Trying To Mix Corporation + Church Themes

"Religion is the opiate of the masses" - Marx

If you're coming out of world-wide disaster, there may well be pockets of civilization that are still primitive.

Religion as a psychological tool isn't all that different from modern corporate branding and all the marketing that spews from a consumer-oriented culture - it works on the same "kinds" of people.

In this context, the religion just evolved as another means of corporate branding. It's all marketing.

That's how I'd arrange it, anyway.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." -- Arthur C. Clarke

From "magic" to "religion" is just a small step, of course.

By dominating the market, an evil overlord would not have any direct power over people, only indirect. If they really want power and not just money, it is not enough. Religion, including priests and holy texts and a healthy dose of brainwashing, could give such an organization much more power in a more direct way.

Since they're apparently the only ones who have access to this alien technology, they could easily claim things about the technology and its creators that are not true. For example, they could claim that they are in contact with the aliens and turn them into a kind of gods that way.

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This is pretty much Steve Jobs' business model.

Also, I wrote a comedy bit about the Catholic church doing an IPO once.

You could flip the horse and cart, and have the Divinity start out solely as a religious organization. They could have been a small group of "free thinkers" (or something, I don't know what their religion entails) when disaster struck, and they were the ones that found the alien technology. Maybe, initially, they only shared it among themselves because they only trusted each other (or they were the only ones that survived in that area), and they kept it to themselves as they expended, sharing it only with converts or something. (if you need the technology to survive post disaster, that'd weed out anyone that didn't agree with them.) Even if they meant to be good about it, once they started acquiring power, they'll attract people who only want power and don't care about the philosophy. Give it a generation or two, and everything could change. (History has proven how badly religion and power go together.)

Or maybe they never cared about their message, and were just out for the power, but their marketing department wanted good PR and got carried away. (maybe purposefully carried away?) You ever hear people argue over whether Coke or Pepsi is better? Macs or PCs? Any really ridiculous brand loyalty about two really really similar items? Your corporation wouldn't even have any competition. (and that's the way they want it.)

He could have a thirst for complete control, but to have the people be controlled willingly, and then they could incorporate their corporation's product in the religion.
After all just look at all the crazy stuff people willingly do for religion.

It all depends on what the religion is. The only way I can see making this work would to have a Capitalist Faith. Holy men would be Adam Smith and Friedman. The problem is that religion seeks to answer the questions humans ask OUTSIDE of the material realm whereas capitalism and corporatism is obsessed with the material realm.

You can make a story along these lines, but my suspicion is that, like most stories that muck around with religion, it will be unsatisfying to the large majority of readers simply because it is so contrary to the way humans are wired.

Tanstaafl

No offense, but some religions are run very much like corporations. A good example would be the Catholic Church. They make a LOT of money every year. Your civilization could very easily establish themselves as a church and start to require that their citizens live their lives in a certain way and buy certain products. In many ways, if people need something to believe in, they will believe in anything. A lot of the time, people will ignore the obvious flaws of their chosen religion or a promising religion despite tons of evidence. Look at scientology. L Ron Hubbard was quoted as saying that starting a religion would be a good way to make money. It is a clear cult, but people still follow it.
I do not think you have to worry about realism in terms of people starting to follow a religion. People will believe anything.

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2009- ?

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Sounds a lot like the Alliance ( i think it is called that ) in the show Firefly ( or movie Serenity )

My take on them is that they are a governing body that has superior technology but they also operate as a religion does, winning converts, following a strict set of rules, etc...the outer planets are "rebels" because they choose not to conform to their rules of the Alliance..just as people who did not believe in the church were called heathens back in the day there...

I see it easily working.....but I would make it more so that the church and the big business are in it together ....evolved seperatley ( sp ? my brain in fried ) but are in it together for the power/money....

But even if you look at todays society....big business has a lot of power....because they convince people, as does religion, that buying this one products, subscribing to this one belief, etc... makes you a good person, a better person, a likeable person..and that is what humans strive for, acceptance...

It is not a far stretch that this could happen especially after a traumatic even....people latch on to faith or anything that can make them feel safer and better after horrible events....

