I think these things become a religion because there is a large group of developers who simply won't do something unless management makes a rule about it. So no

I think these things become a religion because there is a large group of developers who simply won't do something unless management makes a rule about it. So now to get them to participate, dogma has to be involved. At that point, you're basically in permanent damage limitation mode anyway, though. Software development is a skilled and creative activity. Certainly not everyone has to be a "rockstar" or a "ninja" or whatever we're calling those people this week. I've worked with plenty of developers who do a decent, competent job without spending their lives thinking about code 24/7 and staying up to speed on every little development in the industry. However, there is a baseline level of giving a $#!% that is necessary to do a decent, competent job.