I see religion in twofold: the first is its traditional role of control of the masses. If you can make the people afraid of opposing the status quo with the fear of eternal damnation from a deity you have control. Second I would say religion, especially today, is the greatest scam and for-profit scheme ever devised by the history of man. Your asked to give money whether you can afford it or not to your church and not to ask any questions. And people do this willingly.
I compare religion to throwing a Mother Goose nursery rhyme book in front of a kid And pull out a pistol and stick it to his head and tell him he better believe everything in the book or you’re gonna blow his brains out.
Please tell me the difference in that and the preacher telling him he’s gonna go to hell if he doesn’t believe what he is preaching
And what a marketing source it is!!! Especially for presidential candidates. They gave us W and Trump and who knows what else that we could do without.
And there is no way to claim the ultimate warranty.
I think you’re talking about psychologists. No religion I know of requires payment for their services. Accepting voluntary donations is not “selling”.
No I am sorry, but you are confusing taking money with selling. You may sell a product for many things, payment in kind or other products, prestige, political influence, sexual favours, cultural influence, housing, and yes, the opportunity to collect voluntary donations from people under heavy social pressure.
Plus it is factually incorrect, several churchs do in fact charge members regular fees, and most charge for important social rituals such as funerals and weddings, where attendance is a social compultion. ( i.e. They only make the charges volutary, for the more voluntary rituals.) In many theocracies churches and temples recieve tax payer donations, and even tax exemptions are 'de facto' donations by other tax payers.
(It is true, yes, that social rituals like weddings and funerals, are voluntary, in that you can go without them, or go to other institutions for them, but most churches impose heavy penalities, both social and supernatural, for those who do.)
It's worse than that: they sell a product that isn't real and doesn't even exist and they make millions and millions and millions on it. It's amazing that such a ridiculous business model actually works.
Carlin -- Religion Is Bullshit:
One of my favorite comics of all time. I'm lucky to got to see him perform live.
Easy peasey.....
Given that the world has an endless supply of gullible idiots, I must agree with you.