Tag: believers

Marketing to Believers

by jcafesin, posted in Uncategorized

Do you believe in God and Jesus?

Why?

Likely because your mother taught you to — marketing to you throughout your formative years the benefits of belief:

  • Community
  • Solace
  • Salvation

Your beliefs were marketed to you through holiday celebrations, and maybe Sunday school and prayer. Even if mom, and/or your dad, didn’t directly push their beliefs onto you, they likely sold your religion to you via example: crossing themselves when hopeful; saying (and believing) “thank god,” instead of giving the credit to the person or people who brought about whatever they were thankful for.

Religion is a PRODUCT. Always has been — a way for the few in power to control the masses. Christians, Jews, Muslims, and all major religions have become successful, thriving businesses through MARKETING.

For most, your entire belief system is based on what has been advertised, marketed, and sold to you through your family first, then media, and likely your social circle — Christians hang out with other Christ believers, Jews with Jews, Muslims…etc., associate with their own “kind.”

Christianity is by far the largest held religious construct with 2.5 BILLION believers, almost a third of the global population.

By far, Christianity produces more marketing than any other religion. Like fake news, Christianity not only sells you on believing in the ethereal but also sells you on what to believe. They sell you on who and what to vote for, what you buy, and often who you shop from.

It is impossible to find real numbers on how much Christianity spends on advertising. Christian marketing pros make sure it’s a black box because they don’t want you to know they are spending trillions annually to sell you on believing, or concertizing your existing faith by selling you politicians, books, and businesses that megaphone Christianity. Christian books, too many to begin to count, Christian Superstores and Mega-Churches, TV and online evangelist, and movies like The Passion of the Christ, Noah, Heaven Is for Real, all are subtle (and not so subtle) marketing campaigns to convince you to become a Christian, or buy the products and services of Christian organizations if you are already a believer.

In fact, Christianity’s foundation is not God or morality. It is MARKETING. By Christian law, it is every Christian’s obligation to market — PROSELYTIZE Christianity to the world.

Most of you believe as you do because your belief system was manufactured and marketed to you continually throughout your life.

Faith-based marketing (FBM), generally Christian, is a strategy that recognizes the importance of religion to consumers. FBM attempts to tie an organization or specific product to a religion. Chick-fil-A, Hobby Lobby, Tyson Foods, Jet Blue, and the list goes on, associate themselves as Christian organizations to better market their products to the over $5.1 trillion a year spent by Christian buyers. Most of these companies use Christianity as a convenient cover story, but they do not practice Christian values. The struggling clothing retailer, and Christianity advocate, Forever 21, demoted most full-time workers to part-time status to avoid paying them medical benefits. This is typical for companies espousing Christianity. They market to your beliefs, quote the Bible to manipulate you into thinking they have any morality at all, to maximize your Christian dollars.

Passengers on Alaska Airlines received pocket-sized prayer cards along with their refreshments (until the backlash by customers threatened to hurt their income). Businesses that are not affiliated with any religion, like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Bank of America, Dairy Queen, McDonald’s, Clorox, Delta Airlines all sponsor MegaChurch events. 20th Century Fox has a division called FoxFaith that produces religious-oriented films, often sponsored by the companies vying for your Christian dollars, and the Republican Party (GOP Marketing).

Christianity has been marketing to Republicans since the mid-1950s. President Dwight D. Eisenhower spearheaded the phrase “under God,” be added to the Pledge of Allegiance, and the 1955 law requiring “In God We Trust” to be printed on all U.S. currency. Dwight was not religious, but saw the Republican base swung strongly Christian, so he converted to Presbyterian, was publicly baptized, and won reelection a year later by a landslide.

In the early 1980s, a coordinated effort by the executive director of the College Republicans for Ronald Reagan, Ralph Reed, Pat Roberson (700 club televangelist), and Jerry Falwell (Young Warriors for Christ) campaigned to Christians to turn them into “America’s most powerful Republican voting bloc.” He sent direct mail marketing to church mailing lists across the U.S. to convince them that ‘liberals,’ and non-believers were destroying America, and reminding the church members about their obligation to vote for candidates that espoused Christianity. And it’s worked!

Republicans are now THE party of Christians. During the Capital Riots, Christian signage was everywhere: “Jesus Saves!” and “God, guns & guts made America, let’s keep all three!” Most of the Capital Rioters were/are Christian ‘believers.’ Crowds chanted, “Shout if you love Jesus!” And the crowd cheered back, “Shout if you love Trump!”

