Is religion a mental disorder?

eggman90
Voices in the head? Like Ezekiel, Abraham, or Moses?

If you are costumed like a member of the clergy, you can stand on a pulpit, speak to a group of people, and tell them that you heard the voice of god. They nod and concur, even drop money in a basket.

Strip away the costume and envision the same man on trial, explaining why he shot random people.

The voice in the head is a sorry excuse for not taking responsibility for one's actions.

The bible is a wonderful guide for studying ancient mental illness.

Can one stop the voices? Can one stop doing?
Is not doing done?

There seems to be an idea that there is a choice to what happens but who is choosing really?
Does a murderer choose to be a murderer? Does a gay person choose to be gay?

What is 'mental'?
The mind is what is 'mental'!!

Thought speaks of other times and places but it never goes anywhere. The stories the mind tell are just stories made of words.
If the words are believed then therein lies the problem.

Are you a story made of time and words?
Or is it that stories of other times and places appear within you (the present).

eggman90
Voices in the head? Like Ezekiel, Abraham, or Moses?

If you are costumed like a member of the clergy, you can stand on a pulpit, speak to a group of people, and tell them that you heard the voice of god. They nod and concur, even drop money in a basket.

Strip away the costume and envision the same man on trial, explaining why he shot random people.

The voice in the head is a sorry excuse for not taking responsibility for one's actions.

The bible is a wonderful guide for studying ancient mental illness.

actually the Bible is a great source for humankind's history...

This thread is so desrespectful with religious folks it is shameful.Literaly just make up anything. Everyone on the entire planet has a conscience in their head telling them and speaking to them to some degree.Called being a human being and life.

reply to post by Itisnowagain


Every human has a 'conscience' as every human contains a soul that is pure and godly.

Even a thief knows stealing is bad due to conscience.

There is a difference between a human and an animal. There is a need to recognize that.

Great souls like Christ has taught people what is good about humans.

reply to post by Itisnowagain


Every human has a 'conscience' as every human contains a soul that is pure and godly.

Even a thief knows stealing is bad due to conscience.

There is a difference between a human and an animal. There is a need to recognize that.

Great souls like Christ has taught people what is good about humans.

reply to post by SisyphusRide

the Bible is a great source for humankind's history

Lol.

World didn't start when christianity was born (mere few thousands of years ago).

Go explore some more with an open mind.


I say harry potter books are more accurate of humankind!

Not believing, to me, is more of a 'mental disorder'.

But maybe that's because i've got the religious disorder. But maybe religious was the wrong word.

For me.. the best thing to say is 'faith' is a mental disorder. If that's how it's being perceived.


Edit - Just so you all know. I don't think either believing or not is a mental disorder.... haha.

windword
reply to post by ServantOfTheLamb

 

I have faith drawn from reality, logic and truth. Did you enjoy learning the truth behind my statement about the manuscripts?

Quoting the Bible isn't proof that the Bible is true or truth. I would be happy to debate the so called "truth" of that chart in your link, and the inconsistencies and falsehoods in the New Testament, but this isn't the thread for that.

This thread is about the effects of religion and mental illness. Mental illness isn't prejudice and comes in many flavors (disorders). Religion is one of those flavors, and the mentally ill seem to have "allergies" when it comes to religion, politics, or any other zealot proclivity.

Your instant defensive and hostile reaction, as if Christianity itself was in the hot seat as the cause of all disorder, and your zealous need to prove it correct true and logical, and to convert others, in this context, seems desperate and maybe some form of disorder, in my opinion.

Lol that chart is simply numbers. Numbers don't need debating friend. If you have have information that disagrees with the numbers provided please show me instead of dodging the question? Not the thread for this. The question was is religion a mental disorder. I said no and have been defending my opinion. You should do the same instead of making an open ended statement referring to information that may or may not be real.

The New Testament is not inconsistent. I can almost guarantee any inconsistencies you bring up will be verse taking out of context to support your view.

