Power and Charisma

[wesmorris]

It just occured to me that the only possible situation whereby the religious message of "absolute love" (as jesus and similar pacifists seem to eminate) can be effective and practical only when the bearer of the message is incredibly charismatic.

(i had a better end to that but I accidentally erased it, argh)

To me, jesus and similar pacifists seem to eminate a message of "absolute love". They further seem to endorse that message as it applies to how people should interact with one another. I'm just hypothesizing that the effectiveness and practicality of the messsage in question increases immensely in effectivenes if the individual communicating it is highly, abnormally charismatic. People dig Tony Robbins, case closed?

How is that supposed to be an effective message for people like thevisitor... who is almost completely devoid of charisma? How is that practical? What a cruel god to forsake his boring and annoying people as such. Do you see where that leads? The less charisma the religious fanatic has, the more pissed off they end up. When they end up pissed off, they might be able to persuade people by preying on their primal fears. To me, it's somewhat sad... but apparently this is what evolution has brought us.

 

[spookz]

charisma doesnt necessarily have to translate into the written word. it is more physical in nature and descriptions of it tend to be of the intangible variety. it is quite possible that thevisitor can make tim robbins his bitch

edit: actually it is impossible that charisma be physical in nature cos it is merely an attribute possessed by particular individuals. what i meant to say was that, charisma is apprehended by the senses only if one is physically in the immediate locale as the allegedly charasmatic individual.

if it appears that there is something mysterious about this quality, i would offer the opinion that charisma is collection of other attributes; namely, oodles of confidence and a ready smile!



edit frikkin edit: what about tv. so proximity is not necessary. ok.... you need to have a visual representation of the charismatic fool to get suckered into his shit!