Religion Wanes in West, Explodes in Middle East
A militant secularism in the US and Europe has marginalized the influence of religion, creating what is often called a “post-Christian” West. Media (television in particular) has been given the job of inculcating morals, albeit politically correct ones. For example, newly deceased celebrities with “civil rights” credentials are put on the fast track to sainthood in various news segments.
The West has invested heavily in computer hardware and software to boost the economy and entertain the populace. Once referred to as the Great Brain, networks are primarily a top-down flow of information. More people can be controlled more systematically by the giant propaganda machinery.
According to a PBS Newshour segment yesterday, “Poll shows liberals, conservatives worlds apart not just on politics,” it’s the moderate center in America that is most susceptible. Growing significantly as opposing forces in American society, liberals and conservatives more or less have their minds made up, the Pew Research Center finds. Are moderates, then, more wishy-washy and confused–therefore more dangerous to society?
Both sides believe in de facto segregation: “The most polarized on the right and left disagree on where to live, who to associate with, even how big their house should be and who their children should marry.” Upscale liberals shop for groceries at Whole Foods Market and send their kids off to Ivy League colleges, don’t they?
The moderate third of the population might go to church out of a cultural habit, but their lives are secularly defined. Remember the old boardroom cartoon captioned “You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time. The second group is our target audience.” Moderates are often unmoored from traditional values and awash in various entertainments. Are they, then, more open to being programmed?
Things are different in the Middle East, where less-moderate religion is able to brush aside the seductive digital pleasures of the West. The insurgents know how to side-step the logical “nation building” of meddling democratic governments, where politicians have firm control over military planning. Generals do as they are told–or face career suicide.
In the Middle East, the power grid is reversed. Religion leads the way. Fighting forces come second, but with no rules of engagement or political restraint. ISIS (map) is now equipped with captured weaponry (provided by US taxpayers) and obscene amounts of monetary wealth simply stolen from local banks. Politicians will eventually be called back, but only to run necessary bureaucracies. Come to think of it, was God in the Old Testament always Mr. Nice Guy?