It has nothing to do with if Christianity is in the hot seat. Christianity is a religion and it is a logical religion. It is definitely not desperate, but something that I do because I care about other people. I don't want people to be mislead by the ignorance of others.

reply to post by MrConspiracy


I think faith or religion is more of an addiction than a disorder.

Its a drug to ease the pain of reality. Some can't survive everyday life without the promise of afterlife waiting for them, where every problem will end.

SisyphusRide
actually the Bible is a great source for humankind's history...

Great.
Here we go again.
The bible is not a source of history.
Flush out your head will ya.
The bible is a collection of allegorical stories based on astrology.
It's no more true or accurate about reality than a Richie Rich comic book.
Claiming it is anything more than that is SO delusional it boggles the mind.
And you have to wonder why most atheists hold the view that the religious are nutters, even without the heaps of medical evidence?

-Peace-

luciddream
reply to post by MrConspiracy

 

I think faith or religion is more of an addiction than a disorder.

Technically you are correct.
Ideology has the identical effect on the human brain as a heroine fix does to a junkie.
The only thing a junkie wants is his next fix.
Call it singing god's praises or attacking those of opposing faith...ideology is a toxic blend of insanity which causes the brain to reward "debunking" behavior like giving a sardine to a performing seal.
Very astute.

-Peace-

Eryiedes

SisyphusRide
actually the Bible is a great source for humankind's history...

Great.
Here we go again.
The bible is not a source of history.
Flush out your head will ya.
The bible is a collection of allegorical stories based on astrology.
It's no more true or accurate about reality than a Richie Rich comic book.
Claiming it is anything more than that is SO delusional it boggles the mind.
And you have to wonder why most atheists hold the view that the religious are nutters, even without the heaps of medical evidence?

-Peace-

Finally, archaeology strengthens the historical credibility of the Bible. It constrains the imaginings of those who would make the Bible just an interesting collection of folklore. Archaeology has contributed substantially to the historicity of the Bible overall. Discoveries such as the water tunnel beneath Jerusalem dug by King Hezekiah, the Well of Jacob where Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman,Roman Theater at Caesarea the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed a crippled man, the stone in the Roman theater at Caesarea inscribed with the name of Pilate, the tribunal at Corinth where Paul was tried, and the theater at Ephesus where the riot of silversmiths occurred, to name a few, help to give historical credibility to the Bible.

You need to do more research friend. You are seriously misinformed.

reply to post by ServantOfTheLamb


So, you get a religious person to validate a religious point of view?
Can you say "disingenuous"?

-Peace-

reply to post by ServantOfTheLamb

Lol that chart is simply numbers. Numbers don't need debating friend. If you have have information that disagrees with the numbers provided please show me instead of dodging the question? Not the thread for this. The question was is religion a mental disorder. I said no and have been defending my opinion. You should do the same instead of making an open ended statement referring to information that may or may not be real.

Number don't need debating? LOL What numbers?



Whoever put this chart together doesn't even know how accurate the cited copies of various ancient texts are, but proclaims, erroneously, that the New Testament is 99.5% accurate with 5600 copies, from the first 100 years.

Hogwash! That is a bald faced lie. The Book of Mark alone was being edited, added to and interpolated up to 1000 years after the fact. Matthew was originally a book of sayings. Narrative was added later. Books said to be written by Paul have proven not to have been.

"Arguably the most distinctive feature of the early Christian literature," writes Bart Ehrman, "is the degree to which it was forged." The Homilies and Recognitions of Clement; Paul's letters to and from Seneca; Gospels by Peter, Thomas, and Philip; Jesus' correspondence with Abgar, letters by Peter and Paul in the New Testament--all forgeries. To cite just a few examples.
www.bartdehrman.com...

