Title: Aristotle on Politics and Religion
Headings: Aristotle on Politics and Religion
Aristotle on Politics and Religion
The Uncommon Devotion of Tyrants
How Religion Can Be Useful to Tyrants

Content: How Religion Can Be Useful to Tyrants
Second, instead of simply saying that religion is useful to a ruler, Aristotle goes on to explain two important ways in which not simply a religion, but that "uncommon devotion" to religion is. In both cases, it's a question of control: religion affects how people relate to one another and how they engage in social action. Religion has long proven helpful in regulating social behavior, something that will be particularly important to a tyrant who cannot necessarily count on the freely chosen support of his subjects. By adopting a mantle of piety and religious authority, a tyrant is able to keep others at a distance — not only when it comes to critiques of how they are ruled, but also anyone's overt challenge to the political system in general. Any political system that people believe is sanctioned by the divine order of the cosmos will be much more difficult to even question, much less change. Only once it became common wisdom that government is instituted by humans did it become easier to create change on a more regular basis. This passage from Aristotle's Politics is a substantially accurate description of how a repressive government can employ religion as a means of social control. Religion's effectiveness lies largely in the fact that a ruler doesn't need to invest as many resources into things like extra police or spies. When it comes to religion, control is obtained through mechanisms internal to individuals and with a person's consent rather than imposed from the outside and against people's will.