It's important to remember there is a difference between the malware 'mom' that has infected Elliot and the woman he calls mom. Her faith is significant because it is a human weakness that can be exploited. In this story, every weakness gets exploited.

I somewhat randomly stumbled into interpreting a David Bowie song I already knew - but had never interpreted with any effort. One of the fans of Bowie said it was by far his most sophisticated lyrics in his songs. It took me just a few minutes... and I was surprised how different it was from the long-time-loyal fan's view. The historical context I happened to focus on helped. The song was all about the boredom of Bowie with the Monomyth story structure in 1971.

Now reading what you just said about Elliot's mom... and not being able to invalidate the patterns of this. And the Intro of S2E6 - I see exactly that's what's going on.

Rick Roderick in 1993 described his perspective over this kind of forthcoming events as a sense of "Vertigo". This entire thread has given me that. Edward Bernays psychology like Bud Lite commercial in S2E6 is kindergarten compared to what we are dealing with here.

I once jokingly said that the twin towers of the Occidental world were in New York City. One, a man of Reason education and translation - Joseph Campbell. The other, the Edward Bernays - a man of pure opposite concerns - Evil Corp incarnate! Bernays turned the American people in Babbitt incarnate (Sinclair Lewis).

if much of what has been presented her today - the symbolic Twin Towers have just imploded in front of me. Bernays and Campbell have been laid to rubble. They have become the aggregates foundation of a new tower of psychological exploitation of everyone and every-thing.

"Mais rien de tout cela n'est de l'ordre du défi symbolique, mais bien de l'anéantissement sans phrase, sans gloire, sans risque, de l'ordre de la solution finale."