Nikon
I also suggested that the "good book"
Could be our very first way to control the masses
By designing a beautiful escape from this life
Of course this is your good n do what god tells you to
"By designing a beautiful escape from this life"
Under heretical doctrines perhaps (such as Gnosticism which places a very heavy emphasis on "the spirit" world vs the material, rather than a balance between the two) but from the offset, the Torah outlines the reality of this life with the nature of suffering, of politics, of one's lifespan, of the paradox of sexuality, of murder, of widespread evil. By the time we reach Abraham in the book of Genesis, we've already encountered the full extent of what humanity is and can be, especially in terms of evil and suffering.
Suffering and evil are never glossed over in the Bible and as many Atheists ironically point out, the Bible can be a very uncomfortable read to modern liberal sensitivities. Just like with Islam's own texts (Qur'an and Hadith), it doesn't beat around the bush trying to idealize this life into something other than what we face personally day in and day out.
As we find evident in any debates with Atheists (they typically act like the Utilitarian theory is a salvation), suffering is never counteracted or able to be denied by the detractors of quote-unquote
"Religion", suffering is still always there, alternative (and more predominant for secular people) views towards suffering only add the Utilitarian theory on top. Yet Utilitarianism is very much the benchmark of Capitalist-consumerism which makes both a spectacle and a product of your very suffering.
So which one really controls the masses? the one that takes advantage of it, or the traditional
"religious" view which prioritizes a deep, personal engagement with the nature of that suffering?