"The Guild... was highly responsible for the standardization of religion in the Dune universe. The Guild members themselves were atheists, and only promoted this move to promote a stable societal order from which they could profit.

- taken from the wikipedia explanation of "The Spacing Guild", an elite monopoly of the space travel industry of the future (according to the universe of Dune), and thus the controllers of the inter-global economy. akin to the "G8", these are powerhungry, ruthless controllers who simultaneously instill religion into the masses to keep order.

sounds to familiar...