Statism as religion

It astounds me how American political leftists can shun religion, yet still embrace politics and government.
Statism is every bit as much of a religion as Christianity, Islam, etc. There is holy scripture in the form of laws. There is tithing in the form of taxes. There are churches in the form of large granite edifices and voting stations. There are priests in the form of politicians. Crusades in the form of wars. And there are masses of followers who invest their emotions into government, and fervently defend it even when they are presented with a barrage of evidence that it isn't even real except that they believe in its existence and legitimacy of authority.