Priests would often convince their followers to leave all their worldly possessions to the church, instead of their families, when they died based on the written word.

Hence, the "word of God." Priests are a class that always knows how to maintain their positions of power, no? We call them politicians today.

I took an online copywriting course a few years back. They said marketing was based on the 7 deadly sins of avarice, lust, gluttony, sloth, greed, wrath, envy and pride. Cater to those weaknesses and people will buy. Symbols have the magic to bypass the mind and go directly to the emotions. Find the perfect word-symbol combination and success is at hand. Most people have no idea how programmed and vulnerable to this they are. Realizing that is part of the waking up process.

sorry we missed the voting window on your article.

Me too. But thanks for the great, insightful comment. It's appreciated.