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What's the greatest argument against people who say religion was created to control the masses? Are there any apologetic books that cover this?

Bobguest
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    I think the question is too broad. Can you make it more specific by including a quote that says religion was created to control the masses? Secondly, you need to make this question relevant to a Christian site; as it is right now it is off topic. Just to answer the question from Christianity point of view: Christianity started out of a human need for a God who can liberate people from inner sense of sin, bondage, and incompleteness as St. Augustine said: "Our hearts are restless until they rest in God." So "control the masses" is a later Marxist-like theory. – GratefulDisciple Jul 13 '21 at 03:57
  • Karl Marx said that religion was the opiate of the masses. But one could also argue that communism is a soporific deliberately applied to the masses by the ruling Party. There is but one way to live this life, and it is by faith in God, and by no other. – Nigel J Jul 13 '21 at 08:41
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    Apologetics questions are OK, you don't necessarily have to point to a Christian sect for this answer, but one issue with it is that Non-Denominational Christians might say that organized religion was created to control the masses and some in more organized sects might say that the more cloistered or gnostic sects were created to control the masses. So a generic argument might need to a viewpoint. My guess it it's from the viewpoint of something like Catholicism or Orthodoxy against liberal materialist atheism. – Peter Turner Jul 13 '21 at 13:29
  • Another line of argument is how in Christianity today, churches have almost no power over states, compared to the age of Christendom where churches regularly interfere in matters of state. The only power left that Christian churches have nowadays is soft power: persuasion, education, scholarship, mission, social work, culture, political endorsement, think tank, media, journalism, etc. People are now free to leave or form new churches. How are those powers can be named "control"? – GratefulDisciple Jul 14 '21 at 18:29

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