Target-marketing to Christians, especially low — mid-income Christians, has exceptionally high conversion rates — gets these people to buy, try, and subscribe with each campaign.

Why?

Conservative Christians are way more likely to buy into marketing than any other target demographic.

But why?

It is pretty simple, really. People who choose to believe in fairy tales (like a virgin birth of a married woman, resurrection, and eternal afterlife with a judge at the gates), without THINKING— just believing, taking it on faith that their mother and society must be ‘right’ — are exponentially easier to convince to believe in anything, no matter how absurd. So, when Fox News and other conservative media flood the internet and TV with marketing claiming the ‘2020 Election is a fraud, and Trump won, not Biden,” Christians tend to believe it.

Looking for high engagement with your marketing? Target and SELL your products, services, and ideas (real or fake) to true Christian believers.

Atheism and Morality

by jcafesin, posted in christianity, Uncategorized

An Atheist on Morality…

Einstein did not believe in God, as many [mistakenly] claim.

Albert Einstein said, “My position concerning God is that of an agnostic.” He clarified, “The word God is, for me, nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this.”

Atheists don’t believe in God either. Not any god/s. Ever. Unlike Agnostics, open to the possibility of a ‘higher power,’ or ‘collective, sentient being,’ Einstein believed in neither. Agnostic is politically correct, less threatening than Atheist, especially during Albert’s time, born a Jew, and existing on federal and university funding.

I am an Atheist. I do not recognize the Old or New Testament, and related works illuminating the adventures of a divine being as anything more than fiction — parables by some wise, some ignorant, but guaranteed partisan male scribes with an agenda to dominate and control others.

So, when I need money, [as an Atheist] why don’t I go rob someone? Or shoplift?

When I’m attracted to my neighbor’s husband, why don’t I hit on him, get intimate if he’s into it? 

When I get pissed off at the driver on their cellphone that just cut me off, why don’t I just shoot her?

Snatch & Run, illicit affairs, even murder these days, and the odds of getting caught for these crimes are somewhat nominal if done discreetly. Fear of being busted is not the main motivation that prevents me from committing these, and ‘lesser’ crimes, like lying, cheating, and behaviors that most would agree, religious or not, are moral infractions.

If I believe I answer to no higher power, where do I get my morality?

Einstein said, “We have to content ourselves with our imperfect knowledge and understanding and treat values and moral obligations as a purely human problem — the most important of all human problems.”

Without a priest, rabbi, or holy man telling me what to think and how to vote, and with no guidance from an omniscient god, or unbiased media outlet, I must consider my moral obligations. 

Why should I bother, and how do I know ‘right from wrong’ without a ‘divine doctrine’ to guide me?

If my parents had not gifted me life, and their parents before them…etc., I would not be here now, emersed in this experience of living. I am born owing Humanity and everything on this planet that supports our life here. We all are. All of us have a moral obligation to do our part to ensure the human race survives, and gift those to be the experience of being human.

Humans are social beings. It is mandatory we work together to survive and even thrive. We require a social structure — laws, and rules of conduct with mutually agreed-upon baselines we all must practice to partner. Breaking these rules annihilates our trust in each other, corrupting the very foundation on which relationships are built.

As an Atheist, why don’t I steal?

Do Not Steal is [generally] a mutually agreed-upon baseline. Contrary to religious rhetoric, it is not a biblical notion by some partisan scribe. Way before the written word, it proved to be a sensible rule to build trust.

I used to shoplift. My older sister showed me how when I was 7, and I stole from the local art supply store a few times until I got busted for pocketing Prismacolor pencils. The shop clerk called my mother instead of the cops. Riding home with my mom that afternoon, she explained to me that I was robbing her, my dad, and most everyone else, including myself because the store passed on the lost income from shoplifting by increasing the cost of their products. 

I created a rift with my mom, who was disappointed in me for stealing when she ‘taught me better than that.’ I created a rift with the art supply shop clerk who I saw often as a frequent customer of the store. And with my mom’s information, I understood I was serving no one shoplifting, perhaps especially myself.

Trust is the foundation of all relationships. It encourages communication, connection, and intimacy. Intimacy incentivizes reproduction. Having children ensures the human race continues to exist. (Most of us have heard the derisive term “Breeders,” referring to parents, but the absurdity of this view is lost on the idiots who use this word, as they could not utter it if they’d never been born.)

