And yet he chose to associate himself, in however bland a fashion, with the religious festival period which he’s used the greetings for.
Mix in minimalist, new-age pandering references to Buddhism (on Marks part) as much as you want, I still see him associating himself with the underlying white, religious power base which those motivated by Machiavellian piety, as you rightly say, would rather you just accept a kind of quasi-mostly-sorta-nod-and-a-wink-religious-don’t-you-know, public avowal which I’ve previously said I thought was a hallmark of religion.
It just so happens that the Abrahamic religious background is what he can comfortably claim allegiance to without too many deep questions about his motivation. Which the notional mention of Buddhism also serves to protect him from. We all like the ideas but who really follows Buddhism?
You can be picky about configurations all you want, he’s pandering to a more specific base than ‘the religious’.
