Religion & Marginalized People

1. 83

   gmwilliamsposted 5 months ago

   
   Religion seems to be a psychological salve among people who are marginalized in one way or another.   Religion tends to attract the poor, less educated, and otherwise powerless people.   It is religion that gives them value & teaches them that their oppressed condition is fine & a preparation for the afterlife.   Religion also have a hold over these people because it knows that such people will see religious authority as a psychological envelopment.  Religion also offers such people an escape against their harsh environment.   Your thoughts?

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2. 80

   Credence2posted 5 months ago

   I have nothing against religion as long as you do not attempt to control me with it.
   
   I share NOTHiNG with conservative evangelicals.
   
   I am for the principles of non-establishment where religion and secular government cross paths.
   
   Keep your religions in your churches and in your homes.
   
   Philosophically, man corrupts the very concept of Christianity, its true meaning and authentic practice.
   
   People fall back on religion as an excuse not to think for themselves
   
   As it is now, it is the opiate of the people.

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   1. 83

      gmwilliamsposted 5 months agoin reply to this

      Applause, totally agree.

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   2. 90

      MizBejabbersposted 5 months agoin reply to this

      I wholeheartedly agree with you although I had to grow up to realize this. I especially agree that man has corrupted the very concept of Christ's teachings.

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3. 90

   MizBejabbersposted 5 months ago

   I just learned this after I grew up, probably because I grew up in a rural town in the 1950s. Our little town had a population of approximately 4500 people. It had three elementary schools, one junior high school and one high school. It also had a small college owned by the Presbyterian Church. There were two large and one medium sized (Convention) Baptist Churches, two large United Methodist Churches, One Presbyterian Church, and one Church of Christ that later in my teens expanded into two churches, one on each side of town. there was one tiny Catholic Church that was smaller than the greatroom in my house today. There were also numerous little independent churches scattered all over town. I used to joke that I didn't know whether the town should be called "the town of churches" or "the town of filling stations" because the little town had more than its share of those, too. I tell you this so you can picture the atmosphere.
   
   I attended one of the larger Baptist churches, but my mother had attended a Church of Christ and was disappointed in my choice. Many of the deacons in my church were from the upper class, which was mostly merchants, and the other officials were at least upper middle class. After I started high school, I learned that the fathers of my wealthier classmates were either deacons, elders, or the equivalent thereof. I can't think of any poor people who were in this category of church officials. I finally woke up and realized that small town churches were where the money was, and money takes control. That is until televangelists began to broadcast their "send me money" calls to the public.
   
   While I agree with your assessment now, I'm just saying that in small towns and rural America, it didn't seem to be that way, and that in itself is one element of control. Pulling the wool over people's eyes. It did take money to keep the churches rolling, money that came from the town fathers and wealthy church officials, but the result was the same as now. It provided control of the people who were less financially fortunate than the church hierarchy. I'd never thought about the fact that no people from the lower financial class were ever known to be church officials.
   
   Also, I grew up in the segregated South, and the churches helped to foster segregation then. Today these churches that I mentioned welcome all colors. I guess they have learned that only one color really matters: green.

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