Social 'Function' of the Church

As we have seen elsewhere, the Roman Catholic Church became an extremely powerful institution, so as to become an Empire, actually a stealth Empire, for it rarely accounted for its acts, its atrocities, its crimes, its wars, its greed for secular possessions and power. True, like most destructive forces, it tends to hide its misbehaviour and advertise its deeds.

Be that as it may, the Church managed formidable powers. It was already wholly spread along Europe in the Early Middle Ages. As a political force, it was endowed with power over the three areas of human psychology: the feeling, the thought and the behaviour. An absolute dogmatic power: you were not free to think, feel or act as pleased lest you trespassed a commandment or any other religious rule. Very few Political forces, like nazism or fascism, had such a tremendous power over the minds of their flock.

The Catholic dogma became indispensable for anyone to live, to know how to live, because it was, it appeared as a psychology, the word of the Church appeared as the guardian of all souls. The people's souls belonged to the Church: they decided what to do with your soul at any given moment. Your soul could be glorified, if you did something pro-church, or consigned to the flames if you sinned.

Many an academic, and even as popular philosophy currently has it that the Church was a 'social organizer', for how else would you prevent 'society' to enter into chaos if you didn't enforce law and order. The Commandments seemed to have that function, to prevent society to fall into anarchy, e.g., Do not steal, Do not kill, Do not fuck, particularly do not fuck thy neighbour's wife. You shall love God above all things, meaning you shall love the church's word above all things. You swear eternal obedience and gratitude to God, that is you vow obedience to the church's ministers, from the lowest friar to the higher ecclesiastical ranks.

I must clear up that when I write 'society', I mean the unprivileged, the mob, not the lords, the clergy, the kings, princes, and noblemen. So it was the unprivileged, the oppressed, who had to be controlled, ruled, and used for the powerful's ends.

Consequently, we are now in the capacity to reformulate the Social Function of the Church:

1. The Church was a social organizer so that the faithful could be properly exploited. As obedient serfs, for instance.

2. The Church was a mystical power which ensure recruitment of soldiers willing to give their lives for God: to be used as cannon fodder.

The efficiency of Feudalism relied heavily on the Church and on these beliefs. For instance, the catholics taught, and still proselytize, the belief that life is only a brief passage through earth in our existence. The regal, heavenly life comes after death. In heaven you poor farmer will be freed form your hard labours, you will lead princely life, you will own a fiefdom, have all the prerogatives of the lords, enjoy a life of luxuries and eternal happiness, enjoy life, possessions, idleness. All that you saw or knew noblemen enjoyed.

In that way the unconditional loyalty of the recruited was assured to fight the many wars medieval feudalism promoted either on the Crusades, organized by the Roman Church or on the wars the feudal lords engaged in for their often petty greeds or otherwise motivated, also in the name of God and generally funded by the Church.