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| Faint-hearted beings:Religion's prime target |
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.
4 comments:
I saw your name on the FB LGBT monitor and I recognized your nickname immediately.
Welcome to the Lebanese blogging atheist.
I like your post. You really needed to get that off your chest huh?
By the way you need to allow comments as Anonymous. This is Lebanon we're talking about.
Take care :D
Hello, Thanks for your support :D And thanks for your tip! I am a regular follower of your blog and I enjoy it!
Dead on! Imagine my disgust upon learning that imams get paid for Friday mosque sermons. That common enemy every likes to call the Devil has never been on a more fattening sabbatical. But oh well, the Devil must be a fellow Middle Eastern. ;) Great content, khayo!
The devil is being held up to scare people in order for religion to pass on its questionable doctrine. Thanks for your support... and keep coming back for more :P
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