Religion is one of the most important tools of the ruling class, so it's no surprise they would try to preserve symbols of their power, disguised as religious symbolism.

People issues...have opinions, disagreements and want to be respected...a beautiful Cathedral just sits there, and the people put all their adoration into it, because a Cathedral will never talk back! The people can lay all their fantasies at the altar and feel that they have participated in something great! ‘They’ will come away and proclaim that they have communed with the DEVINE! And ‘they’ will walk past the homeless human being and never notice that he was even near. And the starving child flashed across their smartphone want touch even one nerve! The worshipper is blinded by the ‘beauty of the DEVINE!

And here in the US we keep electing people that want to make the rich, richer.

Exactly. My first thought was how many people were going hungry and homeless in France.

Note who many were. The owners of brand names!
I can never understand the mentality of people who want a brand name that has long ceased to belong to the original owner.
I was in a shop yesterday, looking for some caps for my grandchildren to wear on the beach, as it was a very sunny day. There was a long shelf, laden with identical caps, all made in China. However, some carried no brand name and cost 4.25€, others carried names ranging from Nike to Louis Viutton printed boldly on the top for all the world to see. These, in the same colours and designs, varied in price from 5.50€ to 6.50€.
Why pay up to half as much again to advertise a name - the name should be paying you!!

It's close to a billion, now.

Feeding starving people doesn't, for some reason I just can't understand, improve brand recognition. Can you imagine how the Nike soup kitchen would ruin it's image?

Very picky about who or what they hand over to.