But in these earlier times, the sailor and the sea were elements of an archetypal religious drama, regularly addressed in sermons.
Putting aside the obviously fictional element of an airborne religious community that has seceded from the American union, in many ways BioShock Infinite tries to provide an accurate portrait of the period.
The inauguration ceremony was conducted by the civic authorities and by the surviving, and still powerful, Guild of St George, and combined elements of a public festival and a religious carnival.
A second type of park derived from such open-air public meeting places as those in ancient Athens, where the functions of an exercising ground, a social concourse, and an athletes' training ground were combined with elements of a sculpture gallery and religious centre.
For 30 years it has had different and competing centres of power, elements of secular government, a religious hierarchy and mediating forces between them.
But Wyllys has become a hate figure for more extreme elements of the religious right, who have posted numerous derogatory videos online.
Underlying Jaspers' interest in religion was a determination to convert the elements of religious doctrine into an account of human possibilities and freedoms.
Theatrical representations, not yet wholly free of a religious element, directed their appeal toward the whole community, and attendance was virtually compulsory.
Lansing argues that the way in which elements of the religious system symbolize corresponding elements of the physical water system plays a crucial role in guiding individuals' participation in the water distribution system.
Though the prints are simplistic in design, they contain a wealth of ethnographic detail; the costumes of the figures blend elements of African religious rites and European carnival traditions.
