the political use of religion

It has become fashionable lately to use mobs of religious folk for political evil... though I guess this has always been the case. It is an obvious ploy when you think about it. Politics generally seeks power in an ends-justifies-the-means fashion. Groups of religious people tend to be easily brainwashed as evidenced by the utterly zany beliefs many of them cling to (virgins waiting in heaven for their eternal fucking, UFOs coming to whisk them away, armageddon is a good thing, ghosts exist, etc). Power comes from controlling people and their money. Easily controlled people are an obvious target for corrupt politicians.
( Read more... )

[I should note here that I don't mean to imply that all religious people are imbeciles. A lot of religious people are very smart. But all religion does have a core of unquestioned beliefs, so even smart people leave themselves open to exploitation by unscrupulous villains via their religion.]