Does this explain how and why religion works?
"Men are less hesitant about offending or harming a ruler who makes himself loved than one who inspires fear. For love is sustained by a bond of gratitude which, because men are excessively self-interested, is broken whenever they see a chance to benefit themselves. But fear is sustained by a dread of punishment that is always effective."
2006-12-21 01:10:06 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Machiavelli was just intelligent enough to put on paper what powerful people already knew. "The art of war" is another example of someone writing down what great commanders already knew.
2006-12-21 01:14:46 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yeh, pretty much.
He was about, mostly raw power. Only fools will accept that there were no atheists in the 14th, 15th century whatever.
He was about the holding of and theoverthrow of power. Just like Oliver Cromwell. Accept O.C was a believer. I'm sure he had doubts tho; even though he was a thug, a smart thug.
2006-12-21 09:21:24 · answer #2 · answered by Blah Blah 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Here's a test. You have to walk through a large urban centre wearing a t-shirt with a picture of an individual and the title in big bold letters, "________ Sucks!" You have two choices: Buddha and the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Who do you choose?
Here's a hint: I feel compelled to apologize in advance to all my Muslim friends (I have many) who might be offended by this answer, yet I feel no compunction to do so to my Buddhist friends (I have a few).
2006-12-21 09:24:12 · answer #3 · answered by DaPunster 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Machiavelli had some good ideas, but obviously those ideas are largely unproven and or inaccurate. This quote in particular sounds right, but has been proven time after time to be untrue.
2006-12-21 09:15:14 · answer #4 · answered by Pirate AM™ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He was inspired by the political culture of the Itallian Renaissance (oddly, a culture that is alive and well today), and he was not well liked for writing all of it down.
I suppose he did live rather close to Rome, didn't he...
2006-12-21 09:25:06 · answer #5 · answered by B SIDE 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No.
It explains how domination works. If you allow yourself to be dominated by some religious group, that isn't really "faith", but fear, which is a totally different thing.
I believe that perfect faith casts out fear.....
2006-12-21 16:38:50 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Definitely the truth. God-inspired? Who can say?
2006-12-21 09:16:18 · answer #7 · answered by enslavementality 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
he was a very clever man. Basically, this is a variant of Pascal's wager: better believe in God, because if I'm wrong, I'm f*cked.
2006-12-21 09:17:58 · answer #8 · answered by Thou Shalt Not Think 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That brings back memories,....was it the Prince ? Anyway, I think he only knew how to "work" the system.
2006-12-21 09:13:52 · answer #9 · answered by RB 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
good thinking
2006-12-21 09:13:24 · answer #10 · answered by someone 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