In all the coverage of the French
decision to ban the display of religious symbols, particularly the
wearing of the hijab by Muslim women and girls, little or nothing has
been said about why it is so important to the religions that
they maintain these practices.
The overt signs and symbols of religious
affiliation may appear to most people to be of little importance, Many
would take the view that keeping a woman's beautiful hair covered to
prevent inflaming man's passion is trivial compared to the
divisiveness of banning it in state schools, but this is not the only
or even the most important issue.
The daily rituals of dress, diet and
prayer are crucial to the maintenance of beliefs built on
superstition. They are part and parcel of the conditioning and
reinforcement process, necessary to keep otherwise rational people
believing in the irrational and supernatural even when it is against
their own best interests. They are the same psychological techniques
that are used in hypnosis to bypass the rational mind, that bases
learning and thinking on knowledge of facts, science, experience and
observation. The triggers they use are essential to keeping people
believing in their particular set of beliefs.
What else explains the apparent
willingness of intelligent, educated, otherwise rational human beings,
to ignore the lessons of history, the conflicts, torture and killing
and the suppression and exclusion of women, and current cruel and
violent effects of religious sects throughout the world?
And the explanation is not too difficult
to see.
Like the team shirt, songs, and chants
going to matches and following the stories, legends, gossip and iconic
figures, the books and paraphernalia of football, the religions keep
their teams 'on-side' using the same devices. Dress codes, the wearing
of the hijab, turban, or skull cap; dietary or culinary stipulations
against the eating of pork, or mixing foods; and the ever present
visual displays of icons, pictures or symbols are daily 'triggers'
reminding them regularly of the beliefs systems to which they
'belong'. Football, music, pop culture may use the techniques as part
of the entertainment industry, but when they are used by religions,
fanatical political regimes, charismatic preachers, political tyrants
and military leaders, the effects can be far from entertaining.
Religions use the same powerful
induction techniques that are used in hypnosis, in which 'authority',
'parent' or 'shepherd' figures introduce the concepts, myths and
legends to vulnerable, insecure and trusting individuals. Loving
parents instil beliefs into their children, they are helped by family
and friends, authority figures of their church, the faith communities
in which they may live, and later in the schools they go to, their
teachers and the dominant religions, sects and cults of the wider
society. This is why the religions will never voluntarily give up
their efforts to maintain their own schools and religious teaching in
all schools, on the pretext that it is 'good'.
We are social beings and need the
security of society at some level. The religions use this need and
threaten to punish, physically still in some countries, but more often
by exclusion to those who reject their message and the power it has
over them.
The strength of Islam, Christianity,
Judaism, Hinduism and cults that have what they call a 'rich
tradition' (of 'triggers') lies in their constant attention to keeping
the religion at the top of the personal agenda. The individual
attention to the daily requirements of dress, food and prayer,
reinforced with visual, sounds and smells, not to mention their family
relationships and social support, make it all but impossible for many
people to leave their religions. That so many do is a testament to
what the human mind is capable of. Though it is often some traumatic
event in their lives that disrupts the carefully built up pattern of
trance-like religious observance
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