Archive for the ‘Atheism’ Category

The similarities between Religion and Government

Sunday, June 3rd, 2012

I wrote this quick list while I was traveling. Sometimes you have to spell things out for people. This list is in no way exhaustive. One could write volumes on this subject.

*Note: this will become a permanent page in an easier to read format. Getting the Tables to display properly took some time.

Function Government Religion
An Excuse to Take Your Money We have to save the poor, children, the old. We need security. We must respect the social contract. You are guilty of original sin. You owe our messiah or prophet because he did x for you. The scripture demands a % of your income as an offering to god.
Method of Money Extraction Taxes, fines, fees, inflation, licenses, mandatory insurance, granting monopolies for power, water, etc. Tithes, tax breaks, special legislation, laws they don’t have to abide by, ostracism and social pressure to conform.
An Excuse to Tell You What to Do Statutory laws, executive orders, need for “public goods”, the interest of “public welfare”, its in the constitution. Divine law, divine revelation, holy books.
Methods of Behavior Enforcement Laws, crackdowns, tax penalties, tax incentives, marking (arrest records and public trials), kidnapping (arrest), theft (confiscation or seizure), enslavement(incarceration), execution. Enforcing Prohibition, anti-prostitution, anti-gambling, War on drugs. Religious Laws, lobbying, social pressure, media, youth indoctrination, control of voting blocs *all government methods apply when a church is in power. Supporting Prohibition, anti-prostitution, anti-gambling, War on drugs. * just a coincidence that these things are also sins
A Claim of Special Knowledge Statesmen claim to know what is best for the “public good” and for each individual without knowing any individual’s value scales. Terms like “national interest” do not apply to the common man. Politicians claim to be able to run all sectors of the nation the best without having knowledge or experience in any of them. Bills are never read, lobbyists blah blah blah etc etc. Priests claim to be able to hear god and know what he wants people to do. This is special because no one else can see or hear god, ever, OF COARSE.
An Excuse for War We must spread or protect democracy, communism, our glorious empire, our interests. It is the will of our fearless leader. It will boost the economy. We have to prevent the enemy from attacking here, so we fight over there. We have to liberate country x. God will return when everyone believes our religion and the scripture commands us to spread the word. The scripture commands us to punish/conquer/convert the goyim/heathens/infidels. Only after Armageddon will our savior return. Holy Jihad/Crusade
Ceremonies and Illusion of control Voting, trials, debates, patriotism, pledges, anthems, special uniforms, flags, and symbolism. Church worship, marriage, baptism, confession, other sacraments, prayer, Eucharist, holy days and holidays, special clothing and hats, jewelry, pilgrimages.
 Impossibility of Fault or Responsibility  Politicians are in and out, it is difficult to assign blame to a morphing group. Politicians are legally exempt from consequences of their action and many of the very laws they pass. Politicians cannot be sued for decisions they make. Its not their money they play with. Politicians can assign blame to the voters. Success: take credit Failure: Blame immigrants, tax policy, inflation other governments, other politicians, the other party, the system, corruption.  God told me to do it. If it works out your prayers have been answered and god is great, tithe. If prayers are unanswered, have faith, tithe more. If you suffer a tragedy it is a test/gods will/gods plan tithe as a show of your continued faith and pray for a miracle.
Indoctrination and Brainwashing Control of and mandatory schooling from childhood to adulthood.(18 years min. enslavement time) Control and regulation of the Media (Movies, News, radio, and soon Internet) Basic Training for Mil. and LE. separating themselves from “civilians” Sunday school( special worship session for young children), religious schools (madrassas, catholic schools, christian summer camps), church families and communities, guilt tripping.
Figure Heads Mayors, presidents, governors, leaders, assemblymen, police, military, “law makers”, bureaucrats Ayatollah, priests, bishops, imams, pope, pastors, crusaders, jihadists
As Front for Racism Slavery, constitutional clauses, black codes, jim crow, segregation, mandatory minimums, selective enforcement, racial profiling, police harassment and brutality, wars against brown nations, using race to divide the masses. Police and FBI racist actions. government infiltration of racists and KKK. And a Fuck-ton more. Racist stories in a given holy text, The story of Ham, Long history of Muslim-African slave trade. Clauses in holy texts calling for obedience to masters. Clauses in holy books calling for chosen people to take slaves. KKK(a christian terrorist org.)
As a Front for Sexism Sexist laws against women, denying women rights to own property, suffrage. Banning women from certain professions. More recently terrible divorce laws against men, making prostitution illegal, paying for or banning abortion. Ridiculous bias in the courts against men. Barely any enforcement of laws against women in terms of tickets, domestic abuse cases, other areas. Sexist stories in holy books. Outright stating that women are inferior, untrustworthy, should be obedient, quiet, and are less important than men. A history of mutilation and killing women who were “witches” or whores or adulteresses or whatever they felt like at the time.
Tax Beneficiaries “Public Servants” don’t pay taxes, whatever they pretend to pay is a reduction of their salaries because their entire paycheck is tax money.  Churches are tax exempt and , therefore, their activities and use of infrastructure and services are subsidized by the tax paying community.
Hypocrisy Notorious for violating its own laws, leaders notorious for breaking laws they adamantly enforce. Both Bush and Obama openly admit to doing weed and ‘blow’- something I haven’t even done and I am far form an angel. The government breaks every single law on its own books. Leaders notorious for breaking “moral” laws they shame others into following, notorious for making millions by preaching to the poor about the virtue of poverty. Notorious for sexual escapades usually involving same sex affairs and/or children.
Super Human Status Humans are corrupt so we need other humans, who for some reason won’t become corrupt, to look over them. Humans are fallen and decrepit who are sinners and lost. We need this special human (who for some reason is not a fallen decrepit sinner) who can hear god to tell us what to do and guide us.