Yes, and it is Satan doing the controlling.

I know that religion can and has been used for that purpose, however I would not make a base statement like that about religion in general.

Oh absolutely, there is irrefutable evidence that supports that assumption throughout human history. Some modern day psychologist call it the greatest psychological disease to befall mankind. There is no doubt that the implementation of a religion onto a given society is a coersive method of control or a manipulative cause.

Absolutely. Also be careful to note that you're asking if it is A way to control the masses. It is much easier for the powerful in the society to keep the weak (ie, lower classes)* under control by convincing them that they will eventually be rewarded, albeit not in this life. The Sermon on the Mount, for instance, advises society's weak to be comfortable in this life despite their lack of power (blessed are the meek, etc.). After all, in the afterlife all will be handled with the ultimate justice. Everyone will "get theirs" (if you take my meaning) after we die. But in this life just take it as it comes. *Edited for clarification

They have been trying for thousands of years, never has happened, never will. Wars were started because of this. The closest thing to controlling the masses, is the government.

Primarily, yes. Of course those who are weak enough to feel the need to buy their moral codes second-hand from a man in a dress play into the hands of those who wish to control us, so it is not totally one-way traffic either.

In a lot of the poorer countries in the world I would say Yes that is definately the situation

No we have governments doing that now

This is something that the enemies of religion have been saying for a long time. However, I would point out that no matter how hard people try (and there are many who have), they just can't seem to stamp out religion. When ever a society has tried to eliminate religion, they have found that they have to replace it with another faith based institution. They may try to make it seem as if they have a rational basis for this new institution, but when you get right down to it, the people must accept the new institution without any concrete proof that the institution has any factual basis for its claims. For example, the Soviet Union tried to eliminate religion from its people. The institution with which they attempted to replace religion was the government. They tried to convince that their socialist form of government could provide a greater degree of prosperity than western societies (which still largely embrace religion) could. The people had no concrete reason to believe this. So, they just had to take it on faith. Communist socialism was the religion of the Soviet Union. We now know just how controlling that government was. We also know what an abject failure it was. Getting back to the point I was trying to make, religion seems to be an inherent part of human nature. No matter where you go, there is some form of religion that the people accept. As some have said, some religions do seek to control, but the majority seek to provide guidelines that they think lead to a happier life. In most countries the religions do not have the authority to force people to do anything. People are free to follow which ever religion they choose to follow. So, the religions only have the power to control in so far as the adherents of that religion choose to fallow their spiritual leaders. ****************** "RockAngel: Look at the nation of Islam, they would like to control the world under their beliefs." I did say that some religions do try to control. However, most of the time it is not so much the religion that is trying to control, it is the power hungry people in control of the religion that are seeking to control others. To blame what I see as a fundamental part of the human psyche (the need for religion) for the way some people misuse it in an attempt to control others is about the same as blaming the another fundamental part or our psyche (the sex drive) for rapists. *************** "Bob Blaylock: Do you suppose it's fair to say that the accusation against religion that it is a means of controlling people usually comes from groups that see religion as an obstacle to their own desire to control people?" Sometimes, this may be the case. For example, communism has proved itself a failure as an economic system. However, it is a great system for controlling people. You eliminate religion by setting up the faith in the central government as a religion and you get a totalitarian state that does a pretty good job of controlling because it does not tolerate any competition. However, I think that in most cases, the accusations against religion come from people who just don't want to accept the fact the certain immoral behavior does have negative consequences. Such people want to be able to indulge in potentially destructive behavior because it makes them feel good for the moment without people telling them that what they are doing is wrong or destructive. It is sad to me when such people make such choices, but they do have the freedom to make them.

No. .It's just another excuse to fight each other. In my opnion, religion is anything but controlled and e'd be better off without it.

No anymore in most Western nations organized religion does far more helping of the masses then controling them. I think you are nuts if you think that more then 10% of the people actually take the time to follow church doctrine.

Yes, but not in the way that anti-religionists and atheists may see it. I am a Christian, and I believe that Satan is behind the religious system of the world and all organized religion (Roman Catholic Church, Watchtower organization, etc.) and is using it to send billions of people to hell. Satan did a good job of sending millions of souls to hell during the dark ages and he is doing it today with organized religion. I hope that this is helpful. -In the Master's service. Thank you and God bless you!

Sure. Looking at the development of gods and religion around them - gods started out as ways to explain vaious aspects of nature, earth, moon, sun, stars, wind, stuff. Religions - with their infinite variations of the same Carrot And Stick theme became ways to instill behaviours into developing societies - enforcing behaviour necessary for operating in ever more complex societies and identifying tribal groups from one another. They grew in sophistication as humans did.

That is precisely how I see it.