Religion as Means for Social Mechanization in Dystopia
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date published 02/10/2007
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SummaryDystopian literature describes societies in which Government seizes total control over its citizens by eliminating their sense of individual self, and in turn, efficiently regulating their personal desires. Only with deviant selfishness can a member of dystopian society regain his personal independence from the state. The institution of a skillfully crafted state religion is an important factor in the success of an oppressive society; so long as adherence to a standardized core of beliefs can be maintained, the chance of civil unrest, and its resulting rebellion, is kept to a minimum. Religious indoctrination is the means by which totalitarian dystopias retain a subservient and mechanized citizenry.
Table of Contents- Dystopian literature describes societies in which Government seizes total control over its citizens by eliminating their sense of individual self, and in turn, efficiently regulating their personal desires.
- This aspect of modern dystopian thought is influenced by classical political theory.
- Penned by Yevgeny Zamyatin in 1920, as Stalin was violently securing his own One Party State of Russia, the dystopian novel WE depicts the One State residing on a future Earth.
- The yoke of unfreedom, which guides the people of the One State to their happiness, can only function properly when its prisoners unflinchingly cooperate.
- By naming the dissenters 'enemies of happiness,' the One State invokes its highest religious value to retain civilian support and keep the machine running.
- Insignificant actions become sanctified ritual in the Machine's society.
- However, what is built by mortals must itself be mortal, and with the failure of the Mending Apparatus, the Machine begins to fall apart.
- Threatened by rebellion unless it can keep sufficient control over its citizens, a totalitarian regime must rely on a religious foundation for security.
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