Is there an alternative (more poetic term) to avoid making the choice between “simpler” and “more simple”?

Question

I am trying to translate a Greek essay in English. Let me give you the text above and below the word "simpler":

Actually the first, more systematic - and most effective - propagandists were, since the dawn of time, the founders, preachers and apologists of religion. Their work was arduous and complex. It required creativity, almost sophistic ingenuity, imagination and unsurpassable persuasion. Because it is much easier to propagate and spread an ideology than a quite complex, and in many occasions cruelly harsh, religious faith. It is simpler to create a positive image for a sovereign or political leader than to convince billions of people that an invisible (but almighty and most merciful) Father exists.

The word "simpler" at that particular spot does not sound good to me. Is there an alternative that I could use?

P.S: please let me know of any other mistakes that you may have noticed in my translation (:

P.P.S: Since someone asked for the Greek version. Essay Source:

http://www.ndimou.gr/articledisplay.asp?cat_parent=2&time_id=70&cat_id=2

Answer 1

I suggest a rewrite as follows, if you aren't trying to adhere too strictly to any specific form or voice:

"One can more readily create a positive image... than convince billions..."

Answer 2

I'm reading the statement as you wanting to say "A is a lot simpler than B" and that you're doing so by emphasizing the relative natures of the two tasks (living, breathing, actual politician with earthly powers, vs invisible entity with almighty, unimaginable abilities). If you're doing that, perhaps another approach that might sound more poetic is to exaggerate one side of the equation:

Creating a positive image for a sovereign or political leader is trivial when compared to the challenge of convincing billions of people that an invisible (but almighty and most merciful) Father exists.

or as a direct substitution (but it just sounds a bit forced to my ear..):

It is comparatively trivial to create a positive image for a sovereign or political leader than to convince billions of people that an invisible (but almighty and most merciful) Father exists.

Answer 3

According to Oxford Advanced American Dictionary, which defines the word elementary as follow:

elementary: very simple and easy

and as you are searching for "more poetic term," the word could be that.

It is more elementary to create a positive image for a sovereign or political leader than to convince billions of people that an invisible (but almighty and most merciful) Father exists.

On Google Books you can find a lot of structures " ... more elementary ... than ..."