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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   32403 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 23, 2023

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Interesting.

I first learned about ISKCON in undergraduate. I was taking a a comparative religion class, and the day's lecture brushed on them. I can't remember the exact context, but by purest coincidence, I ran into a devotee on campus shortly afterward. After a brief chat, he tried to offer/sell me a copy of the literature, and I realized two things.

First, that this group was optimized for outreach. The man had a script, a backup script should that be politely shut down, and material and social support. All in the service of getting money or time attracted to the regional temple.

Second, that this had to be one of the main reasons for "no soliciting" or "no printed materials" signs. I haven't been able to confirm this suspicion; maybe those signs were spawned to deal with carpetbaggers or encyclopedia salesmen. But ISKCON clearly found an ecological niche. It will send members wherever they may go, spread the word of Lord Vishnu, and perhaps pick up some new adherents.

This is memetic r-selection. Also known as "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take." Not to imply that it is disingenuous--rather, one of the main features that keeps religion afloat is having universalizing beliefs.

I think this goes back to the printing press, not modern communications. Protestant sects blossomed by similar means long before the photocopier or the combustion engine. I don't know enough to say whether that spread was top-down, driven by elite status games, or bottom-up. But I'd be willing to believe the absurd prosperity of the postwar West led to ever greater exposure to foreign information.

"no soliciting" or "no printed materials" signs

I've read that they constantly proselytize at airports. Leading to modern airports strictly forbidding soliciting on or near them.

Hence the numerous jokes about them in Airplane!, which fortunately are now anachronistic:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=iijPvIiDbL0

See also the running gag about Hare Krishna in the Muppet Movie.

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