Religion is one of the strongest tools ever created to control human behavior. It works through fear, guilt, shame, belonging, and moral debt. For centuries, it disciplined societies with terrifying efficiency.
And yet today, religion is losing badly.
Not because it’s wrong. Not because people stopped believing. But because it failed to understand power.
The Lie of Moral Victory
Take Islam. As an ideology, it claims perfection: justice, balance, discipline, equality, stewardship of the earth. Fine.
Now look at Indonesia.
Plastic everywhere. Forests destroyed. Idolization of useless charismatic figures. No innovation—only consumption.
If Islam were actually influencing behavior, this would not be the outcome. What exists instead is symbolic Islam: identity without enforcement, ritual without consequence.
The uncomfortable truth: people don’t “disobey” religion. Religion simply doesn’t matter enough.
People Are Not Weak. They Are Engineered.
Most Indonesians are not immoral—they are algorithmically programmed.
Desire today is mimetic and automated. People want what they see others wanting. TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube decide what feels normal, attractive, and valuable.
Religion still tries guilt and shame.
Capitalism offers status, identity, and belonging.
Guess who wins.
Government: Professional Manipulators
The state has more power to shape behavior than any preacher ever did. But politicians don’t govern—they perform.
Indonesian populism follows a predictable pattern:
- Allow problems to grow.
- Pretend not to notice.
- Intervene slightly at the peak.
- Claim heroism.
- Repeat to stay in power.
Poverty is not solved—it is maintained.
Keep people poor and undereducated. Then distribute bansos with your face on it. Dress corruption as compassion.
The majority, struggling to survive, become grateful. The minority who see the game become irrelevant, isolated, and apathetic.
That’s not failure. That’s strategy.
Why Real Reform Never Happens
No politician will seriously reduce plastic use. Too many jobs would disappear. Capitalists would lose revenue. Votes would be lost.
Lawyers and bureaucrats won’t save us either. The system is designed with bottlenecks precisely to prevent real change.
Hard decisions are bad branding.
Status Is the Real God Now
Look at what is considered “high status”:
- Traveling to aesthetic places
- Expensive experiences
- Premium religious tourism (yes, even piety is commodified)
- Sports cars
- Attractive partners
- Adidas, Nike, Uniqlo, McDonald’s
People don’t feel superior because of virtue. They feel superior because the algorithm tells them they should.
This is social engineering—perfected.
Religion promised justice and equality. Brands promise confidence and identity.
Religion is abstract. Branding is felt.
Again: capitalism wins.
The Humiliation of Religion
Religion didn’t lose because people stopped believing. It lost because it failed to compete.
It can’t make its followers feel high status. It can’t manufacture aspiration. It can’t dominate the feed.
So its “market share” shrinks. Its communities stagnate. Its moral authority collapses.
People no longer feel guilt for abandoning its values—because guilt requires relevance.
Gen Z: Cracks in the System
Gen Z isn’t enlightened. They’re exhausted.
- Xiaomi and Transsion win by rejecting fake prestige.
- Many withdraw socially to escape endless comparison.
- Alcohol and smoking decline.
- Religious practice returns quietly, not loudly.
This isn’t revival. It’s damage control.
The Algorithm Is the New Priest
TikTok doesn’t just entertain—it decides:
- What you desire
- Who you envy
- Who you date
- Whether you have children
Birth rates are now an output of recommendation systems.
This is not metaphorical.
And in that sense, modern “science” functions like religion: Authority without understanding. Trust without participation. Submission to systems no one can fully audit.
Final Reality
There is no moral awakening coming.
There is only narrative warfare.
Those who control:
- Status
- Meaning
- Repetition
- Amplification
…control society.
Religion lost because it refused to learn this. The state exploits it. Capitalism mastered it. Algorithms enforce it.
Adapt—or remain decorative.
That’s the choice.
draft chatgpt
religion influence human behavior, by fear, by guilt, its very effective
those who top / influencer fail to realize its power.
let’s say islam, its ideology is perfect. about blablabla
but its contradictory with indonesia
e.g.,
- the use of plastics is everywhere
- pembabatan hutan
- pengkultusan tokoh karismatik with no significant impact
- lack of innovation
- can only consume
most fall for algorithmic, mimetic desire.
government has a nudge power to shape the behavior of its people
but most politician just do everything for their own benefit.
the nature of political populism in indonesia will reinforce this behavior.
politician only do something that seems right in the eye of people. so at first they let the wrong behavior as is, when it’s really peak, then they try to solve a little a bit so they are looked as hero. and then they keeping do so in order to stay in power.
one of example is, people be keep poor and uneducated, then they give bansos with their symbol to menarik hati masyarakat so they keep choosing the corrupt people. those who seen a lot about this will become minority, because the majority struggle to live, and seen gov as something helpful, while they just berdandan so they stay in power. the minority will beome powerless and more apathetic.
politician wont push law to reduce the use of plastics, many will lose their job, and hate them, and capitalist will lose revenue.
i thought law people could solve this, but there’s too many bottleneck here with bureaucratism.
[tech play its role]
and then the tech play its role
if we want, we can push agenda to people.
this is the battle of ideas. those who can provide ‘make sense’ justification will win, and winning is simply its amplify its ideas to people, that makes them influenced by that ideas.
see current condition, what is low status and high status.
many people will be confident using brand like adidas, nike, uniqlo, mcd, and other brand that is perceived as premium.
and by what they do feel that?
it’s mostly marketing, it’s social engineering.
and ideology like islam that is try to strive for justice and equality lose its battle.
its amazing how people don’t have guilt by this.
what is your high status that is shown in your feeds? in mine mostly: traveling to beautiful places, buying expensive experience, premium religious tourism, sports car, have partner, using branded things.
religion lose its battle. religion group doesn’t grow because they can’t really influence its people. guilt and shame not working here, capitalism win.
by showing algorithm, that use
their group lose their market share, it won’t grow as a premium brand.
[part gen z solution]
but seems like genz now become aware of this. brand like xiaomi, Transsion groups, etc that has more performance with reasonable price find their market in indonesia.
many genz shut in to reduce social competition.
alcohol consumption decrease, smoking decrease, more people follow islamic tradition.
algorithm is powerful, thats why tiktok and meta is so powerful
we could really have a battle in narrative.
our birth rate is engineered by tiktok, ig reels, and youtube shorts algorithm.
even science is mostly religion.