Manipulation
In recent decades as society has careened through
ever faster and more radical changes, people have fled toward fundamentalism,
demanding that there be one thing in their lives that does not change because
they won't allow it to change, the one thing in their lives in their absolute
control to prevent from changing, i.e. their beliefs. Combine that with
the introduction of powerful entertainment technology into church
services. Combine those with, ironically, a severing of bonds with and
trust of traditional centralized church authority. Combine that with a
thermonuclear explosion of media technology best suited to manipulating
malleable, unaware minds. Put all those factors in an economic and
political system structured so as to the greatest degree possible empower
psychological-marketing as the primary influencer of belief and action.
Season this wicked cauldron with innate human nature of greed and lust for
power.
Of course fundamentalist mega-churches sprung up like poisonous mushrooms, all bright and enticing! Of course a Rupert Murdoch would seize the opportunity for profit in peddling fear, hatred, and inevitable violence. Of course a Trump would arise out of the fetid moral wastelands of the obscenely rich.
Too rapid change and progress do not open doors to enlightenment and renaissance. They drive frightened minds back to the familiar comforts of witch-doctors and evangelists. It is instead the traumatic collapse of convenient faith, the sacking of temples and the spread of plagues, that finally reveal the impotence of those wearing the robes and the hollowness of the idols. Then the scales are removed from the eyes of a few, then a few precious scattered seeds can sprout, and renaissance and enlightenment and revival can momentarily again flourish.
