Island Med Student

Please do check out this article on Wired’s blog about Mike Huckabee’s endorsement of GodTube, a Christian version of YouTube. I really didn’t think much of it until I watched one of the videos (below), which pretty much made me want to vomit. Here’s a recommendation though, don’t watch this video first thing in the morning like I did. It might just ruin your day.

PS: I could write a lengthy rant about why this video disturbs me, but I have too much studying to do today. In summary, I’ll say this: I am certainly not “against” any religion. In fact, I think religion serves an important purpose in many peoples’ lives. I am, however, against scare tactics in general. And especially scare tactics used to get people to believe in a certain religion, or anything else, for that matter. Using fear to make people believe in your cause is a form of propaganda. Naziism anyone?

“Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.”

““ Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O’Donnell, Propaganda And Persuasion

“By the skillful and sustained use of propaganda, one can make a people see even heaven as hell or an extremely wretched life as paradise.”

- Adolf Hitler