Actually you're on to something there. Something that has been nagging me for some time. There is an intrinsic flaw in humans. We are a relatively unsophisticated, sentient being living in a scientific world that has far outstripped our psychological development.
For several hundred thousand years we were entrapped by nightfall, the tyranny of existence, terrorised by a world of tooth and claw and educated by the spoken word, stories, moral tales, superstition and creation myth delivered by elders around a campfire. A few thousand years later we are the same being ensconced in a scientific world with our primitive needs and wants and psychological makeup.
That's why we are so very easy to exploit. That's why the masses can be led into believing in a literal Bible, the rubbish that indoctrinates Muslims and why it's easy to be sold a car by a used car salesman or conned by some idiot in the Nigerian scam. The same lack of a grasp on reality is the basis for this failure of common sense.
The Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, Yowies, faith healing, literal religion and all the new world religions and new charismatic religions all come from the same source and attack people where they are most vulnerable, via our primitive need to believe in something without too much weighing up the evidence.
I watched a program on the Loch Ness Monster. I watched a couple of dozen youtube clips of people looking for yowies. One guy even claimed to have been knocked off his feet by one. Then I watched a series of clips of Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar, Hillsong, Joshua Mills etc, etc. It's the same kind of people over and over again. These people or groups or institutions tap this primitive need in us to believe in the wisdom of the tribal elder, to belong to the tribe and believe the man with the microphone and his nonsensical mumbo-jumbo as long as we are all in it together and we are offered hope and a bright, shinny tomorrow. And it's all a monumental lie. The leaders of these religions are either bare-faced liars or have psychopathic tendencies.
So I have come to the conclusion that there is no point attacking the religion or the preacher or the nut job, it comes down to education. We have to educate humans into critical thinking. To have the ability to step outside their upbringing, their prejudices, their emotional state, so they can truly evaluate these wack-job religions and other con men. If we can get people to think justly, critically and without fear these religions that offer no benefit to humankind will whither and die and I won't ever have to see Benny Hinn's hair again or another man in a silly hat.
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