Is faith a mental illness?

reply to post by Samuelis

I'm an atheist, but then, that's just my opinion.

Is it a mental illness if everybody's got it? It seems fair to say that the great majority of people who ever lived have exhibited some kind of religious faith, and though there are many more atheists about nowadays than used to be, we're still very much in the minority.

Why does religion even exist? It's a question in evolutionary psychology, and while no-one really knows the answer, we know there must be one. Does religious belief offer an advantage in the struggle to survive and reproduce? Or is it perhaps, as Richard Dawkins suggests in the five-minute video below, that religious faith is a by-product of another adaptation, such as the tendency to believe one's parents, that does have survival value?

Elsewhere, he has described religion as a 'selfish meme' which thrives in its environment – that is, human culture – because it is well adapted to survive and reproduce in it. But perhaps this brings us back round in a circle to the idea that religious faith serves the genetic ends of those who possess it. I think the history of religion shows us that it does, or can do. It certainly did for the Hebrews, enabling them to carve a swathe through the Middle East, wiping out rival tribes and impregnating their women; it did the same, on a much broader scale, for Islam, spreading Arab genes around the Old World, and in the New World it helped establish the dominance of lots and lots of lily-white genes from Europe – and quite a few black ones from Africa, too.

So, no; I don't think religious faith is in any sense a mental illness. It is certainly irrational, but irrationality is not invariably madness. There are occasions when it is not even folly; and I say this as an unbeliever.

Now here's that video.

Originally posted by yourmaker

Originally posted by deadeyedick
reply to post by yourmaker

 

Oh yea? So what is the appropriate treatment that is saving the world now?

saving the world? oh yeah now i'm super inclined to answer you

better then no treatment and continuing the delusion unabated.

You can not treat something you do not understand and will never understand through what you perceive to be reality. You made mention that there is an appropriate med. treatment for faith and i would love to hear what that is.

reply to post by deadeyedick

You can not treat something you do not understand and will never understand through what you perceive to be reality. You made mention that there is an appropriate med. treatment for faith and i would love to hear what that is.

Treatments won't work on the unwilling, especially if it's a treatment for a psychological disorder.

reply to post by Samuelis


Right now in your life you don't know what you believe . I was there almost 30 years ago and I laugh at what I thought I knew . I thought I had a handle on it too . Don't be so cocky and listen to what your elders have to say . You wonder how someone else moves up quicker than you ? They listened !

Originally posted by AfterInfinity
reply to post by deadeyedick

 

You can not treat something you do not understand and will never understand through what you perceive to be reality. You made mention that there is an appropriate med. treatment for faith and i would love to hear what that is.

Treatments won't work on the unwilling, especially if it's a treatment for a psychological disorder.

Who is to say who needs treatments. If you take a look at the med books then each and everyone of us is a qualified candidate for treatment. everyone on here.

reply to post by Astyanax


I am impressed to see your opinion on this matter. I have recently been thinking about start two separate threads on Atheism. When and if I do I would like you express your thoughts on them.

everybody, i repeat, everybody is mentally ill !
doh! i'm repeating myself. now i have it too!

reply to post by deadeyedick

Who is to say who needs treatments. If you take a look at the med books then each and everyone of us is a qualified candidate for treatment. everyone on here.

When parents insist upon foregoing medical attention in favor of prayers that clearly aren't doing what they're supposed to, perhaps the parents could use some form of treatment themselves.

Originally posted by AfterInfinity
reply to post by deadeyedick

 

Who is to say who needs treatments. If you take a look at the med books then each and everyone of us is a qualified candidate for treatment. everyone on here.

When parents insist upon foregoing medical attention in favor of prayers that clearly aren't doing what they're supposed to, perhaps the parents could use some form of treatment themselves.

Really does that include unborn children? How many cases are you referring too.I am unaware that this is a widespread issue.

i believe faith is to believe in something without 100% proof even events such as the big bang. AThiest cant prove this event happened but they have "faith" that it did

The Quran calls Muslims to Science. Muslims believe that the Quran is the literal word of God and hence all Koranic injunctions are direct orders from their Lord. Therefore most Muslims read the following verses from the Quran as religious mandate for science. "Have they not reflected on the heavens and the Earth and all things God has created?" (Quran 7:185).

