That's not ritual, that's observation.
They go to conventions and deliver pious papers. They scoff at any challenge to evolution. They perform experiments according to a sacred format. They do so in utter faith that their theory is correct, even though it is, by definition, impossible to completely prove and by the rules of science, only valid as long as it best describes the evidence.
They go to conferences, not conventions. Nobody performs experiments according to sacred formats; when I run an experiment, I'm usually making up protocols on the fly. And I have a great deal of confidence that most established science is correct, evolution just being one instance. If you want to see complete faith, ask a physical chemist about the second law.
Evolutionists have moral precepts: Thou shalt not admit any science but evolution. Thou shalt not admit students into the field of biology who profess to hold non-evolutionary beliefs. Thou shalt define all of life in deterministic themes, and support them by finding "gay genes" and "fat genes." Thou shalt profess that evolution is capable of answering every question about the development of life in the natural universe. Though shalt not speak of the 'supernatural'--because evolution says so.
The only people who talk about 'fat genes' are the popular press. You've evidently learned about science from the funny papers. Yet you seem to consider yourself an authority on it.
Evolutionist have organization. Just refer to the numerous letters signed by hundreds of evolutionists denouncing ID.
Oh, I see circulating an email makes an organization.
If physicists behaved the way evolutionists did, I would claim it was a religion. The difference is that many physicists have retained the humble nature of a true scientist who admits there are questions he may not have the theory or ability to answer. Evolutionists don't. It is by their faith that you will know them.
LOL! You should see the responses from physicists to Jay Richards' (co-author of the Privileged Planet) idiotic thoughts on Special Relativity. Physicists are a little quieter than biologists on ID only because they're less directly involved. But find some random physicist and run the idea of a 6000 year old universe by him. After he's stopped laughing, that is.
You figured me out.
Actually, I'm not attached to the literal claim that evolutionism is a religion. I had a religion professor who argued aspects of football and baseball are religious. The point is not that evolution is a religion. Instead, it is that by applying principles of the study of religion to different things, one can come to a fuller understanding of them. There are aspects of evolutionists behavior that mimic the behavior of a zealot. I wouldn't push the argument much further unless we were drinking a beer.
That said, I concede the argument.
You do know that proponents of ID don't claim the universe or earth is 6,000 years old?
Also, you mentioned performing experiments. What is your field--what is your area of expertise?