The main religion in Blade Runner
is Mercerism which preaches two main tenets:
be an empathetic individual and work for the good of the community.
Followers of Mercerism don’t attend Church or temples. Rather, they visit
devices called empathy boxes. When the sides of the box are gripped the user
enters a hallucinogenic state where everyone is connected via Mercer’s mind. On
the surface, this religion may seem like it possesses some good values, however,
it holds some dark undertones. While patrons are attached to the empathy box,
they view Wilbur Mercer undergoing excruciating torture. As Mercer is struck by
rocks, everyone in the device experiences the shared pain as well as the joy of
empathy simultaneously. Mercerism also
turns out to be a false religion. We learn that Mercer is actually a con-artist
and the whole illusion was produced using a sound stage. However, if the values
are pure and people such as Deckard and Isadore believe in them, it raises the
question of whether the religion really is false?
What you believe, is strongly influenced by what society believes. If a society regards wearing no clothes as the norm, then that's what majority will do. Following each other, and cohesively living in peace. Differences in beliefs have lead to many outbreaks, for example, the First Crusade. It was mainly fought between Christian Europe and Muslims. Everyone in the novel believed Mercerism was real because everyone really thought it was real. This may be why the religion seemed legit. After revealed that Mercerism may be all a scam, it's hard to go back and believe in it, because everyone else doesn't. This idea of majority rules is powerful. We've experienced it young, for example, in gym class, the teacher will give options as to what everyone wants to play, and majority rules. Some may not want to play, but they must go along with it. In the novel's case, Deckard and Isidore didn't consider it to be scam, because they believed they really felt it and they will continue to believe in it even if society doesn't for that matter. All in all, believe what you want to believe, not what society wants you to believe.
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