Zandarian Lexicon Entry: Worship

Valuing something to a greater degree than the life of a member of one’s own species. In other words, holding something in a higher regard than the survival of the most estranged and distant person on Earth.

Worship is generally regarded as a voluntary thing and is rather poorly defined. However, with the definition provided above, we may utilize this word to identify corrupt worship as well as communicating the intent of reverence. We may also now link this concept to the Zandarian model for Functional Sanity. In short, if members of a species devalue each other then the species will trend towards extinction while revering something other than their own survival and the survival of their fellows.

While there are things that could be worshipped while remaining sane, if the things that are worshipped do not support viability of the species worshipping them then that worship is functionally corrupt. The most common and destructive worship practiced today is the worship of money. Wealthy individuals in the modern era cannot become wealthy without the destruction of the lives of others. Individual wealth is prized above abundance of society.

An additional concept that is fueling inequality in the world right now is the idea of treating a potential lack of gain for the wealthy as a real loss. The policies that come from covering a potential lack of gain for the wealthy do generate real loss for those who are already at a financial disadvantage. This is a worship of wealthy families over families who have had less to inherit over the generations. We would argue that today every empire of every kind has been inherited by people who didn’t work to build it and who don’t know how to value it appropriately or how to value the people who did build it.

Furthermore, every human need has been monetized. Even fresh air is only available to those with the financial stability to live away from polluted areas. Social interaction and inclusion in society are also held behind a paywall in the form of subscriptions to communications companies and paying for the energy infrastructure supporting communication systems. Fresh water collection from natural rain is even outlawed in some parts of the world. As such, a real loss of finances is directly linked to the viability of human life in the modern era. Additionally, any standardized fees not calculated against income should be regarded as capital punishment since a diminishment of finances does directly impact an individual’s ability to eat nutritious food, drink clean water, wear functional clothing, maintain shelter, communicate, breathe fresh air, and find health care.

Even the churches and temples cannot function without money. Humanity is currently being forced to worship money at a global scale and the billionaires regard themselves as deities.