>> > This allows people within the belief structure to explain various things
>> > they find extremely disagreeable in a supernatural manner.
>>
>>
>>Sure, but that's not the important thing.
>
>What do you mean thats not the important thing? From any perspective, most
>especially from a political perspective, it is extremely important. It shows
>how the reproduction of ideas which you spoke of earlier changes (or
>doesn't) in response to material/enviromental change.
On a political level its true. The important thing is that the priests' explanations aren't subject to political debate. The religious mode of transmitting culture doesn't depend on convincing people by rational argument, it depends on indoctrinating the people to subject themselves to the priests' authority.
So it doesn't matter how transparent their nonsense is, the whole society is required to submit. To question the dogma is to cast yourself outside of society, because religious society is fundamentally authoritarian.
Not incidentally, not because priests are misusing their power, but because that is how it must be in such a society. A religious culture is an authoritarian culture, it is incompatible with democracy. And vice versa, these are deeply irreconcilable methods of social governance.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas