Why does humanity feel the need to believe in something? Because it is easier to do what it is told to you than being responsible for your own decisions. Plus, without something to believe in, there would be mayhem on earth. That’s why society is divided into two categories: One that believes in something tangible, which has logical explanations at the base, such as the government or science, and one which attributes humanity’s biggest events to supernatural — or what we know it as religion.

Let’s take religion and politics, for example. They both have the same goal: That of gaining absolute authority and making people listen to them. According to a study, “Religion determines its authority on divine laws which could not be changed with human intervention,” whilst politics “moves ahead, changes, and adjusts itself with the newly arising challenges of time.” A good example, in this case, is the current situation of the pandemic, where most governments have taken different measures to prevent the spread of the virus. But even so, some people consider these acts as an attack to their right to freedom.

On the other hand, religion is not. The church continues to tell people to pray — because this is a good plan to get rid of the COVID-19. But, you see, the church is doing something unbelievable now: See the case of the people in Romania, who have participated at the holy procession of the Eucharist by using the same spoon, not taking into account the fact that they can get sick at any time.

We’re not saying that we are against religion. No! We’re somewhere in the middle. But we would like to highlight that people, even though we have been endowed with rationality, continue to do dangerous things for the sake of religion. 85 percent of the world’s population is embracing some sort of religious belief. Even if it wanted to, religion couldn’t find a better time to help people be safe and healthy. This is the authority that has the greatest impact on this percentage of people. So why not use your power in their favor?

Take Sri Lanks’s monks’ example: They have turned the fact that most of the population is religious here in people’s favor. And also in Colombo Municipal Council‘s favor, which reached to the priests kindly asking for a solution to fight dengue, a viral infection that is transmitted through mosquitoes’ bites. One of the most affected areas in the country includes Colombo, where slums account for over 50% of the population. These slums are a perfect environment for mosquitoes to thrive.

Sure, dengue isn’t at the size of COVID-19, but the campaign that took place in Sri Lanka can be a good lesson for those who lead us and want to help us overcome this current medical situation. Suggestively titled “Life Chant,” the campaign — and at the same time, the prayer — educates people about dengue mosquito breeding. Written, recited, and recorded by monks, the chant was imagined by the creative people at TRIAD agency, who boosted it throughout the slums, where loud-speakers in these shrines and temples educated the community on dengue breeding.

Via our weekly #ThrowBrandThursday column, we’re just helping the Colombo-based agency spread its message to remind people about this story, which can be applied even today and — we can only assume — would have positive results.

The message aired twice daily during regular prayers, which happen to take place at the very time the dengue mosquito is most active. At first, it started as an audio medium which later turned into an on-ground activation with monks from different temples visiting the slums and educating people.

“When communication becomes intertwined with a culture and lifestyle of a community, the message becomes a clarion call; a habit from then on. This is what ‘Life Chant’ attempted to do and succeeded at very rudimentary level of convincing common man to take note of the Dengue menace,” says Varuni Fernando, Jt. Managing Director / CCO, TRIAD.

“’Life Chant’ demonstrates the power of religion to bring about change, for good. In a first, religious sense met civic sense to educate people on dengue mosquito breeding. With over 13,000 temples and shrines spread across Sri Lanka, Life Chant is a solution at scale,” Shehan Samarasinha, Director and Strategic Planning, TRIAD, told Branding.news via email.

We’re not here to debate which one is better: religion or politics. We are here to see if the two of them can collaborate for the sake of the population. So, we’re featuring this story to draw attention to the most powerful people, who are in charge of guiding us. It’s time to put your pride aside and collaborate with one another (even with your enemies) in order to do good.

Credits:

Client: Colombo Municipal Council

Agency: TRIAD