I have been thinking recently about banks and currency. It's a fact that American currency and that of the majority of the world is fiat currency, it's currency that is completely based on the promise of the government. The government is free to do with it as it wishes and to inflate the currency, debase it, and so on. The user of the currency has no control over it. Further, governments allegedly use their gold reserves to further manipulate and solidly backed currency to maintain the value of their fiat currency.

I have, for a number of reasons, understood religions as art, rather than a business. A lot of people will say that yes there is aesthetic value to religions, but that's not quite what I mean. Yes there is a religious aesthetic, but no I mean in a more general sense religion is its own category of art, like painting, drama, or photography, religion may actually be the highest expression of art possible. It is in fact the highest because often the subject is the observer and the observed at the same time -- that is a person reflecting upon the picture while being painted is a believer. The narrative that drives the religion and its rituals paints an entire world which is perceived by the believer and engrossed in this fantasy is his reality.