So faith can be perceived with science.

Originally posted by Samuelis
reply to post by TheMagus

 

2-same could be said of your irrational belief in a 500 year old belief system, as the Summa of all knowledge and wisdom, yet is no different in its whoredoms, to Money and Domination. i'd say you were delusional, vain, materialist, falsely led by the nose, a pitiful state indeed.

1-Even more pitiful than a life wasted on fairy tales and cloud men? 2-Blindly guided by archaic rules of domination and fear? 3-I'd say you are closed minded, easily led by your insecurities, driven by lies and unable to discern truth without direction from a book. 4-Just an unaware fool filled with delusions of superior religious morality. Fun game hey?

1-I became an atheist at 9, and i follow no book, O font of "Wisdom".

...There in a land between Reality and Illusion, between Time and Space, between Chaos and Order, betwixt The Spirit, The Soul, and The Body, there i floated for countless Aeons, unable to do aught save exist! It was there i learned, in whispers:

The Secrets!

It was there i learned that qualities such as Good and Evil are nothing more than lies created by Humans to control Humans!

It was there I learned the Great Division is not Right and Wrong, but...

Purpose or Death!

www.abovetopsecret.com...

2-says the "man" who cannot debate and thus requires ad homs because he needs to feel "superior"
,this somehow by becoming an automaton, a futile hope you seek, by loudly and grandiloquently proclaiming your loyalty to The Machine Hive of the Borg, some spokesman for the singularity cult you've turned out to be, as pointed out you nihilists are using arguments "borrowed" from the RCC, i see a Deletion in your future.

3-I'd say you know not whereof thou speakest, the very definition of fool, indeed.

4-see 1,2,3

Is faith a mental illness? No faith is not a mental illness, faith is merely being open to that which has yet to be proven true. Having faith in another person, unseen God or Gods, or just the cosmic power of the Universe isn't anything terrible. It doesn't lead to anything harmful and probably has saved countless lives throughout our history.

The really dangerous power is that of belief. Beliefs not only cause conflicts but escalate them. It can shatter and destroy lives in minutes. A person operating on faith that there is a God or whatever, requires no proof to believe it so no amount of proof will dissuade them. A person that merely believes in God is different in that they believe they have acquired enough proof to satisfy themselves that there is leaving them open to the possibility that there is not so they in turn must prove their faith is firm when it really is not.

reply to post by Samuelis


I think excessive "faith" is a NEUROSIS for some people, who can't seem to separate "real life" from "afterlife" 'pain and suffering' or 'martyrdom' or 'heaven'.

Of course, some people ARE mentally ill, and might find comfort in thinking about "God" - (it's very common for prisoners to "find Jesus" once they are 'caught and jailed', also).

Neuroses are prevalent - we ALL have simple neuroses. But real "mental illness" is a different thing. Also, I think you chose the wrong DSM description. It's not "Delusions of Grandeur" - it's more an addiction - a coping mechanism - an escape. A way to excuse oneself and neglect accountability in the HERE and NOW.

A person can be addicted to ANYTHING - knitting, the Internet, ATS , drugs, CHURCH, the Bible, gambling, hoarding garage sale items, shopping, ......
it doesn't matter what. Often, an addict will manage to drop one thing (say, alcohol), and simply find a substitute (like knitting), but they remain EQUALLY unavailable to the people around them insofar as they are focused on their "fix" rather than their loved ones.

I had a mother-in-law who was a funeral addict. Her daughter, her first child, had died of a brain tumor when she was a little girl. The mother NEVER recovered. She wallowed in her grief and became obsessed with funeral activities, at the expense of her other FOUR CHILDREN - ALL BOYS.

Unavailability is a sad side-effect of addiction. It causes all sorts of family distress and dysfunction.

reply to post by Samuelis


Is faith a mental illness? Is hope a mental illness? That's what faith is, your hopes in what you believe. Everyone has hope in something. Some put it in a God or gods, some put their hopes in themselves. Some don't put it in anything, it just fades away like dust in the wind.