Religion is government

[DaBackpack]

Originally Posted by Cavernio

While trying to imagine what a form of governance/social system that's not geographically based but value based would look like, I realized it would look exactly like religion.

"Governance" and "social system" are not the same.

Religion forms the basis of many (arguably, most) value systems across space and time. That's just true. In fact, religion can be the most effective and efficient way to codify rules and traditions, and historically can be said to aid in the survival of the human race. You don't need to to justify rules with logic, reasoning, or the scientific method, which allows the formation of stable societal formations fairly quickly.

"Hey guys, new rules just dropped. Dont kill, don't cheat, don't steal."
"Why?"
"Jimmy- you know, the fishmonger- knows a guy named Moses. Anyway, Jimmy told me that Moses climbed Mount Sinai and God spoke to him and handed down some rules that we gotta follow. Something about a covenant, or Commandments, or something. Oh yeah, also, no golden cows. That REALLY pissed off God."
"Oh, okay. I WAS gonna cheat on my bitch wife but if God says not to, then..."

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Now, let's look at "governance."

A value system can, theoretically, form the basis of a self-governing social formation. This is one of the bases behind many Anarchist schools of thought, e.g. Anarcho-communism ("ancom"). The problem is that the rules have to be ENFORCED somehow. In the Abrahamic religions, that role was filled by God. "If you don't follow these rules, you will be punished." This, naturally, leads to Theocratic regimes, which are necessarily hierarchically organized. After all, SOMEBODY has to interpret and act upon God's words.

"Government" is the organization by which "governance" is carried out. Principles of "governance" can be motivated by, or even directly informed by, social value systems. "Religion" can form the basis of a social value system. However, these things are not the same. You can have a mode of governance that is inspired by religion or superstition, but isn't rigidly hierarchical or theocratic (e.g. early human civilization). You can have a social value system that forms the basis of a country's Constitution, but isn't derived explicitly from religious doctrine (e.g. the USA... sort of).

Hell, a fascist military regime provides governance and has no NEED for consent from the people. Power is concentrated at the top, and the State has a monopoly on violence. If you don't like the social contracts I force upon you, what the fuck are YOU gonna do about it?