Anyoneelse see the similarities between Belief in God and Psychosis? (beliefs, hell)

[Blindinglight]

Sigh, those discoveries and inventions still have nothing to do with religion...I guess it will never get through to you all. The twin towers, now that had nothing to do with religion! The innocent women who were accused of witchcraft and sentenced to death, were not religious! The people whom were executed by protestants in the early America, were not religious!Women are executed every day because of what they wear, or how they act..because they are not religious! In the middle ages, if you challenged the church, you were executed..because it was not religious! 6 million Jews were executed in ww2..because Hitler was not religious!

Actually, it was the greed, and corruption. Most people back then couldn't read, write, or even understand the sermons. The King said to do it, and since no one knew any better, actions were carried out. Knights were also frequently illiterat.
And who said the religion flew planes into the Twin Towers? It's called terrorism. Bin Laden didn't like the foriegn policies, decided to attack, and what better way to get someone to carry it out than people who will believe it's a holy war, and will be garuanted admitance into Heaven for carrying out such an act.
But, that's just the culture, as you said. We would still have the same policies, and action would still be taken. It probably wouldn't have been a suicidal attack, but a devestating one still.

[Dream Angel]

Originally Posted by Bronze

I'm not even remotely joking right now. I stand that Theism should be considered a form of psychosis.

the primary symptom that earns you a phychotic diagnosis is the concrete belief in something absolutley ridiculous and illogical (delusion).
People get locked up over seriously believeing that the Government is ran by aliens. People do not get locked up for believing that an invisable man that is watching over us who will judge us and send us to either heaven or hell and created the universe, ect.

The main similarity between the two is their credibility. There is as much evidence that God exists as there is evidence that aliens run the government. They are both technically possible, but are lunatic, farfetcht ideas.

Heavy delusion is the primary symptom of psychosis according to wikipedia.

that in mind, the following are, according to wikipedia again, the psycological definitions of "delusion":

certainty (held with absolute conviction)
incorrigibility (not changeable by compelling counterargument or proof to the contrary)
impossibility or falsity of content (implausible, bizarre or patently untrue)



Compare religious beliefs to the beliefs of people in lunatic asylums and it's clear they are one in the same. and as you are about respond and defend your belief, remeber the bit about
" incorrigibility (not changeable by compelling counterargument or proof to the contrary) "

Difference is we have a book!

[doppelgänger]

Originally Posted by Dream Angel

Difference is we have a book!

Silas Marner?

[MoonWater]

Originally Posted by Haydaman

....?
He did not, anywhere in his post say that. He said there is equally as much evidence that God exists as there is that aliens run the government. Why are people accused of lunacy "locked" away? Because they are a danger to society. Look at where religion has gotten us. Countless people have died in the name of God...and for what? Nothing has been gained, only lost. Theists are nothing more than a danger to society.

Countless people have died from gunshots wounds. Do we blame the guns? No we blame the people who shot the guns. This is because without a person to pull the trigger a gun would never be fired. The same parrallel can be drawn to religion. Even if a particular religion has values that might seem horrid, say for example sacrificing babies, those actions would not happen without someone to carry them out. However the idea of sacrificing babies could also be interpreted as saying we should sacrifice the child within ourselves and could simply be interpreted as a metaphor that one needs to grow up and mature. So just because a religion says that you should sacrifice babies still doesn't make it inherently bad. It depends first on how it's interpreted and second on how one acts on it as a result. "Things" tangible or intangible only do harm or good if a person uses them in such a way. otherwise it's just a thing that sits there. A gun is completely harmless until someone decides to pull the trigger.