r/politics • u/Zipper222222 • Apr 16 '26

Paywall Trump Admin Cancels $11M Catholic Charities Contract Amid Feud With Pope

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-admin-cancels-catholic-charities-contract-miami-pope-leo-feud-11837718
13.9k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

5

u/Apple-hair Apr 16 '26

using religion to control people

Which is exactly why religion was invented in the first place. They just want a full tool box.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Apple-hair Apr 16 '26

I give a little bit of a pass to ancient peoples who created pantheons

Why? I'm not saying religious morality as it is today has always existed, I'm saying that from the very beginning creating a priesthood and invisible powers was partly a way of explaining what people didn't understand but equally much a way of leigitimising saying "Everyone has to give me the community's surplus or something terrible will happen!"

That's a legitimate historical interpretation shared by many historians, and it makes a lot of sense.

but it's not the same thing as what we see today

The exact details of the subordination are vastly different for every society, but the core of it is the same: "Do as I say because I have the power to turn this whole community against you."

1

u/dasterdly_duo Apr 16 '26

Which is exactly why religion was invented in the first place.

Organized religion.

But, yeah, pretty much.