NOVEMBER 17 ― In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris, stating that sport doesn’t matter is an instinctive response.

At times like these, it’s entirely natural to feel that getting all worked up about grown men running around a field, chasing a ball while wearing shorts, is rather silly.

When confronted by the harsh reality of human nature at its very worst, our inflated, hyperbolic dramas about the latest exploits of over-paid, over-pampered sports stars begin to appear extremely childish.

And so, on one level, they are indeed.

Watching professional sport and expending a significant amount of emotional energy and financial resources on “supporting” people we have never met and will never know is, let’s face it, quite absurd.

Conversely, however, I believe that right now sport is more important than ever.

This is because being a sports fan fulfils many extremely important, but rarely acknowledged, functions in modern developed society.

Two of those ― entertainment and consumerism ― certainly do fade into the background at times like these, when our consciousness of the fragility of life and the evil potential of humanity is horribly heightened.

But another of sport’s valuable functions is identity: how we define who we are, how we live, how we think, what we believe. In short: our place in the world.

Somebody who can say with all sincerity that they are a Manchester United fan, to use a common example, has a strong reason for living. It might be an absurd reason ― they may have never even visited Manchester and have nothing in common with any of the players who wear the team’s shirt ― but it is a firm and solid reason, nonetheless.

Being a Manchester United fan gives entrance into a community, filled with millions of like-minded citizens.

Furthermore, it is a ready-made community which comes complete with a schedule (matches), opportunities for debate (team selection, transfers), expression of belonging (singing chants), celebrations and commiserations (winning and losing) and a clear sense of self and other (hatred of other team rivals).

All of these are basic and vital human needs, which have evolved over millions of years and can now, in industrialised, post-tribal society, find an outlet and an expression in sport.

Another way of expressing identity, of course, is nationality.

Being British or Malaysian or French or Chinese brings with it an enormous amount of cultural baggage and assumptions about life. We may choose to reject some parts of our national identity and embrace others, but where we are from is an undeniably important component of our sense of self.

Those two components can come together in international sport, and right now there can be no greater expression of identity for many Frenchmen than their support of the France national football team, something we will witness vividly at Wembley tonight.

At this point, let us bear something in mind: one positive aspect of being a sports fan, which becomes even more important at times like these, is that it is nearly always harmless.

Manchester United and Liverpool fans may trade insults and hurl vulgar abuse at each other, but those unkind words are rarely followed through with actual violence. Aside from exceptions such as football hooliganism, which has significantly subsided in recent years, fans of Manchester United and Liverpool are able to comfortably co-exist, even in the same household.

Generally, the extreme manifestation of sports fandom are the nerdy, obsessive, statistics-devouring super fans who know absolutely everything there is to know about their favoured teams, and base their entire lives around “being a fan” to an unhealthy degree.

But although they may live somewhat quirky and one-dimensional lives, extremist fans like that never really pose any threat to other people.

Two other common expressions of identity, however, often prove to be a lot, lot more dangerous.

The first of those is excessive nationalism: when a passionate yet restrained sense of pride in a nation is overtaken by a belief that one nation is superior to all others, descent into horrific acts of violence and warfare are always possible. Examples are too common to need citing.

And the second, you may have guessed, is religion.

Like sport, religion provides a strong sense of community and belonging.

In its extreme forms, however, and unlike sport’s creation of harmless super-fan nerds, religion creates fanatical adherents to specific forms of belief who become convinced that anybody holding a different worldview deserves to be killed.

Being a sports fan is inherently dumb, yes. Blindly professing an undying faith in a certain team is an abuse of intelligence, yes.

But so too is extremist (or perhaps any…but that’s another argument) religion, and ignorant assertions that my god is better than your god are extremely similar to Manchester United and Liverpool fans arguing over which club is ‘better’.

Both sport and religion provide its adherents a sense of meaning, purpose, and belonging. They are both largely about identity and community. But only one of them compels its extremist followers to commit mass murder.

If more disillusioned young men channelled their anger and frustrations into sport, rather than into obeying the commands of religion to the ultimate degree, the world would be a better place.

*This is the personal opinion of the columnist.