As an Atheist, why don’t I screw my neighbor’s husband?

I’ve been married for 27 years, and I have not and will never have an affair. Why? Thou shalt not commit adultery (Exodus 20:14) is not strictly biblical either. Ancient scribes adopted this notion as law from observing 200,000 years of human history.

If I have an affair with my neighbor’s husband (or wife), I am participating in creating a rift in their marriage. Even if our affair goes undiscovered, it changes the dynamic between the married couple with an intimate third now part of their once exclusive, mutually agreed-upon partnership. The rift generates a ripple effect of discord that touches the lives of many, even the adulterers, dividing households, destroying friendships, business relationships, and sometimes lead to war. 

Humans must work together to survive and thrive. War in our house or our nation is divisive and counterproductive to our continued evolution.

As an Atheist, why don’t I shoot the driver on her cell?

I fantasize about it sometimes, don’t you? Vaporizing at the idiot driver in front of you going 45 miles an hr in the fast lane while she’s texting. Seriously, I want her off the road, gone from harming anyone with her sheer arrogance in acting as if she is the One who can manage driving when statistically she is the cause of most accidents today. The cross dangling from her neck neglected to instill the value system Jesus preached: “Love your neighbor as yourself,” (Mark 12:31).

It is our moral obligation to watch out for each other. Caring for others beyond ourselves is part of what makes our social structure work. If that bitch behind the wheel on her cell hurts me, or my kids, or anyone I care about, I’m going to want to hurt her. It’s human nature to want to hurt those who have hurt us. Hurting each other, whether by thoughtlessness or intent threatens our survival and our ability to thrive.

Religion did not invent morality.

Our collective value system, the laws and rules of engagement most of us live by, religious or not, may have been written by biblical scribes, but not invented by them. The history of humanity has shown us what works and what doesn’t to preserve and encourage our evolution.

“…treat values and moral obligations as a purely human problem,” Einstein said. In other words, morality is determined by humans, not handed down from on-high by some obscure being requiring blind obedience invented by partisan men looking to control the masses.

Praying for less extreme weather [from global warming], or lunatics with AR-15s to stop mass killings, or for equitable socioeconomics won’t change anything. Even if you don’t text or scroll while driving, or participate in sexual affairs, or steal, we all have a moral obligation to ensure life continues here long after we’re dead. We owe those that follow us the complex and spectacular journey of being human that we have been gifted.

Atheist or religious, we all must recognize and actualize our moral obligations to each other and this planet for humanity to survive, and thrive.

— 

Cited Notable Facts:

Murder rates are lower in more secular nations and higher in more religious countries where belief in God is deep and widespread. (Jensen 2006; Paul 2005; Fajnzylber et al. 2002; Fox and Levin 2000)

Within U.S., the states with the highest murder rates tend to be highly religious, such as Louisiana and Alabama, but the states with the lowest murder rates tend to be among the least religious in the country, such as Vermont and Oregon. (Ellison et al. 2003; Death Penalty Information Center, 2008)

Rates of most violent crimes tend to be lower in the less religious states and higher in the most religious states. (United States Census Bureau, 2006)

The top 50 safest cities in the world, nearly all are in relatively non-religious countries, and of the eight cities within the United States that make the safest-city list, nearly all are located in the least religious regions of the country. (Mercer Survey, 2008)

Domestic terrorists of the American far right are driven by zeal for heretical distortions of Christian theology. (Paul de Armond, DOJ, 1999) Christian nationalism [is] a serious and growing threat to our democracy. (Robert P. Jones, TIME Magazine, 2022)

Marketing Religion blog post with additional cited notable facts.

Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay

An Atheist on Morality

by jcafesin, posted in atheism, atheists, christianity, christians, conservatives, far-right, jewish, muslim, Uncategorized

Einstein did not believe in God, as many [mistakenly] claim.

Albert Einstein said, “My position concerning God is that of an agnostic.” He clarified with, “The word God is, for me, nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this.”

Atheist don’t believe in God either. Not any god/s. Ever. Unlike Agnostics, open to the possibility of a ‘higher power,’ or ‘collective, sentient being,’ Einstein believed in neither. Agnostic is politically correct, less threatening, especially during his time, born a Jew, and existing on federal and university funding.

