Panoptacism. Before the invention of online multiplayer I enjoyed computer games. They offered a relaxation, away from the panopticon of the school system. I would argue that with the invention of multiplayer online, gaming created its own panopticon. In this scenario I see leading MP companies like EA as the central tower or controlling figure, building a system where gamers can see statistics about each other are are locked into an eternal struggle where they are in constant fear of judgement by other players, who has the highest kill/ death ratio, largest number of head shots etc. Performance is constantly monitored and recorded by the institution of electronic arts for anyone to see. This alters the behaviour of the gamer from someone who plays for fun, absorbing the scenario and engaging in the story to a player who is self conscious of his or her ability to play, the feeling of being under constant scrutiny leads to increased aggressiveness which is much more likely to develop into a real addiction.This benefits the institution of the game developers by locking their customers into the game, they become content with playing for hours and hours like docile bodies.
In organised religion and religion in general we see a similar thing, although on a much grander scale. The basic concept of an omnipresent god that can see you all day everyday, that controls the fate of every human and writes down the basis for law and morality, but cannot be seen, controlled or spoken too forms the institution of god. god is an entity or being that will judge our actions and reward us with heaven or punish us with hell. "Hence the major effect of the Panopticon [god]; to induce in the inmate [follower] a state of conscious and permanent [temples] visibility that ensures that automatic functioning of power. So to arrange things that the surveillance is permanent in its effects, even if it is discontinuous in its action [not really there]."
An organised religion takes the concept of a god and builds their own dogma on top of it, creating a a massive institutional power, backed by the institutional power that 'god' already demands. The purpose of any religious organisation is to exact power over a population of people, and by using a god or gods as an entity that sets their 'laws' or 'commandments' on how you should behave they lower the proverbial Venetian blinds on their own movements and practices, as the guards do behind the blinds of the Panopticon. By being 'always with us' an organised religions god of choice can make sure total social control can be enacted over anyone who believes them.
Of course for many centuries religion infected every aspect of human life, many of these traditions are alive today: from birth you are initiated through baptism, no choice of your own, 'confirmation' comes to enact further control over a young and impressionable mind shortly after. Foucualt would call the 'confirmation' a "system of permanent registration" this impregnates the idea that god is an all powerful and omnipresent being; a higher power that makes decisions for you. Once decisions are taken away the human becomes a docile body. They will say "thats fate" or "god moves in mysterious ways", a sign that the docile body has become self regulating. When the individual has decided that what they get is what they deserve and god puts them in their place, the church as an institution will never be challenged to power. The next step for the church to enact total control of the individual is by taking control of the institution of marriage, and by controlling the terms of marriage they can regulate the sex lives, and inevitable offspring of the individual. Furthermore by regulating the sex lives of the individual the church takes control of the most important (functional) part of a humans purpose; to reproduce. Then to finalise the unbalanced union between institution and individual your death is also controlled and regulated by the church. By holding the funeral you become institutionalised on death, the mourning family is then emotionally tied with the organisation that controlled this part of the individuals life.
Foucualt also writes of the aspect of control over renegades; When an individual or groups of minds speak out against the chains of religion, or believe in one of the other 28 million other gods in recorded history they are labelled as 'heratics', 'satanists', 'devil worshipers', etc. More importantly that these people should be considered abnormal, cast out and in the dark ages burnt at the stake. "The constant division between the normal and the abnormal, to which every individual is subjected, brings us back to our own time, by applying the binary branding and exile of the leper to quite different objects." Here in my example the leper is replaced with anyone who disagrees with religion.
By having control over Birth, Sex and Death organised religion can fully institutionalise the individual. Once the individual it told that 'god' is the authority and heaven and hell are the options he/she will become docile towards the institutional power of organised religion, allowing it full control over all aspects of life without resistance. In this way I could link organised religion to the plague that Foucualt spoke of "The registration of the pathological must be constantly centralised. The relation of each individual to his disease (belief) and to his death passes through the representatives of power, the registration they make of it, the decisions they take on it."
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