The rate of church goers and people who said they believe in God went way up right after 9/11, but has since dropped back to where it was before.....but that is a good example right there..

~~~~~ DEE ~~~~~~

2007: "Lifelines"

Thank you all for your help! Your comments have given me lots to think about.

One thing I can see now is that I have some work to do on creating a credible source of legitimacy if they're to be a religion. Even with an incredible product, I don't think people will be willing to die for a good or service. So it has to be something that's said to be given by god him/her/itself. For that, they'll probably need a messiah who evangelizes about how the technology is a gift from heaven or whatever.

I think I'm also going to assume that the Divinity is selling people SOMETHING that changes their outlook on life and makes them feel better. Pharmaceuticals came to mind, but maybe I'll steal from a favorite author and make it something that just mentally / philosophically renews you and seems to wash you clean. (So your problems don't go away, you just feel better about them for awhile).

Another angle is that the Divinity monopolize control of a technology that accelerates and expands human consciousness. They could be indoctrinating people to the idea that only "good and moral people" (i.e., those who agree with them) are capable of using it, when what is really true is that it simply takes a certain mental discipline to control the tech.

Anyway, I clearly have more work to do to make this credible. Thanks again!

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Just waiting for the mothership...

I actually created a corporate/consumerist religion for my novel "The Last Protector" (see shameless plug below). I did it more as a device for creating a little conflict and humor than as the centerpiece of the story, but I think there are similarities.

The big advantage to a corporation in wrapping itself in the trappings of religion is the opportunity to present a consistent, world view backed by supernatural authority. Unlike temporal authority (government), supernatural authority is just about impossible to challenge, as the rewards and punishments are outside the visible world. Most religions have a tradition of sacrifice. So does patriotism, but the supernatural rewards that a religion can promise for sacrifice (e.g., the 47 virgins) are beyond what a mere temporal government can offer (oh, after you've died for your country, we'll engrave your name on a statue). Sacrifice in its various forms can also be a great sink for excessive productivity (stuff can be openly sacrificed, as in the ancient Hebrew/Sumerian/Greek/Roman system, or plowed into monumental construction, as in the cathedrals of the middle ages). Given that all variants on the market system require a certain amount of scarcity, this is an important function (see George O. Smith's "Venus Equilateral" for an example of what might happen if people can have as much as they want of anything they want at no cost). If the religion has a prophetic tradition, there's even the opportunity to update the dogma to suit corporate needs.

Hope you find this mildly useful.

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Wavinator,

You might want to consider a Nietzschean angle. In his telling, religion (or at any rate Christianity) is meant to divert the resentment of the weak away from the strong, and focus it on their own unworthiness.

Alternately, go the Gramsci route. Religion is a means to impose cultural hegemony, i.e. to surround a person with a particular environment that structures his thinking without him even being aware of it. Hegemony is why we take the structure of society for granted, most of the time. It's simply the norm, and all discussion goes on under its initial assumptions.

By the way, are you the same Wavinator who hangs out on GameDev? Love your posts there, if so.

I suggest you read the French comic book called "Sky Doll" that was just recently reprinted here in the US by Marvel. It offers a very interesting take on the idea of religion not just as a corporate entity but also as an entertainment industry.

Not too sure how far in the furture we're talking here - may have missed it.

But think of this - what happened to other religions?
If you think of Chritian, Jewish and Islamic faiths, everything begins and ends here on earth. There is no one else (aka as alien lifeforms). So if you have an alien technology and a history of religions that pass by the way side because what they preach is now proven false, how strong would this Religious Corp be? Could the Overload be the new 'jesus, Mohammad, Buddah, ect.'" or is their one in the wings waiting to make a move?

The reason so many believe in 'their team' (nation or religion) our basic animal instincts - Food and safety. Going solo is tough.

So corporations could provide those basics of life sort of stuff.

Then you need to ask what the average education level is. High tech and sworn to a new religion? hmmmm

Johnny B

Rome didn't build a great Empire by having meetings. It built it by crushing all those that opposed it.

2008: (winner) Phoenix Rising

Not exactly an answer to your question, but I've got one word for you: Indulgences.