Superstition and Propaganda

Io9's Cyriaque Lamar posted a tremendous story today entitled, "How Ghosts, Superstitions, and Vampires Have Been Used For Psychological Warfare."  The premise is simple - "modern" Americans and British pull the wool over the eyes of "superstitious" peasants.  The logic is nothing new - heck, it is a staple of colonial psychological strategies at least as far back as the Spanish invasions of America (imagine the effect encountering an armored white man on a horse firing gunpowder-based weapons when you have never before seen metal body armor, Caucasians, horses, or gunpowder-based anything), but it is always interesting to see it utilized.  And while (1) the strategies worked and (2) psychological warfare is exactly that - warfare - one has to feel a little uncomfortable with the sense of smugness necessary to attempt such unsubtle forms of emotional (and therefore rational) manipulation - using someone's religious tenants against them is just darn uncomfortable.