Why are most religious people so easy to manipulate? (serious)
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2 Corinthians 5:7
For we live by faith, not by sight.
The whole concept of faith implies believing something without proof. Not a long stretch to see how people might believe in other, non religious, things without evidence.
It's the modern Scheister equivalent of "Trust me bro!"
Religion has a build in self defense mechanism as that it will prime people to expect people to call them fools for believing foolish things, so it actually serves to strengthen their faith. "See, pastor told me they'd come for my relationship with God!"
All of this relies heavily on getting into people when they are young and their brains are still developing.
People do not understand how deeply religion gets ingrained and how damaging it is.
You'll have adults that have left the faith, because they've seen the bullshit that it is that are still afraid of hell because they've been bombarded with this shit since they could talk.
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I'm watching Apocalypse in the Tropics documentary on Netflix about evangelicals and politics in Brazil and it's mind boggling. Why do the religious people just blindly do whatever the pastors tell them?
wrote last edited by [email protected]If you believe in a magic man in the sky and a talking snake, it's probably pretty easy to convince them of other things too.
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You may be doing a little generalization there. Evangelicals are not representative of religious people.
one of the most numerous and arguably the most influential religious group in modern timesis not representative of religious peopleAre you being serious right now?
Though I will happily agree that evangelicals are in fact the worst religious people.
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one of the most numerous and arguably the most influential religious group in modern timesis not representative of religious peopleAre you being serious right now?
Though I will happily agree that evangelicals are in fact the worst religious people.
3.5% of the world population is Evangelical, it's around 1% in my country. It's less than the number of atheists (7% globally, 63% in my country). So no, absolutely not representative. Your answer is very US-centered.
And in my country were atheism is very spread, I see a lot a manipulated people. Religious people aren't more easily manipulated than others, it's just that religious easily manipulated people are attracted by Evangelicalism.
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If you believe in a magic man in the sky and a talking snake, it's probably pretty easy to convince them of other things too.
Religion has already filtered out a population segment more likely to defer to authority figures when faced with facts that contradict reality.
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That sounds like the Bonhoeffer kind of stupid.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone call Bonhoeffer stupid before. Personally I wish more pastors got involved in plots to assassinate genocidal fascists.
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I'm watching Apocalypse in the Tropics documentary on Netflix about evangelicals and politics in Brazil and it's mind boggling. Why do the religious people just blindly do whatever the pastors tell them?
Because they're people; and people, in general, are easy to manipulate.
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I'm watching Apocalypse in the Tropics documentary on Netflix about evangelicals and politics in Brazil and it's mind boggling. Why do the religious people just blindly do whatever the pastors tell them?
Evangelical in the sense of protestant christians or in the sense of that crazy cult that's going on over in the Americas? Maybe it's just the news giving me the wrong idea, but I really don't recognise my religion just one ocean away.
I am a scepticist, but (or rather because) I grew up with a progressive church that allows and encourages critical thinking. Very tame stances overall, no overly aggressive rethoric, laughing and coloring you hair very much allowed. Then you cross the pond and hear fuming people talk about filthy infidels and holy wars like wth...
I think these people are not necessarily easy to manipulate, but indoctrinated to hell and back
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I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone call Bonhoeffer stupid before. Personally I wish more pastors got involved in plots to assassinate genocidal fascists.
wrote last edited by [email protected]I really wrote that poorly.
I was referring to his views on stupidity being a choice and a way of (not) thinking instead of an intrinsic attribute. That's how someone intelligent can have stupid thoughts. -
I really wrote that poorly.
I was referring to his views on stupidity being a choice and a way of (not) thinking instead of an intrinsic attribute. That's how someone intelligent can have stupid thoughts.Bonhoeffer was anything but stupid and the opposite of the 'blind faith' kind of Christian.
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I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone call Bonhoeffer stupid before. Personally I wish more pastors got involved in plots to assassinate genocidal fascists.
Was that plot even real or was it a kangaroo court sort of thing?
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I'm watching Apocalypse in the Tropics documentary on Netflix about evangelicals and politics in Brazil and it's mind boggling. Why do the religious people just blindly do whatever the pastors tell them?
People in general are easily manipulated, and those who manipulate use the beliefs of the people they’re manipulating to do so.
Religion certainly is a something used for that, but it’s hardly the only one.
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I'm watching Apocalypse in the Tropics documentary on Netflix about evangelicals and politics in Brazil and it's mind boggling. Why do the religious people just blindly do whatever the pastors tell them?
I think you have it backwards, it's no wonder people who are easy to manipulate get drawn into religion.
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Was that plot even real or was it a kangaroo court sort of thing?
I think it was real. His level of involvement is debatable, but his writings seem to indicate he at least knew about it.
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Bonhoeffer was anything but stupid and the opposite of the 'blind faith' kind of Christian.
Gotcha. I agree.
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I think it was real. His level of involvement is debatable, but his writings seem to indicate he at least knew about it.
Kind of lazy of me not to look it up myself...
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Organized religion is a means to control people. Always has been. How can anybody be surprised to learn after thousands of years they have actually perfected the craft of controlling people?
Those who can make you believe in absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
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I'm watching Apocalypse in the Tropics documentary on Netflix about evangelicals and politics in Brazil and it's mind boggling. Why do the religious people just blindly do whatever the pastors tell them?
Because they have been taught, from childhood, to just believe whatever the guy up front tells them to.
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Kind of lazy of me not to look it up myself...
No such thing as lazy, that’s just a word we use to shame people into doing stuff they don’t feel like doing. -
I'm watching Apocalypse in the Tropics documentary on Netflix about evangelicals and politics in Brazil and it's mind boggling. Why do the religious people just blindly do whatever the pastors tell them?
It's why religions make such a BIG DEAL about "faith".
Faith is simply a commitment to believe things that otherwise contradict obvious reality (but which invariably work to some "leader's" advantage).
