Ventriloquism...

The clerics have traditionally assumed the role of go-betweens, linking the realms of God and humanity. This role combines self-importance and faux-humility: two attributes which, when juxtaposed, almost define the concept of religiosity. It’s a role the clerics have been reluctant to relinquish. Because it’s not always easy to hear God’s voice above the clamour of everyday life, it is incumbent on you and your fellow clerics to interpret his message for humankind.        

     In your role as a conduit to the celestial realm, you can tell your followers what God has said, or would have said, or, indeed, should have said. This may require some skill in ventriloquism: pretending that man-authored edicts are voiced by a silent, uncooperative and absentee God, and making the trick look and sound convincing. This shouldn’t be a problem, since, in accepting your religious propositions without question, your followers have already demonstrated their credulity. People who might query your directives, if you voiced them yourself, may be more easily persuaded if you insist that they are commandments from on high. Despite Mohammed’s insistence that he was not divine, he recruited God to voice many of his own concerns. The prophet stated plainly this idea of divine ventriloquism. “Whoever obeys me”, Mohammed said, “obeys God”. For a mortal man, that’s quite a claim...