds that ritual and long tradition can create. It is the same as in any religion—engaging in acts that are specially reserved for members of a specific group (well…I wouldn't expect many other people to roll down a hill blindfolded) create a stronger group identity, and thus stronger fraternity. I suppose, then, it's a matter of whether you're willing to partake in the ritual in order to receive the fraternal benefit.