However, at this moment in time I'm trying to distill what little knoweledge I do have into a context that I may at some future date read again and recognize an improvement in my understanding. I think that only by taking stock of my knowledge and keeping a record of that knowledge may I gauge any personal progress that I may make in the pursuit of truth.
I would like to first clarify which definition of religion I'm using: a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects. Taken in this context, religion is an umbrella that covers quite a bit more then what is conventionally called "religion". By this definition, the republican party, the democratic party, a job, or any organization that you participate in could be referred to as a religion if it defines a fundamental set of beliefs and practices that you generally agree upon and attempt to follow along with others of like mind. Now, one might say its a stretch to call a job a religion and perhaps, if you are part of a small organization , I would agree with you. But large corporations have a need to implement a form a religion within their organization because they cannot possible guarantee control over their employees without it. Which is a perfect segue into what the purpose of all religion really is: control.
Control is not bad, it simple exists. Desiring full control of any situation is not bad, in fact it makes perfect sense. Who would not want to fully control their destiny? But if you fully control your destiny, how can I fully control mine? I cannot because inevitable those things which I desire to control will conflict with the things which you desire to control. Thus, the best way for me to control another, in order to reduce my own lack of control of the situations around me, is to convince others to desire the same thing that I do so that our destinies no longer conflict. This is the central theme of all organizations, especially religious ones.
This idea of conflict in control does not mean one is forced, but just that naturally, as men we all seek to control all we can (much of which is an illusion), which more often then not includes other people.
I would like to specify that all forms of control depend on our personally derived understanding of existence and those experiences which have lead us to live under the umbrellas of control that we have accepted in our lives. I say this because control is a compromise, we knowingly or unknowingly compromise our personal control to others everyday. Happiness is found when the number of known and chosen compromises greatly outweigh those that we know about, but didn't necessarily knowingly agree to. Which ultimately leads us to the fundamental conflicting idea that exists for mankind. This fundamental idea, I am beginning to believe, is the only absolute truth of our existence. Free agency. Ultimately all external control is an illusion, for we can all make any choice we wish (within the set of choices we have available at that time). We cannot for example choose to become a professional basketball player when that choice is not actually available to us. But I can choose to not pay my taxes and thereby suffer the consequences. Consequences that they government imposes because they can, in an attempt to control me and encourage the choice of paying my taxes. Yet, the only reason they can enforce those consequences is because they have imposed other forms of control on other individuals that allow them to manipulate the choices of those individuals to the extent to enforcing consequences on others. This principle can be distilled into one simple concept of control. My gun is bigger then yours. In any struggle between 2 parties the struggle is ultimately about control and if you can be more forces of control to bear on the other party you will most likely win. When we knowingly compromise our control , we are much more amicable to the controlling power and thus happier.
Duty and Guilt. You believe that it is your duty to do something, thereby empowering the weapon of guilt. What really is duty? A belief of responsibility. Guilt is a belief that you have failed in that responsibility or that you will fail if you don't do something to succeed. Guilt can be an extremely powerful form of control. It is also easily defeated if you can recognize what duty is being guilted and remove your personal feeling of duty toward that task. Duty and guilt aren't bad, they simple are. Having a sense of duty and allowing guilt to encourage you to behave in accordance with your sense of duty can be highly satisfying. It is however, a form of control and if you didn't knowingly enter into the comprise that created the sense of duty, it is likely that you will chaff greatly under the weapon of guilt and quickly disconnect yourself from that sense of duty.
Loyalty and Trust. Loyalty is A feeling or attitude of devoted attachment and affection. There is rarely loyalty without trust and used together it is easy to gain a controlling hand in the lives of others. I think this type of control is the easiest to understand because it can be describe with a common phrase used among friends. "Trust me". Appealing to the loyalty that you feel towards a friend and the trust that is associated with the existence of said loyalty. Even in a situation where trust is weak, loyalty often creates a misplaced trust. Take a sense of family loyalty. Believing that loyalty to a family member is the correct or right thing, despite indicators , that your family will ultimately let you down. Loyalty and Trust could be equated to Faith.
Misinformation. We all suffer from this form of control, for no one knows everything. When we do something , anything based on the information we have been provided, we have effectively compromised our control. Our control becomes dependent on the veracity of the provided information, thus effective propaganda and misinformation is an excellent tool for control. Again, this is not bad, it simple is. Misinformation can be paralyzing, because it can lead to a mind that refuses to accept any decision they make could be "right" since the access to information can never be 100% accurate. The control in misinformation is extremely powerful because it appeals to two sides of human nature that are common among men. Pride and Sloth. Once we've accepted something as true, we have a tendency not to want to accept anything else because we want to believe we made the right decision concerning the idea in the first place and finding the truth for oneself always requires more effort then accepting a "truth" provided you. Combating misinformation is a constant battle. It requires a willingness to accept that you or those experts you trust are wrong. It requires a willingness to explore many avenues of information. It, is truly a never ending battle and one we are constantly losing. I believe that misinformation is the most potent and common form of control. It can be as benign as embellishing a story to lead others to believe you are more then you really are or as obvious as outright lying. Often times all other forms of control are even only possible because of misinformation. A misinformed sense of duty empowers guilt when there should be none. A misinformed sense of loyalty prompts trust when there should be none. Misinformed faith prompts hope and action when there should be none. I think in its purest form, all control relies on access to information. Whether that information is true or false is irrelevant, but to be happy access to true information is essential.
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