I am an Atheist. I do not recognize the Old/New Testament, and related works illuminating the adventures of a divine being as anything more than fiction—parables by some wise, some ignorant, but guaranteed partisan male scribes with an agenda to dominate and control human behavior. (The defense that organized religion was necessary to reign us in when we were small warring tribes has been [and still is] proselytized by every power-hungry, self-proclaimed ‘person-of-god’ out there.)

So when I need money, [as an Atheist] why don’t I go rob someone. Or shoplift?

When I’m attracted to my neighbor’s husband, why don’t I hit on him, get intimate if he’s into it?

When I get pissed off at the driver on their cellphone that just cut me off, why don’t I just shoot her?

Snatch & Run, even drive-by’s these days, and the odds of getting caught for these crimes is somewhat nominal if I’m discreet. Fear of being busted is not the main motivation that prevents me from committing these, and ‘lesser’ crimes like lying, cheating and behaviors that most others would agree, religious or not, are moral infractions.

If I believe I answer to no higher power, where do I get my morality?

Einstein said, “We have to content ourselves with our imperfect knowledge and understanding and treat values and moral obligations as a purely human problem—the most important of all human problems.”

Believer or not, what are your ‘Moral Obligations?’

Mine, as an Atheist and a Human being, is to support our continued evolution. Part of my Moral Obligation is to reproduce, and extend the magnificent, wondrous, glorious feelings of being alive to someone else, as it has been gifted to me. In keeping with this particular Moral Obligation, bringing kids into the world comes with more Moral Obligations. Reproducing requires me to care for my progeny above myself, especially through childhood, teach them things I’ve learned so far, and to lay a foundation of trust, respect and love that my parents neglected to give to me. But my moral obligations extend far beyond having kids.

I am born owing Humanity that came before me, and everything on this planet that supports us.

We all are. Global warming, climate change, believe in them or not, what is your Moral Obligation to creating a more sustainable future for everything here? It may seem we have little control over our environment, but we have more than we think, or at least are practicing. My M.O. is to do better at preserving life, and the earth itself from our crap—our toxic emissions, our trash, our fecal waste, killing forests for toilet paper, over-farming, over-fishing, fracking, and the list goes on and on.

Another M.O. I follow is to THINK, a lot, about most anything and everything. Research, question, and learn are all important M.O.s. So, I research how I, as just one person, can fulfill my Moral Obligation to care for our planet better and came up with a lot of ways:

  • Use LED or CFL lightbulbs
  • Stop eating beef
  • Stop eating fish unless it is sustainably caught
  • Drive a fuel-efficient vehicle
  • Recycle
  • Use recycled products

Sure, I can use the excuse that as only one person doing any of these things won’t matter to the big picture. But I’d be denying one of my Moral Obligations to do better at preserving life here. Praying for better weather won’t change anything. I must actualize the action items in the list above to do my minuscule part in insuring life here continues long after my time, and that my children’s children’s children evolve to more fully embrace our spectacular creativity, our ingenuity, our capacity for kindness and our amazing ability to share love.

“…treat values and moral obligations as a purely human problem,” Einstein said. In other words, morality is determined by human beings, not handed down from on-high by some obscure being requiring blind obedience invented by men looking to control the ignorant masses.

Religious or Atheist, we all must recognize and actualize our Moral Obligations to each other and this planet for humanity to survive, and thrive.

—

Cited Notable Facts:

Murder rates are lower in more secular nations and higher in more religious countries where belief in God is deep and widespread. (Jensen 2006; Paul 2005; Fajnzylber et al. 2002; Fox and Levin 2000)

Within U.S., the states with the highest murder rates tend to be highly religious, such as Louisiana and Alabama, but the states with the lowest murder rates tend to be among the least religious in the country, such as Vermont and Oregon. (Ellison et al. 2003; Death Penalty Information Center, 2008)

Rates of most violent crimes tend to be lower in the less religious states and higher in the most religious states. (United States Census Bureau, 2006)

The top 50 safest cities in the world, nearly all are in relatively non-religious countries, and of the eight cities within the United States that make the safest-city list, nearly all are located in the least religious regions of the country. (Mercer Survey, 2008)

Domestic terrorists of the American far right are driven by zeal for heretical distortions of Christian theology. (Paul de Armond, DOJ, 1999) Christian nationalism [is] a serious and growing threat to our democracy. (Robert P. Jones, TIME Magazine, 2022)