Eggplant:

Um, actually, Elagabalus didn’t create the “Deus Sol Invictus” cult; he imported it. Culturally speaking, Elagabalus was a foreigner to Roman culture who sought to replace Roman religious traditions with the worship of El-Gabal. I regard the behavior of Elagabalus and his family toward Roman religion to be similar in spirit to what Jezebel attempted against Israeli religion when she married into the House of Omri.

I doubt that meteorite worship was common among Greeks and Romans any more than the worship of Hanuman (a Hindu monkey deity) is common among Americans. I do find your reference to the importation of the “Deus Sol Invictus” cult by a Syrian priest-emperor to be intriguing, considering the recent rise of another cultural phenomenon centered around the symbol of a rising sun.

Let’s hope America doesn’t turn into the House of the Rising Sun writ large…