Religion has been a very Good way of controlling people over the years. If you think about it, all religion does is gives you a set of standards to live your life by, and a "higher power" to which you will have to answer to if you don't follow the rules.
These days, with no religion, and no control, look at what is happening to society.
I'm not saying that all the controls that religion puts on people have been, in my opinion, good. Look at the treatment of homosexuality, women, people with disabilities etc.
But, if you look at the principle of no sex before marriage. It meant, in a time before contraception, that not only were diseases largely controlled, but that children where bought into the world with 2 or more people to support them, where no one else would be able to help.
Now we have contraception, a society that is showing that marriage is too big a commitment, and more teenage pregnancies and children born out of wedlock than ever.
Now, I'm not saying that this is outright a bad thing, but it's not the best, and every situation is different.
A couple these days finds it easier to have a child (or buy a house) than to commit to marriage. Even though of the three, the marriage is arguably the one with least commitment. With a child, you are tied to the other person for life, and with a house you are jointly responcible until one of you buys t'other one out, or you both sell up. And with the housing market like it is, that will be very hard.
At least with a marriage (and I have 7 years of it under my belt, and 2 kids, and a house) you can not see each other for a year, have a few minutes in court and it's like it never happened.
Personally, I think the Media is the new religion. It's the only method of control in society. If you want everyone to know about something, you don't pass it round a group of leaders who can then talk to massive congregations. Nope, you post it on the net, get a tv ad, or get the message over through a tv show of some kind.
peice said.
