Religion: the anti-fear pill

On my blog, I discussed the topic of how religion relies on human ignorance and fear of the unknown to thrive.

Here's the complete blog post:

Religion: the anti-fear pill

In a society of mass consumption like ours, marketing is a key player. Consumers usually base their purchasing decisions upon marketing campaigns aimed at making them succumb to the latest products. Pharmaceutical companies brag about their anti-aging cremes...Hi-tech manufacturers show off their powerful electronics...Media icons go to extremes in order to conquer new fans....and religion is no different.

Religion is a business...and a lucrative one for that matter. The consumers? a large (unfortunately) number of more or less unstable individuals. The employees? a group of wealthy and powerful men (unsurprisingly) devoted to get their message heard. The boss? an almighty creature seldom (never!) seen, rarely (never!) heard from , but feared and worshiped nonetheless. The product? a package of feel-good and you're-going-to-heaven practices for faint-hearted, shallow-minded, brain-washed human beings. The need? an uncontrollable urge to answer the unknown, appease the horror of absolute nothingness, and give a meaning to an otherwise seemingly lame existence.

Religion feeds on fear..and of that we(me not included!) have plenty. We fear death, we fear hell, we fear the devil..we fear sickness, failure, disappointments, punishment and pay back. And since some of us have a rather dysfunctional reasoning, alternative reliefs are sought. Being unable to deal with those issues on their own, and inherently repelled by mental health personnel (aren't shrinks another manifestation of Lucifer himself?!) , they tend to confide in sectarian organizations hoping to find their peace of mind (shouldn't they be looking for a piece of mind instead?!).

Religion needs an enemy...If one ceases to exit, a new fiend is immediately created. Always stronger, more dangerous, more threatening to our fragile souls, those enemies play a crucial part in a religion's thrive for more followers. For Christians, it's the Muslims...for Muslims it's the Christians and Jews...for religious people it's the atheists,gays, women in miniskirts...It can be the lurking devil, the long awaited Antichrist(where the hell is he?!), the outspoken writers/journalists/artists, the genius scientists and their 'controversial' (life-saving) researches .It can be anything, anyone...any time anywhere...and next time it could be you.

Link:

Religion: the anti-fear pill

Tags: fear, ignorance, religion

2 members like this

Comment by OpenYourMind on July 9, 2011 at 12:47pm: ''Religion is a business'' Very true statement. What I could never understand is if you are a religious person donating to your church or buying religious products and truly believe in a god that created all matter, life and time in the Universe. Would you just stop and think for once, that a being of that magnitude does not need your money.

Comment by Lord Gaytheist on July 9, 2011 at 12:48pm: Very good point!

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