• huginn@feddit.it
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    4 months ago

    You can play sports and not be manipulating people.

    You cannot lead a church and not be manipulating people, even if unwittingly.

    • AnalogyAddict@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      That’s a false comparison. You can’t lead anything without, to a point, manipulating people. You can manipulate them transparently and for their benefit, or you are manipulating them for your own. The people who lead and run sports leagues are definitely not doing it out of a sense of charity.

      Plenty of churchgoers and even pastors are in it to serve people with no real personal benefit. The same can’t be said of professional sports players.

      • huginn@feddit.it
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        4 months ago

        At some point in an ecclesiastical hierarchy someone is manipulating people for their own benefit, knowing they’re doing so. They profess miracles while knowing there are none.

        Above a certain level all you’ll find are charlatans.

        The only religions that do not operate like this are unaffiliated churches, mystical, or nontheistic religions like Buddhism, Jainism etc.

        If you profess a god and have a hierarchical structure your leaders manipulate you for their own gain or prestige. They do not believe.