A Recipe for Religion
Submitted by dimmer on 24 October, 2005 - 02:09.
originally posted by dimmer on Tuesday March 30, @02:00PM
from the Culinary-School-for-Entrepreneurs dept.
In my study of religion, it has become apparent to me that religion is the result of at least two processes: 1) Cultural beliefs develop and are organized over time into a more cohesive belief system, ie religion - this process is powered by influencial leaders and sociocultural movements. 2) Established cultural beliefs are hijacked by a charismatic leader and reshaped into a new belief system - this process is much quicker than the previous, and is controlled generally by only one person. The second model applies to several religions today, and since the method is pretty generic, it can be manifested in the form of a recipe. So, without further ado: A Recipe for Religion.
For this recipe, you will need substantial amounts of charisma, but whatever pre-existing cultural beliefs are lying around will suffice.
A delicious Religion, with a glaze of authenticity and a dash of originality:
- Modify existing cultural beliefs so that they are familiar, yet seemingly new and different from the old. This can be achieved by writing or "finding" a religious holy text, and/or hijack old religious text(s), it does not necessarily need to be the word of God, but it needs to wield some kind of supreme authority. This text will contain tenets substantiated by the altered cultural beliefs. In this way, the religion will seem true to people, because they already believe in your basic assumptions - such as belief in an omnipotent God, belief in a soul, or afterlife.
- Add appeal. Do people around you want military strength, a social network of friends, "moral integrity", great health, a wonderful afterlife, or superhuman abilities? Your religion will give them what they want.
- Proselytize. Your religion will not spread if you do not give it a jumpstart. You can go door to door to spread the religion, but you'll probably want to personally create a few converts and make the new converts seek more converts for you - you will find nobody more enthusiastic to help spread the religion than idealistic, impressionable, truth-seeking, spiritually-hungry young people. Old people are also great converts - just encourage them to will their belongings to the cause. As your number of followers increases, so too will your political and economic power.
- Consolidate. Eliminate serious competition through slander, military conquests, politics, or migration. Clean up any messy points: Once you have eliminated threats, you have the power rewrite the history of your religion - obscure anything in the religion's formation that appears human, ie, less than transcendent.
- Enjoy a delicious religion. Bathe in the wealth and power you have created - you will have dedicated, sacrificing followers to do your bidding until the day you die. Can you think of religions that have successfully followed this recipe? Here are a few: Islam, Mormonism, The Church of Scientology, and Jim Jones' People's Temple.
this is hilariously true,
this is hilariously true, nice one
=P
Amen to that!
(Irony intended.)
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