@sardonicsmile As TFM stated religion gives people a sense of community and safety within the herd. The community could also be patriarchal which is a net positive.
The goal of religion should be to create a religion that aligns with your values and gives people a trivial task within the religion to achieve a sense of community.
@sardonicsmile I think they’re doing what they know how to do. Hopefully they have good values. The US is already controlled by the media. It was in the song “American Idiot.”