Religion, Money, Politics: A Cycle Feeding Itself

Money, religion, and politics flow inside an elliptical cycle with each further feeding the cycle. When money grows, that money causes more politics, and more religion. As politics grow, so do money and religion. Likewise, when religion grows, so, do politics and money. And, when any of them grow, the magnitude of the cycle increases: it’s a snow ball effect.

As such is the case, consider Google, Jerry Falwell, and Ron Paul. With money, Google has become political and religious. And, as Jerry Falwell became more religious, Falwell grew political and wealthy. While Ron Paul draws political support, he also becomes more religious, which in turn brings more money. The cycle feeds itself.

A company Google is, but, Google has also become more than just a company. It has formed its own religious morals, and political ideals–each growing further as more money enters Google’s pocket. Consider its puritanical fanaticism, a company motto of “don’t do evil.” That motto was written by the founder Larry Page in a letter for a regulatory filings for its stock market listing.

Yet, Google’s initial public offering was August 19th, 2004, but was founded on September 7th, 1998. So all-of-a-sudden Google is on the brink of making billions with its IPO, then its founder suddenly announces with a letter its religious morals: “don’t do evil”?

Google’s religious zeal has been described as “the company of missionaries” by a visitor to the company’s “Googleplex” in Silicon Valley. Indeed, Paul Saffo at Silicon Valley’s Institute for the Future says that “Google is a religion posing as a company.”

In this religion, the god of Google is “The Algorithm.” To see the authoritarian presence of Google’s imperious god, look at webmasters chanting and praying for “Page Rank.” This is Google’s system of ranking websites, and henceforth has been decided, by Google’s god, to be the ultimate judge of content quality.

Indeed, money has fueled Google to become religious. And now, money has fueled Google to become political by attempting to force the FCC into playing Google’s game. Recently Google bid in the FCC’s wireless spectrum auction, but not without adding Google’s rules for “open applications, open devices, open services, and open networks.” The political nature of Google thinks it can dictate the rules.

Just as Google’s money has fueled Google into religion and politics, so too did religion fuel Jerry Falwell into politics and wealth. Falwell, an American fundamentalist Christian pastor, founded Thomas Road Baptist Church, Liberty University, and co-founded the Moral Majority.

Falwell needs no introduction to his religious life; he pastored a mega-church in Lynchburg, VA–a church with 1 million square feet of floor space, and seats for 6,000. Along with his sermons at his mega-church, Falwell’s message was broadcast on radio and television to thousands. Using his new growth in religious power, Falwell moved to politics.

As for his political life, Falwell was co-founder of the Moral Majority, one of the largest political lobby groups for evangelical Christians in the United States. This tells how religion soon flows into politics. Using his lobby group, Falwell campaigned on issues he thought “maintained the Christian concept of moral law”, such as banning gay marriage.

Falwell built Liberty University, the conservative Christian school, where Falwell instructed students to ignore the teachings of 1970, Falwell saying, “I was taught in Bible college, religion and politics don’t mix.” And just as he instructed, Falwell’s school has Presidential contenders making pilgrimages.

Liberty is home to The Jerry Falwell Museum. It is not a museum simply named after Falwell, but in fact, a museum of Jerry Falwell. Much like building a library housing historical material praising yourself, Jerry Falwell’s museum is the egotism of politics that make Falwell a political being.

Although no actual monetary figures are available on Jerry Falwell, we can estimate his wealth by those familiar with Lynchburg, VA. The home of Falwell’s church. Students in Lynchburg attending Randolph College, formerly Randolph Macon Woman’s College, describe Jerry Falwell’s house as “huge, with an iron gate and personal [security] guard.” And others have seen Falwell’s limousine. Yes, Jerry Falwell’s growth in religion lead to wealth and politics.

I have yet to provide an example of a politician whose political life fueled growth in wealth and religion. And, I’m sure there are several. But for this example, Ron Paul leads the pack. Ron Paul a contender for the Presidential race has become quite the political figure. Using the Internet’s word-of-mouth power, Paul has gained surprising support for his libertarian ideals.

Although Ron Paul remains the underdog, Paul has managed to go from zero to 2% in the polls. Officially, Ron Paul is a Republican, and has been elected to congress 10 times. This iconoclastic figure advocates limited government, foe to the Federal Reserve and anything not explicitly endorsed by the Constitution. And perhaps, Dr. Paul might be the most antiwar candidate.

Earlier this year, the candidate took 9.1% of the votes in an Iowan Republican straw poll. Jackie Calmes, a journalist for The Wall Street Journal, wrote “Mr. Paul had one of the smaller, most isolated locations, but his tent was among the most crowded despite scorching heat.” Later, in another poll, Paul went on to win by 33% in a Fox News Debate poll.

Yet, Paul’s political life doesn’t complete the picture without the religious followers of Ron Paul. As a cultish group of followers, many on-line supporters dub Ron Paul as “the Saviour of America,” or “the only one.” Such strong religious devotion to a candidate hasn’t been seen since President Reagan. For many, Ron Paul is religion.

And as Paul’s politic fuels his religious followers, it has meant money in the sums of $3 million making him fourth among eight Republicans. Just recently, the candidate raised $1.2 million in just seven days. Indeed, his political life has fueled the Ron Paul religion and with that: true, hard cash.

So, regardless of personal beliefs about either money, or religion, or politics, growth in one fuels growth into the elliptical dynamic of money, politics, and religion. It is this dynamic flow that naturally forms bonds with one another leading to natural association with the other two. When you have money, or religion, or politics, you will soon have the other two. It’s a fundamental bond between them.