Examining claims used to justify control
Religious texts promise salvation through figures whose existence is often unverified outside those texts, while institutions built around them continued patterns of control.
Central figures with limited contemporary historical records outside religious sources; narratives used to justify European “civilising” missions that enslaved millions.
Private experiences promoted as divine truth, spreading through conquest while the Arab slave trade targeted Africans for centuries.
Psychological control mechanisms creating fear and obedience, discouraging resistance against oppression.
Missionaries accompanied colonisers; churches and mosques often supported systems of slavery, apartheid, and resource extraction while preaching “turn the other cheek.”