Prophets of the End - Plastic Pills on Religion III
Added 2025-04-11 02:47:00 +0000 UTCWhat makes a prophet a prophet? As we are on the civilization decline hill, we are going to experience a higher volume of prophets than usual, so I tried to figure out how to distinguish true prophets from false ones.
Comments
If we take this a step further we can see that religions compete for resources, that is they compete for believers. Not simply for the sake of confirmation, which is what I used to think, and I still believe it plays a role, but for the sake of the power that comes with the ability to coordinate an ever larger group of people. The goal is to get everyone dancing to the same music, so to speak. Itβs been said that the Middle Ages was that time in Europe when the Church was the state. Both Christianity and Islam have at different times in history appeared to have totalitarian goals, and perhaps they still do. They seduce sometimes with force, but most times they seduce with the emotional impact of their story, with which they satisfy the needs that you have discussed here and in the podcast with your colleagues, i.e. the need for meaning, the need for salvation, the need for reassurance, and the need for purpose. All I wish to point out is that those needs are the seduction points and fall short of explaining the full social utility of religion.
FRANK TODD
2025-04-29 01:42:21 +0000 UTCLong time listener, first time commenter. I really enjoy your analyses. I think in most cases you do a great job putting complex ideas, or ideas expressed by authors in a complex way into down to earth terms. Now that I've listened to all three in the series, I feel confident in saying that you have missed a large and profound aspect of religion, that being the socially binding quality that it bestows/imposes on its adherents. "Why the ban on Pork?" you ask in episode 1. Aside from the fact mentioned in the Old Testament that pigs are the only animal with cloven hoofs that don't chew the cud, and are therefore weird, it also serves to distinguish this religious group from the others. I cannot overemphasize the importance of this idea, to distinguish your group from other competing religious groups. Same with scarification, circumcision for example. Jonathan Haidt discusses this in his wonderful analysis The Righteous Mind. But not only do these requirements distinguish the group from others, but they also require suffering, or sacrifice, which in this case serves as an investment once given inclines the devotee to maintain the relationship to this group. I think Haidt also mentions that among the many communes established during the late 60's/early 70's, the ones that lasted the longest had the most demanding Rules (by Rule I mean something along the lines of the Rule of St. Benedict, a set of instructions that structure the life and daily behavior of the group). The difficulty in adhering to the rule serves as an investment, and once having been made, inspires loyalty and a tendency to continue, rather than accept the fact that all of that effort has been wasted. This social nature of religion is something often overlooked by intellectuals like you or me, because most of us are less comfortable in large groups, but once pointed out, it's hard not to see signs of it in every major world religion. Religions are stories. When we see someone who identifies as knowing the same story, we feel like we can trust them. And we can more easily communicate with them because we can use the common knowledge of the story as a rich source of metaphor. Wearing the right clothes, keeping our hair cut in a particular way, avoiding the right foods, and practicing the right rituals at the right times helps to distinguish members to other members of the same "Team", just like uniforms. These stories also serve as a focus point to enable cooperation. The "truth" they contain is almost irrelevant, but rather they serve like a Maypole around which the dancers coordinate.
FRANK TODD
2025-04-28 17:24:42 +0000 UTCWe are a violent dance of sacred veils
Alex B
2025-04-20 08:45:59 +0000 UTCListened to this when it dropped but it remains circling my mind! Really insightful commentary, especially on Christianity and how just following dogma is the easier thing to do. This series helped me understand Nietzche on a much deeper level.
Joel Martin
2025-04-18 17:34:48 +0000 UTCPowerful anti-philosophy, keep going!!
James Moore
2025-04-18 00:41:52 +0000 UTCThis means that Trump cannot simply beaten by electoral means. You literally have to have another prophet contest him.
Khemith
2025-04-15 03:41:23 +0000 UTCHow many cultists do you have pills?
Moon Hop
2025-04-14 07:16:20 +0000 UTC
