happydolphin on 09 May 2013
| Scoobes said: I said both but it's a cycle: 1. People create religion to explain the unknown (OK, this part is outside the circle and only needs to happen once) 2. People in power use religion as a tool to manipulate and control the masses 3. The masses further utilise religion to spread the doctrines further and carry out the preferred acts of person in step 2 4. Person in step 2 dies or is replaced. Steps 2-4 are repeated. In human history, religion is probably the most powerful tool one can utilise to control a large population of people. Yes, there are other tools like political ideology, but religions seems to be the only one which can overcome generational gaps; most religious people are the same religion as their parents whilst the same is not true of political alignment. Furthermore, religion is typically ingrained in people from a young age when the mind is developing making it harder to step back and question it. |
@bold. I know a few people that were raised Christian and are total atheists, and I'm pretty sure some people are today atheist because that's how they were raised.
It really goes both ways, I'm not sure how you get the distinction.
