"Fear is the greatest power known to man, and fear is what religion is based on. It is the perfect means of control"


If you can convince the public that they have something or someone to fear then by doing that you can also make them act in a way or take certain actions that they would otherwise not do. Once you have made them believe that you have the answer or that they are safe in your hands then you now have been given all the power. For now that they are convinced and a have a firm belief in whatever your selling them you now can slowly begin to manipulate them in anyway you perceive. This has happened time and time again, and I am reminded of this famous quote “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” - George Santayana. There are many examples of this that come to mind all through our history, one of the most recent and infamous is that of Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust. He convinced a whole country that Jews were to blame for all their problems. One man was able to rise to power and over time manipulate his country into the killing of approximately six million Jews and because of that will never be forgotten and has a permanent place in our history books. Now don’t you think if only one man can have such an effect then many man could come up with stories (Jesus, Allah, Krishna, Muhammad ,etc.) about a great and wise man or woman who once lived and performed great miracles and if you blindly believe in this person and do what they say you will live forever in a perfect place but if you don’t believe in this person that has no shred of evidence off ever actually existing that you will be forever tormented in the depth of a burning hell but this person steal loves you. Young Muslims are so convinced and blindly believe that they will crash into a building or blow themselves up in the name of Allah and then expect to have a certain amount of virgins waiting on them when they get to heaven. The Christians will laugh and make fun of this not realizing that they are just as fooled. Christianly has been controlling people since it was thought up. I mean at one time and for a long period of time the pope was the most powerful position in the world. If you think Christians have always been so righteous, then do a little reading on the crusades. The bottom line is man cannot except their own mortality and will continue to make up stories and beliefs to make them feel like they will never die.

Religion is a human invention to control the masses and avoid conflict through its unfalsifiable fear-based incentives, used in lieu of a viable justice and incarceration system.

I highly doubt, however, that the creators of Christianity could have ever foreseen the far-reaching effects, both through time and over continents.
Hell, the creators of Christianity couldn't see too much past the five mile (liberal estimate) radius around their property.

Augh, wordwall, wordwall!

What words of wisdom, I'm so glad you've just joined our ranks.

I have a hard time seeing the reasoning behind the argument that religion is for controlling the masses. I think in its purest form, that is, the true teachings as opposed to someone's deliberate attempt to distort a holy book for their own gain, are a means to avoid eternal death. This goes to show how far we have come as humans in my opinion. From cavemen inventing better tools for survival to medicines that prolong life, we have been able to adapt to live longer. Religion is the acknowledgement that as mortals there is unavoidable death no matter how hard we try to use nature to our benefit. Religion is also the response to this and 'ensures' there will always be a tomorrow for eternity, effectively avoiding death altogether.

Quote:I have a hard time seeing the reasoning behind the argument that religion is for controlling the masses

I agree that its a pretty simplistic argument for the main/only reason for the existence of religion. However, I have no doubt that organised religion has always been used as means to social control,political power and personal wealth.

It is no accident that organised religion almost invariably supports the status quo. EG Look at the US today and how the Catholic church responded to the social justice movement of liberation theology and the child abuse which is endemic in the Church.

Quote:Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. (Seneca)

Quote:I think in its purest form, that is, the true teachings

Religion was, at its earliest, an attempt to persuade the gullible that natural forces could be controlled by propitiation conducted by the priest class. Once the natural alliance was formed between the priests and the political leaders there was no longer any need to persuade and threats could be used instead.

Let me rephrase your quote a bit:

"Fear [of God] is the greatest power known to man, and fear [of God] is what religion is based on. It is the perfect means of control [and the perfect means to reach out to our Creator]"

(July 1, 2012 at 3:41 pm)NoFate Wrote: "Fear is the greatest power known to man, and fear is what religion is based on. It is the perfect means of control"

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If you can convince the public that they have something or someone to fear then by doing that you can also make them act in a way or take certain actions that they would otherwise not do. Once you have made them believe that you have the answer or that they are safe in your hands then you now have been given all the power. For now that they are convinced and a have a firm belief in whatever your selling them you now can slowly begin to manipulate them in anyway you perceive. This has happened time and time again, and I am reminded of this famous quote “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” - George Santayana. There are many examples of this that come to mind all through our history, one of the most recent and infamous is that of Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust. He convinced a whole country that Jews were to blame for all their problems. One man was able to rise to power and over time manipulate his country into the killing of approximately six million Jews and because of that will never be forgotten and has a permanent place in our history books. Now don’t you think if only one man can have such an effect then many man could come up with stories (Jesus, Allah, Krishna, Muhammad ,etc.) about a great and wise man or woman who once lived and performed great miracles and if you blindly believe in this person and do what they say you will live forever in a perfect place but if you don’t believe in this person that has no shred of evidence off ever actually existing that you will be forever tormented in the depth of a burning hell but this person steal loves you. Young Muslims are so convinced and blindly believe that they will crash into a building or blow themselves up in the name of Allah and then expect to have a certain amount of virgins waiting on them when they get to heaven. The Christians will laugh and make fun of this not realizing that they are just as fooled. Christianly has been controlling people since it was thought up. I mean at one time and for a long period of time the pope was the most powerful position in the world. If you think Christians have always been so righteous, then do a little reading on the crusades. The bottom line is man cannot except their own mortality and will continue to make up stories and beliefs to make them feel like they will never die.

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Good to have you here, now do you think you've brought anything new to the table, nope, we've heard this stuff many times and it does not fly. Just who does Christianity control and for what purpose would Christianity need to control and who would it benefit, can you answer these questions.
Next, who is it looking to extend life, who is it that wants to see life extended, those who are afraid to die and it's not Christians. Christians have a future after bodily death, those who do not know God through Christ have no real future after bodily death. So with this reasoning it must be the unbeliever who wants life extended and if I'm not mistaken it is the unbelievers who are trying to extend life through chemicals, diet, or whatever. So go out there and work your butts off with exercise, eat your peanuts and veggies, pop your pills it could extend your life a couple years, in the end you will be worm food like the rest of us, that is until the second resurrection.

(July 1, 2012 at 11:28 pm)Godschild Wrote: Good to have you here, now do you think you've brought anything new to the table, nope, we've heard this stuff many times and it does not fly. Just who does Christianity control and for what purpose would Christianity need to control and who would it benefit, can you answer these questions.
Next, who is it looking to extend life, who is it that wants to see life extended, those who are afraid to die and it's not Christians. Christians have a future after bodily death, those who do not know God through Christ have no real future after bodily death. So with this reasoning it must be the unbeliever who wants life extended and if I'm not mistaken it is the unbelievers who are trying to extend life through chemicals, diet, or whatever. So go out there and work your butts off with exercise, eat your peanuts and veggies, pop your pills it could extend your life a couple years, in the end you will be worm food like the rest of us, that is until the second resurrection.

Could not have put it in better words.