Some people do the manipulation, because others let them. If I don't want to think, and there's Reverend So-and-so over there giving me ideas, then maybe I'll just let him do the thinking for me, eh? And so it begins, but then the laziness spreads and we don't teach the kids to think either, and before you know it, generations have gone by without anyone learning to think. Meanwhile, as Dave mentioned, the ones doing the "thinking" get the power and the money and the nice houses. I think in the end, it all becomes about power, of one sort or another. Power over people, and power over the bureaucracy that is the Church, and power of "god" and so on. Power corrupts the weak and the willing.


What's wrong with worms? Other than the kind you don't want inside you, of course. [Trivial point: when studying internal parasites, do not, under any circumstances whatsoever, dine on pasta. Especially the spaghetti kind.]

"Those rules we should accept" is a good area for debate. I'll propose one, based on what we teach the little ones: "Share nicely". In grownups, that translates to sharing such things as the road, public transportation, taxes, medicines and suchlike. All those areas where we're supposed to think of others as well as ourselves could probably be boiled down to sharing nicely. Whaddaya think?