Another Church Sign

I saw another interesting church sign today. This one said:

JOY IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF DIFFICULTIES BUT THE PRESENCE OF GOD

This immediately prompted some thoughts:

1. This is typical religionist marketing. In essence, it tells the reader that the answer to your problem is not to make any real effort (because that doesn't help); the answer is to buy our product. It's like saying "Clean laundry is not determined by the brightness of the colors or the absence of pathogens, it is determined by whether or not you use Tide." It replaces that which can be measured or proven with that which you must accept as fact without evidence (or even in the face of contradictory evidence). Pretty shifty. Also pretty effective.

2. This is also typical of the brainwashing that religionists must overcome in order to embrace... umm... reality. What this simple sentence on a church sign tells people is that joy is not possible without (insert deity here). This kind of stuff is hammered into their heads from the time they are kids. And it is a message delivered by people who we are told we must respect. This adds the "argument from authority" angle and, although that is a logical fallacy, how many people actually use logic in their daily lives? The emotional part of the brain is much more powerful and easy to access (hence the marketing style). Is it any wonder that religionists are generally -- and I mean this literally -- frightened of free thought and incapable of understanding how people can be happy without imaginary friends?

My version of that sign would be more like "Joy is not the absence of difficulty, but the acceptance of reality."

Call me silly, but I do not see how pulling the blankets over your head makes the monsters go away.