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Dissident Heart 
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 Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 3:59 pm Post subject: State Domination vs Popular Ideology
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| Mad Architect: The project of forging an atheist nation, of spreading atheism, or of simply reducing a people's trust in religion has been claimed as the motivation for some of the worst atrocities and injustices of the last 100 years. But in the vast majority of such cases it has been some political body that has implemented those acts, or at the very least fomented the public ideologies that have led to the spontaneous outbursts of oppression and violent reaction. When a government finds that it is in its favor to encourage atheism -- just as when a government finds that it is its favor to encourage religion -- then it will, in all likelihood, tend towards measures that violate rights of conscience, rights of liberty, even rights of welfare. |
I thought this was a quotation rich in substance and ripe for discussion. Mad's point, as I see it, is to separate popular ideology from state policy: the former is used to justify the latter, while the latter is not driven by the former. Included in popular ideology is religion, and, I think he would agree, all other matters of cultural and ethnic identity and communal belonging. State policy is something imposed upon and forced onto popular ideology: using popular ideology as a tool to manipulate and direct populations into consent and submission. Ultimately, the state will utilize any ideology to impose its will: in this sense, the state is an equal opportunity manipulator. Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Capitalism, Communism...any will do, and all have been used as justification for state terror and infringement upon human and civil rights.
Since the state is imposing its will onto diverse populations with diverse ideologies, it will pit population against population (using the divide and conquer method) forcing them to focus their energies away from state domination and onto each other. Key to this method is highlighting conflictive elements of each ideology: spurring disagreement and fostering mistrust and contempt of differences. Thus, the more compassionate, moderate, pluralistic and generous elements of these warring ideologies are shut down: for fear that they will not properly defend the community and its traditions in time of conflict and war. |
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