cofty
Similarly when wrestling any moral dilemma the question of what decision will make god happy is inadmissible.
while the above is true it is also as cofty suggested in another place on this thread, ruling authorities find that when people consider what makes god happy it is useful for them. I think he was focusing on the negative side that rulers will use such sentiments in the sense that Marx outlined.
However, there is an upside too, as our own Prime Ministers have shown, which is that people who have a faith can open up an imaginative space to be more philosophical about a situation than expecting science to always provide an answer to questions to reality, and so that we rarely think 'nuke him Danno'. ( I am exaggerating to make my point - sorry).
David Cameron, Tony Blair and the entire household of the Queen have faith or at least demonstrate that they do. Rulers like these also can use faith but in a positive way so that making god happy is a way of saying one can gain satisfaction from spiritual insights just as much as from 'nuke him danno' insights.
Satisfaction/making ourselves happy, as a form of self realisation by focusing on something external to ourselves that also matches something inside of ourselves, is an important aspect of our makeup. This is a hugely important aspect of evolutionary philosophical thinking too and this is the reason I think religion has been central to our development. Indeed Cofty you have already mentioned that at the end of day we have something in common with those of faith. thanks for listening