Praying, rituals etc. within a theist framework are a means to an end. Op is talking about praying, rituals etc. for their own sake. Like running just for the sake of running, instead of for actually getting to a place quickly. It's really not that complicated.
Organized religion is a system of control. This does not mean that all religion is.
No. A more fitting allegory would be to get rid of the need to run after animals in the forest to get something to eat, but still continuing with running, because the exercise is good for you even without a further (higher) purpose to it. Did you read the post?
I think the probability scapegoating is relatively easy to replace with the simple stoicism. "It's out of my control, so no use worrying about it."
The prayer/ritual stuff is more interesting. I should make an altar...
I don't disagree with you, but that's really not what the text was about. It's about the placebo effects, and how those might be harnessed.
Comparing Hamas to the Roman empire is a bit strange, given how the balance of power is the polar opposite. I think op concluded that a "the next fight between Jews and Rome" in the current day would mean Israel vs. Europe. At least that's the impression I got.
I'm not fluent in reading chinese, but the text in the jacket looked odd and sure enough, it's incorrect when comparing to a picture of the real logo.
But isn't that just a different way to dry it?
No. Most racists are not people in power, and having "inferior" white skin (not a downgrade, just a sidegrade for the combination of northern latitudes and agriculture) applies to a lot more people than just the racists.
The reason that they are the way they are, is that it's an easy outlet for the anger caused by probably a myriad of reasons, some common, some more specific to the person in question. I'd be willing to bet that financial insecurity caused by neoliberalism is pretty high up on that list for many, and that's why actually powerful people like to promote racism to divert the anger elsewhere.
I feel lile we should start killing normal cars too, for consistency. That's what the ceo wants, right?
I think the fingers just curl in. The picture looks ok to me, but yeah it's still lazy marketing for ai slop.
How is that necessarily a tool for control? Yes, mainstream (read: organized) religions are used for control and over time the associated religious worldviews themselves are morphed to better fit that purpose, but this does not mean that a religion can't exist which isn't a system of control. Try inventing a worldview in your head that fits the definition. Since you thought it up, it now exists. For bonus points you could try gaslighting yourself to check the boxes for "belief in" and "reverence". But who's controlling who when only one person even knows about it? Religion doesn't need organization to exist, and without organization you have no system of control.
Organized religion is a subset within religion. Religious views can contain elements of spirituality (but this isn't strictly necessary). Both are types of superstition, a category containing everything from aliens and the tooth fairy to lucky numbers and walking under ladders.