In his opinion, only the very poor and downtrodden really needed religion, to make their laborious lives more bearable. People craved self-importance; they longed to be told they mattered as individuals, not just as part of a mass of people or some historical process. They needed the reassurance that while their life might be hard, bitter and thankless, some reward would be theirs after death. Happily for the governing class, a well-formed faith also kept people from seeking their recompense in the here and now, through riot, insurrection or revolution.
A temple was worth a dozen barracks; a militia man carrying a gun could control a small unarmed crowd only for as long as he was present; however, a single priest could put a policeman inside the head of every one of their flock, for ever.
– Iain M. Banks, Matter
“They needed the reassurance that while their life might be hard, bitter and thankless[…]”–can u really blame them? pana la urma suntem geared up pt. asta. asa suntem construiti, e o consecinta a capacitatii de a gandi strategic…
ai chef/putere de discutie sau ai pus cele 2 paragrafe doar ca sa arati ca ai trecut si tu la drt lu marx?:)