this post was submitted on 20 Feb 2024
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Keep in mind that the US constitution, Rupert Murdock, or Lemmy are not designed to target the poor and encourage them to tithe so that money can be funneled upwards to the leader. Well, maybe Rupert Murdock, but not the US constitution and definitely not Lemmy. There's a difference between telling the poor that everyone is equal under the law, and telling the poor that if they believe hard enough and give the church 10% of their earnings regardless of their financial status that they will be rewarded in the afterlife or even rewarded maybe possibly while they are still alive.
How about telling the poor that if they work hard eventually they'll be millionaires? Or telling them that a lower capital gains tax will improve their spending power? What about telling them that cheap drugs are penalized 100:1 to more expensive drugs?
The law enriches the rich, and politics convinces people to vote against their own interests. Call it a tithe or a tax, and enforce it with the threat of state violence or social opprobrium, but the result is the same.
Jesus of Nazareth said you should take care of your neighbors, because the religious institutions and government won't, and those religious institutions and governments killed Him for it. That the American church is hard to distinguish from the First Century Jewish priesthood is no accident.
This is capitalists every step of the way. Not the US constitution. But they aren't telling you that you might go to hell if you don't tithe. They are holding the word of their god over your head and making you feel guilty if you don't believe hard enough.
The ideas of your Jesus of Nazareth are noble enough on the surface. But they still insist you submit to a higher authority, and those higher authorities always have a human that you actually submit to and give money to. Funny how that works...
You are entirely missing the point that it isnt religion or capitalism, but ALL human led power structures that lean this way over time
Are you suggesting that religion is designed? Because it isn't. It arises naturally from human curiosity about the universe.
No, science arises naturally from human curiosity about the universe. Religion arises from human desire to control others and accumulate wealth, as demonstrated by every religion ever created.
That's the kind of thing I would expect someone to say if they formed an opinion about religion without ever really learning anything about any religions other than maybe the one they were raised with.
I'm very familiar with several forms of Christianity, as well as some early Jewish traditions and a bit of Islam, and let's not forget various forms of Eastern religions, and of course my favorite, Wicca and Paganism. Any time a religion formalizes and creates a hierarchy, it always leads to funneling money and power to the leaders.
The majority of the religions you mentioned there are decentralized and don't have a hierarchy. Yet you claimed religions are always invented with the sole purpose of controlling the masses.
Bud, religion GAVE us science. Most religions are old a shit and are basically the precursors to science as scholars back in the day were funded by the church.