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RE: The Esoteric Side of STEEM: Something The Banksters Know
You've got a post chock full of goodies here @taskmaster; so many in fact, that by your second paragraph, I grabbed a good ol' fashion pen and paper and started jotting my thoughts down! So...here they are in bullet form:
- In the Middle Ages, Christianity was in fact further developed as a form of control. Peasants or serfs believed that it was impossible in life to move up the economic ladder, so to speak. They lived an essentially back-breaking life, because the Church promised them eternal bliss in Heaven for their hardships in life. A beautiful and horrible system of control, fuelled by fear that if they didn't comply, their eternal beings would be left to Hell's fire and damnation forever.
- I remember the first TV show where Advertising Companies using Product Placement became ultra-popular; Jerry Seinfeld. Remember all the cereal boxes in the door-less cupboards, as just one example? And he was clever enough to wrap an entire episode around a joke for one of those products just to really send the subliminal message home!
- When I was teaching high school, I spent countless hours teaching critical thinking, and the same amount of time trying to erase the rote learning most had been subjected to over the years. Some cultures' education system are worse than others for sure.
- Fear. Big Brother. Social Conditioning. We are all like Pavlov's dogs, and like you said, taught from a very young age how to be and how to think. We as humans use such a small percentage of our brain power, and I guess our true freedom with be realized when we learn to harness it and stop thinking like a herd of sheep.
Thanks for the thought-provoking post! Thoroughly enjoyed it...again ;)
It wasn't meant to "control" as in an evil way if that is what you mean (not sure if you did). It was a good system for the time since lots of horrible things have happened. The bible is a beautiful book with deep universal truths. People needed it. People that follow many of the universal teachings are having amazing life since they have great guidelines to live by. It's amazing and timeless.
Even the bible states that the kingdom is within. They are talking about heaven so all people could understand it in a beautiful way. Fear is a thing that they have seen that if people learn to be fearful of certain things then they will behave in amazing ways. They all point to the same universal truths but just in different ways.
The Bible does contain many truths, but during the Middle Ages, to which @lynncoyle1 spoke to, it wasn't readily available to the people. That didn't start to happen until the period of the Reformation, which came after. So, the Church did have primary control over the interpretation of the Bible and, at least according to the reformers, not all of what they taught was biblically based.
So, I would say you could debate either side of the control issue, whether it was actually good or not and probably have a fairly long list on both sides. I believe some pretty good people went to their deaths as heretics because they dared to interpret the teachings in the Bible differently than the prevailing doctrine of the Church.
And the fact that the peasants in the Middle Ages had no idea how to read, and that bibles weren't printed en mass yet, it was pretty easy to alter the writings. Your point about heretics is also a poignant one.
As always @glenalbrethsen, I appreciate your input.
I should have clarified, but no I didn't mean "evil" per-say , but I guess people can view the intentions behind the word 'control' how they see fit. I also didn't say anything about the bible, because the bible, and the church's use of control in the Middle Ages are two completely different entities. I respect your beliefs and appreciate your comment though.