Mainstream religion is only a tool of social order and control.

[arcanum]

I just finished reading from a book about the Albigensian crusade, when finished I had so sit back and process such horrible atrocities carried out by so called Christians against other Christians, never mind that, man against his fellow man. Here we have the catholic church who were supposed to be carrying on the teachings of Jesus and the apostles and Paul by torturing and burning alive other people who believed differently from them, just like Jesus did right? Oh he didn't? Well he must have at least told people to do that right? Oh wait, he didn't...huh. What about Paul and the disciples didn't they say that if people didn't believe that you were supposed to put people's eyes out with hot pokers, rape them, burn them alive, torture then in all kinds of devious manners till they confess to disbelief only to kill them anyways in the end? What a legacy the so called Christian church has, what a mantle to wear. But what it really was all about was conformity and control. They wanted to populace to be ignorant, unable to read, unable to think critically, keep on believing in the so called true faith, and have them tattle on each other those who they suspected of believing differently, people who may have stood out from being a fellow conformist cog in the matrix. All forms of social control, with all these in place the people are as easy to control and milk as cattle. But that was the middle ages you say, but mainstream religion still serves this purpose today in many places and in many forms. Christianity is certainly not unique in this regard of using religion to control the hearts and minds of the populace. The social engineers and elites of almost every society have exploited religion from the beginning of civilization. It's taken different forms with different rules but all of it has served to keep a ring in the noses of the people, to keep the citizenry under the control of the elites. Religion makes a perfect harness for conformity and compliance.

 

[Valjean]

And where theologic religion has lost power it's often replaced by nationalistic or patriotic religion.

 

[Skwim]

Mainstream religion is only a tool of social order and control.

Come, come now, I don't believe you think Mainstream religion is only such a tool, but recognize it's other functions as well. However, on the chance that you are this short-sighted I invite you to consider the other purposes it serves. I leave it to you to figure out what they are. It ain't hard.

 

[arcanum]

Come, come now, I don't believe you think Mainstream religion is only such a tool, but recognize it's other functions as well. However, on the chance that you are this short-sighted I invite you to consider the other purposes it serves. I leave it to you to figure out what they are. It ain't hard.

Okay I shouldn't have used the word only in my premise, and I didn't mean all religion or religion in general, when I said mainstream I was referring to those religion's which become a monopoly, and no differing faiths are tolerated or permitted. We have especially seen this in both Christianity and Islam, but also in Judaism. I'm sure there have been many others in the past with mainstream monopolies, say in Mesopotamia and Egypt for instance. These religions are usually tied in with or have a very cozy relationship with the state as it serves both of their purposes well, we see this in places like Iran now. In these cases to go against the grain and belong to or convert to a competing Faith was and still is a dangerous business.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

How is that any different from any of the other things humans kill each other over? We're just a violent, primitive species.

 

[LuisDantas]

We are a violent and territorial species... but we have no duty to simply accept that without attempting to improve.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

We are a violent and territorial species... but we have no duty to simply accept that without attempting to improve.

True.

 

[Looncall]

Come, come now, I don't believe you think Mainstream religion is only such a tool, but recognize it's other functions as well. However, on the chance that you are this short-sighted I invite you to consider the other purposes it serves. I leave it to you to figure out what they are. It ain't hard.

I think you are right. After all, religion's main function is to provide a living for clerics.

 

[Sunstone]

I think it is all but indisputable that the earliest hierarchical societies -- the civilizations of the Sumerians, Chinese, Inca, Maya, and so forth -- invented state sponsored religion as a means of social control and psychological coercion. Modern religions are essentially the heirs of programs designed -- or perhaps not so much designed as stumbled upon -- for social control.

Of course, religions have served -- and still serve -- more than one purpose. There is no single purpose religion on earth. So, the OP is a bit off in apparently suggesting that "religion is only a tool of social control" [italics mine].

 

[arcanum]

I think it is all but indisputable that the earliest hierarchical societies -- the civilizations of the Sumerians, Chinese, Inca, Maya, and so forth -- invented state sponsored religion as a means of social control and psychological coercion. Modern religions are essentially the heirs of programs designed -- or perhaps not so much designed as stumbled upon -- for social control.

Of course, religions have served -- and still serve -- more than one purpose. There is no single purpose religion on earth. So, the OP is a bit off in apparently suggesting that "religion is only a tool of social control" [italics mine].

And as I clarified in my following post, I said my use of the word only was a poor choice because that is not the case. It clearly serves a different purpose for the practitioner than it does the cleric, and going even wider it serves a different purpose for the civic leaders within a society than the previous two. Though in the religion for the masses I'm referring to, often the clerics and the state will have a close and interconnected relationship.

 

[arcanum]

How is that any different from any of the other things humans kill each other over? We're just a violent, primitive species.

... Hey Saint Frankie, I thought you were a Satanist, did you go all Catholic on us bro? What's up with that?