religious retric

*Angels demons etc were made up to scare the ignorant, fear kept people in their places, that's the retric with religion, it scares you into parting with your money.

* They tend to use religious retric and religious symbolism to mobilize people.

Please help me understand what the word retricmeans. I helplessly conducted a search campaign including all online dictionaries without any luck, without any success.

Sometimes, I get frustrated and almost feel like giving up. This time, I was close to that. Infact I just missed the cut. loool

Thanks in advace!