It may be one of the greatest ironies of the Christian scriptures that some of them insist on truth, while telling a lie. For no author is truth more important than for the "Paul" of Ephesians. He refers to the gospel as "the word of truth" (1:13); he indicates that the "truth is in Jesus"; he tells his readers to "speak the truth" to their neighbors (4:24-25); and he instructs his readers to "fasten the belt of truth around your waist" (6:14). And yet he himself lied about who he was. He was not really Paul.

It appears that some of the New Testament writers, such as the authors of 2 Peter, 1 Timothy and Ephesians, felt they were perfectly justified to lie in order to tell the truth. But we today can at least evaluate their claims and realize just how human, and fallible, they were. They were creatures of their time and place. And so too were their teachings, lies and all.

Bart D. Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the New York Times bestselling author of 'Misquoting Jesus' and 'Jesus, Interrupted'. His latest book, 'Forged: Writing in the Name of God -- Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are', is now available from HarperOne.
www.huffingtonpost.com...

There's something not quite right with people who insist on defending lies.

If 'religion' is a mental disorder then so is atheism.

reply to post by RevelationGeneration


No offence, but your first post is the literary equivalent of running into a room full of strangers...making sure you have their full attention...then lighting yourself on fire.
You then realized you validated the thread's OP and changed your post.
Bravo.

-Peace-

luciddream
reply to post by MrConspiracy

 

I think faith or religion is more of an addiction than a disorder.

Its a drug to ease the pain of reality. Some can't survive everyday life without the promise of afterlife waiting for them, where every problem will end.

I'm not addicted to faith. Nor did i ever seek it out of fear.

What's to fear? if there is nothing after life, there is nothing. How can you fear that? I've never understood that concept. If i didn't have faith i still wouldn't FEAR death. Death happens to all of us, and if it ends up being NOTHING... then why fear the inevitable? (Even talking about nothing after this life just seems so alien to me. It just doesn't make sense to little old me - Again, not out of fear )

Faith is not born out of fear. It doesn't add up.

I have faith because i truly believe in something after this life. Not because i WANT to believe... but just because i DO believe. - No fear here.

What's to lose?

Deuces.

MrConspiracy
Faith is not born out of fear. It doesn't add up.

You are incorrect but if you'd actually read the posts in the thread you'd have already realized that.
Whenever a parent teaches a child to believe in god, it is done with the threat of punishment.
If they don't goto church, profess it's stupid or deny what's being forced upon them, they are punished for lack of faith...committing a sin...misbehaving...and it doesn't just come from the parents. It is embodied in the congregation and community which will shun, become hostile against or otherwise take it upon themselves to chastize/punish the individual for lack of faith. Repeated over the span of childhood and this is a textbook definition of mental abuse.
It's a medical fact.
Forget that what the child is being taught has no basis in fact.
It is foisted upon them without consent and despite the moral implications of such a heinous act, it's the fear of attack from others that keeps the sheep within the flock.
So, yes...the mechanism at work here is fear but it may also be refered to as coersion.
I'm not saying this is exactly your case, but trauma is always the underlying cause of religious belief...whether its supporters can admit it or not.
I am going to go out on a limb here and say you are definitely one of the "nots".

-Peace-

Eryiedes

luciddream
reply to post by MrConspiracy

 

I think faith or religion is more of an addiction than a disorder.

Technically you are correct.
Ideology has the identical effect on the human brain as a heroine fix does to a junkie.
The only thing a junkie wants is his next fix.
Call it singing god's praises or attacking those of opposing faith...ideology is a toxic blend of insanity which causes the brain to reward "debunking" behavior like giving a sardine to a performing seal.
Very astute.

-Peace-

edit on 18-11-2013 by Eryiedes because: Typo

Let me tell you you need something to organize people.

Only religion tells ways to organize in peace. Otherwise humans would organize only to loot or steal.

You can write what you are because religion has organized society is a productive way that you have the technology to do this.

The great empires have been built on religions. This is a fact.

Religion has always occupied a central place in human society. You cannot wish it away.