Overheard Starbuck

"They're indispensable for control not because of how they worship or, and this may surprise you, what they believe--what their values are---they're courted and rewarded by the leaders simply because they are believers. The teachings are never as significant as the subjugate's surrender."
---"You mean because of who they believe. It's not as if the religious left has their lawyers working at the Department of Justice."
"Sometimes I think politics are influenced less by greed, avarice and bigotry or as the religious right preaches --by the forces of good versus evil--sometimes I imagine there're microbes, viruses, which bypass reason and make individuals more or less susceptable to belief itself."
---"I think I've heard something like that before, so what? The results are the same whether it's biological, chemical or divine intervention influencing the individuals in these groups."
"Wouldn't you like to know what the viruses are up to? What evolutionary advantage they gain by having millions of Americans willing to kill and die for the men and women that best exemplify their values?"
---"You mean millions of Americans willing to imagine, watch & celebrate others killing and dying for those cherished so-called god-given beliefs."
"I forgot. You like to think your neighbors' depression could never erupt into wholesale murderous rage. That only a few, the proud, are capable of real violence. ..You should talk to some non-bigoted cops someday. ...Or read about Serbia."