I have the feeling that mankind is developing some kind of "malevolent religion" right now...

[DetlefK]

What is religion?

I define religion as a world-view whose main purpose is to define the place of the believer in the overall world. There is some overarching structure to how the world works, and the believer has the assurance that he has a place in this structure. The believer has the assurance that he is of worth, that he is part of something bigger.

This is in contradiction to the scientific-minded world-view, which DOESN'T assign a special role to you. The scientific world-view either doesn't adress the question whether you are special or it outright says that you are not special.



Flat-Earthers, Sovereign-Citizens, Anti-Vaxxers, Anti-Maskers, people who claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, and all the Truthers and other conspiracy-theorists... They believe these things out of a deep-seated desire to create a world-view in which:
a) there is some sort of higher power that is responsible for it all
b) the believers have a special place in this world



Classic religions are of the type that there is some benevolent higher power.
Your place in this world is defined by how much you try to placate this benevolent higher power. (With prayers, sacrifices, rituals...)

This new religion I see developing is of the type that there is some malevolent higher power: The evil people and organizations who rule this world. And just like with religion you cannot actually prove that they exist, but that's irrelevant, because you have belief.
Your place in this world is defined by how much you oppose this malevolent higher power.





It's like the evil twin of religion as we know it, born out of the same instincts:
In classic religion, the intangible higher power is a creator and you seek to fit into its greater plan.
In this new religion, the intangible higher power is a destroyer and you seek to oppose it.

And your interaction with this higher is what gives you worth, what makes you special, what makes you a chosen one.

It's the same concept.

That's why these people are irrational. It's the same instincts. The same deep-seated desires.
Conspiracy-theorists are just like religious believers.
Except that they are not fighting FOR some Greater Good. They are fighting AGAINST some Greater Evil.





To quote the comedian Matt Meese:
"Good is not only the absence of Evil. It's also the presence of Good."

[sanatanadharma]

1. Clearly the Devil has more earthly power than God

Anyone raised-up in, exposed to, familiar with, taught the tenants of Christianity can clearly see that it is the evil-one who is winning on this earth.

The non-negatable conclusion must be that the Devil rules, has more power than has the creator-god.
Thus many choose to be evil because their conclusions are wrong.

Whether one seeks to overcome, to join, or to oppose (so-called) evil, one is accepting evil as reality.
Only when evil is accepted as truly existent, can evil enter the heart.

The wise choose the way of Tao, rather than the oat(er)-way.
The other-way is a detour.

[multigraincracker]

2. Locus of Control, inner or outer.

The term locus of control seeks to differentiate two ways of thinking—the belief that some people are able to control the outcome of their lives versus the belief that outside factors have the greatest effect, and individuals cannot determine their situation. An internal and external locus of control are forces at play in all of humanity.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

4. Truth be told

A person that has a strong inner locus of control,also has to a lesser extent an outer locus of control.

The outer exists because regardless of having an inner locus of control shit happens and a person with empathy feels what they feel,body reacts,cant control certain things or events in life ect.

Controlling yourself has a partial effect as does circumstances that happen to you.

Reality sometimes is out of control,and to pretend otherwise is denial.

So control monkey,hold onto that wild tiger within. If you be honest he might let you ride for awhile instead of eating you right now.

[Major Nikon]

3. I don't think there's any other kind

Belief in a higher power is inherently corruptible for malevolent purposes. Once you can convince people you represent a higher power, the next steps are to get them to:
1) Give you money
2) Do your bidding
3) Give you sexual favors
4) Excuse bad behavior
5) Pretty much anything else you want

If there actually were a higher power who was actually benevolent, that higher power would have prevented these things from happening. The fact it didn’t happen just goes to show the alleged higher power wasn’t all that benevolent to begin with.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

5. Depends on

Being aware of your own beliefs and the reasons behind the choices of why you believe,takes a good bit of honesty and courage to look at it.

Also not being a damn dark triad toxic manipulating asshole helps.

[Major Nikon]

7. But that's on a personal level and not a systemic point of view

If those who believe in opposing metaphysical forces of good and evil wanted to be perfectly honest with themselves, the question they should be asking is how they could possibly tell which is which.

[captain queeg]

6. Sure makes you wonder if there is a positive impact

It seems like religion has taken a much bigger place in the US these days. I don’t remember religion being such a force, certainly in politics, when I was young. I remember a few main stream religions like Catholics,baptist, Methodists, Lutherans, etcs. They had fairly humble places of worship where people would go on sundays and not think much about otherwise. The first time a saw a large evangelical church was in the 80s. Now they’ve sprouted up everywhere and are supported by tons of money. When I think about it, it’s obvious they figured out how to acquire a lot of property and money. Definitely places of evil.

[Major Nikon]

8. Bigger in political impact, but smaller in numbers

The GOP has figured out how to combine religion and demagoguery to their advantage, which is nothing new as people have been doing that at least since recorded history.

What is different today as opposed to decades ago is they also have enough control of media to counter anyone who dares to call bullshit.

[Steelrolled]

9. I see the large evangelical churches as analogous to Cable News.

Take something and add a lot of glitz and entertainment.