I could probably write a book outlining the similarities between religion politics. I've recently thought about how similar they really are, feel free to add to the list:
- Individuals feel like they "belong" to something when in either. A clique or community forms when you pronounce you are a part of the group.
- Both have long histories of abuse, murder and bigotry.
- Both have leaders or Messiahs that the people follow en masse. If you follow them, you don't question them...
- Blind faith. Politicians giving their promises... the bible promising eternal life or damnation. Both require a leap of blind faith to accept, and both are ultimately greatly disappointing in the end.
- Variety. Christianity has Baptist, Catholic, Protestant. Then you have Democrats or Republicans... left or right. The largest similarities here are the fringe groups. Christianity has the Mormons, Jehova Witnesses, 3rd Day Adventists etc. while Politicians have the Green Party, Libertarians or Separatist parties. All have their leader or saviour as mentioned before, but this is where the line REALLY thins for me.
- Propaganda / Brainwashing. Both do it. Politicians tell you how life will be better with them, while at the same time bashing the opposition, telling you how bad it will be with them. Religion is no different. Jews vs Muslims, Catholics vs Protestants. Each have thousands of years of history killing each other and each are equally convinced that their belief is the only true path to happiness or equality.
- Destruction of personal choice. Politicians want to tell you what plants you can't smoke or what a woman can do with her body. Religion, well... same thing basically.
- Atheism / Anarchy. This is more where I fit in for both. I don't believe that the definition of atheism is a belief that there is no God, but more of the lack of belief in any particular God. The lack of a theism right? I'm not ruling it out and I don't think that if you consider yourself an Atheist that you're declaring your knowledge that there is no God, but merely just saying that there is not enough evidence to support my belief in any particular deity. Maybe you call it Agnostic, but I call it atheist all the same.
Politically I feel the exact same way. I don't believe that any political party represents who I am or what I believe in. I don't believe that either side, Liberal or Conservative is the correct way to govern a piece of land. Anarchy might not be the best route, but I also don't believe that the government should have the power or control that they currently do, especially when it is a few politicians that are making the big decisions and rarely do the people have enough of a voice to make any kind of real change. It's almost like we're stuck being forced to chose either Christianity or Judaism to live by. Why?
These are just a few. I've been pondering the similarities for the past couple weeks and they keep piling on in my head. Curious to other thoughts or if others have considered the similarities before?