Is religion used to control people?

[Beaker]

I'll just leave this here for discussion:

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2016/05/31/american-bishop-explains-how-religion-is-made-up-used-to-control-people/

[Griever]

i would agree that it is

"be good or suffer eternal punishment of some sort"

[Brownshoe]

Obviously it is.

Islam more so than any other major religion that I know of. 40 virgins and all that. But it's not like it's that far off from most other religions.

[Vas Deferens]

(06-10-2016, 12:56 PM)Beaker Wrote: I'll just leave this here for discussion:

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2016/05/31/american-bishop-explains-how-religion-is-made-up-used-to-control-people/

That author has a funny name that I can't pronounce.  Disregarded.

[*bfine32*]

The opening paragraph is quite profound and seems very promising.

Quote:Religion is a controversial topic, and I’d like to preface this article by saying that it is not my aim to belittle or diminish anyone’s beliefs. My problem is not with faith but with religion as an organization, which has been used as a means of control, to pit people against each other, and to incite terror and war. Religion in this context serves the purposes of many various global elitist agendas.

I'll read the rest when I have time to give it my full attention. Thanks for posting.

[BigPapaKain]

Of course it is. It's why priests of any religion have been untouchable since man first started telling ghost stories about why the sun goes away.

No matter how innocent the religion may have started, man always manages to make it about control and exerting power over other men.

[Rotobeast]

(06-10-2016, 02:36 PM)BigPapaKain Wrote: No matter how innocent the religion may have started, man always manages to make it about control and exerting power over other men.

This....
Man is fallible.
Many of them were used to create likeminded people to expand and unify a people.
The core is usually wholesome, but man contorts it to his needs.
Heck, look at Catholicism.
No birth control, make more Catholics dammit.
(Insert Python's "Every sperm is sacred" here)

[GMDino]

(06-10-2016, 12:56 PM)Beaker Wrote: I'll just leave this here for discussion:

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2016/05/31/american-bishop-explains-how-religion-is-made-up-used-to-control-people/

I shared this link in another thread.

And I agree with most here that anything can be used to control people once someone decides they can use it for their own purposes.

Religion is just one of many.

[Bengalzona]

I have found that society is way of controlling people.

[grampahol]

I read that religion was started because the king couldn't control everyone so they needed the all seeing eye who could see what you were doing and even read your mind.
Well, anyways, I'm not a subscriber to any religion much less the all seeing eye or big skooky in the sky.

[SunsetBengal]

Absolutely. Likely why I quit practicing organized religion.