Cartoon 898: Control exerted

Mario Puzo was the author of the book, “The Godfather” and wrote the screen play for the original Superman movie. He also wrote about the middle ages in his book, “Family”. In his book he references that nobility assigned their oldest son to the clergy and their second son to the military. It causes you to wonder why send the first son to the clergy? The answer is power. The clergy had power over the nobility and the people. The goal was to have the family excreting this power. Celibacy though avowed, was not strictly adhered.

Throughout human history there have been three mechanisms of control. The first is the family through a patriarch or matriarch. The second is religion. Religion has exerted greater and more far reaching control. We see the power of religious ideology all around us. Last is patriotism. Armies and peoples are amassed under the guise of patriotism. Too often in history genocide has been a patriotic act.

We are all susceptible to the perversions of family, religion and patriotism. After 911 patriotism was shouted from the roof tops. We turned a blind eye to where we were being lead. Today every political candidate is falling all over themselves claiming a relationship with the divine. We see the power of family with three generations of Bush in high political office or three generations of McCain, among others.

Our individual challenge is to conscientiously decide to what extent we will follow.