Time to face up to the truth of religion?

[Anna B]

Unbeliever,

 

 

 

What you’ve put is the worse kind of cod psychologising I’ve read in a long time.

Now that we are getting down to it. Implying that religious belief is a form of mental illness is an insult in the first place. There are millions of devout believers in religion -scientists included- who lead ordinary lives: raise families and hold down jobs-they are not deluded.

Religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices related to sacred things.

The set of beliefs by which a religious community is defined -be it Christian or Buddhist -is likely to have an ethical code that determines the behaviour and the conduct of the group -providing a perfectly mentally evolved way of living.

Belief in a religion is not a sign of mental illness.Religion satisfies certain basic human needs:

acceptance (need for approval ),curiosity (the need to learn), social contact (the need for friends ),status (the need for social standing ) and order (the need for organised, stable,

predictable environment), and a cup of tea and a bun down the Sally Army. Don’i forget to make a donation for Christmas and you won’t get a visit by old Marley’s ghost. LOL.

 

 

 

 

 

Religion in England and Wales 2011 - Office for National Statistics

https://www.ons.gov.uk/.../census/2011-census/...statistics.../rpt-religion.h...

 

11 Dec 2012 - In the 2011 Census, Christianity was the largest religion, with 33.2 million ... The second largest religious group were Muslims with 2.7 million people (4.8 ... 14.1 million people in England and Wales said they had no religion, .

 

 

So we are a multi-faith -and largely mentally stable country- and should be proud of it.

 

 

“Merry Christmas one and all “.

 

 

Excellent reply.

[Delayed]

On the subject of religion and Christmas, please see below :

 

https://fulwoodchurch.co.uk/carols-by-candlelight

 

Fulwood Church put on an excellent Choir service 8 services leading up to Christmas. Everybody is welcome!

[kingdom]

It wouldn't surprise me if this is even deliberately incorrectly taught, in some Kingdom halls. I've heard so many arguments based on a fundamentally wrong understandings of things.

 

When there's people like Ken Ham, with his multi-million dollar Ark Encounter claiming that there were dinosaurs on the Ark, you should never be surprised about what is sometimes taught and believed.

 

No it's not b.c.e( before our common era ) is taught as counting upwards as you go further back in time ( there was no year zero )

[Obelix]

Unbeliever,

 

 

 

What you’ve put is the worse kind of cod psychologising I’ve read in a long time.

Now that we are getting down to it. Implying that religious belief is a form of mental illness is an insult in the first place. There are millions of devout believers in religion -scientists included- who lead ordinary lives: raise families and hold down jobs-they are not deluded.

 

 

Delusion : A delusion is a belief that is held with strong conviction despite superior evidence to the contrary.

 

There is superior evidence to the contrary underpinning every religion that I have seen. Certainly for Abrahamic traditions the Bible/Torah/Qu'ran is flawed, demonstrably false and without merit and I can only conclude any serious adherent to those beleifs is in fact deluded to them.

[Waldo]

I have to question the piece you highlighted in your quote.

 

I think you'll find that religious or spiritual belief brings a lot of people comfort and joy, and greatly enhances their life, rather than diminishing it. In what way does it 'cause suffering or poor ability to function in life' for the majority of people who practice it? If that was the case they would give it up surely?

 

Well, firstly, I'd think 'spiritual' is more of an experiential matter; one that does not concern itself with knowledge or belief.

 

To the crux of your point; I suppose it depends on the individual. How much do you value yourself, your integrity, independence, self-honesty, etc; vs, how much do you want to draw comfort from indulging in beliefs that make you feel good and allow you to feel part of a larger community (and so to feel validated in your position, because so many other people share it)?

 

Finally, and most importantly, I don't mean to deride religious people. In fact, I feel somewhat conflicted about this thread; on the one hand, I want to address a facet of human life that I feel generally harms us all; yet on the other, we are all human, and I would wish sanity, clarity and freedom of thought, peace of mind, and well-being, on every one of us.

[RootsBooster]

Now that we are getting down to it. Implying that religious belief is a form of mental illness is an insult in the first place. There are millions of devout believers in religion -scientists included- who lead ordinary lives: raise families and hold down jobs-they are not deluded.

Religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices related to sacred things.

The set of beliefs by which a religious community is defined -be it Christian or Buddhist -is likely to have an ethical code that determines the behaviour and the conduct of the group -providing a perfectly mentally evolved way of living.

Belief in a religion is not a sign of mental illness.Religion satisfies certain basic human needs:

acceptance (need for approval ),curiosity (the need to learn), social contact (the need for friends ),status (the need for social standing ) and order (the need for organised, stable,

predictable environment), and a cup of tea and a bun down the Sally Army. Don’i forget to make a donation for Christmas and you won’t get a visit by old Marley’s ghost. LOL.

 

Which online student magazine article did you find that one in this time? Not Michigan Uni again?

 

There's just one huge, fatal flaw in that statement. With most (if not all) major religions having an ethic of "if you're not one of us, you're against us", how perfectly evolved can a believer's mentality be if they are supposed to shun or kill non-believers?

Edited December 11, 2016 by RootsBooster
Typo

[janie48]

On the subject of religion and Christmas, please see below :

 

https://fulwoodchurch.co.uk/carols-by-candlelight

 

Fulwood Church put on an excellent Choir service 8 services leading up to Christmas. Everybody is welcome!

Thanks for that information.

Now I have another religious event to look forward to before Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

[Cyclone]

Unbeliever,

 

 

 

What you’ve put is the worse kind of cod psychologising I’ve read in a long time.

Now that we are getting down to it. Implying that religious belief is a form of mental illness is an insult in the first place. There are millions of devout believers in religion -scientists included- who lead ordinary lives: raise families and hold down jobs-they are not deluded.

Religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices related to sacred things.

The set of beliefs by which a religious community is defined -be it Christian or Buddhist -is likely to have an ethical code that determines the behaviour and the conduct of the group -providing a perfectly mentally evolved way of living.

Belief in a religion is not a sign of mental illness.Religion satisfies certain basic human needs:

acceptance (need for approval ),curiosity (the need to learn), social contact (the need for friends ),status (the need for social standing ) and order (the need for organised, stable,

predictable environment), and a cup of tea and a bun down the Sally Army. Don’i forget to make a donation for Christmas and you won’t get a visit by old Marley’s ghost. LOL.

 

 

 

 

 

Religion in England and Wales 2011 - Office for National Statistics

https://www.ons.gov.uk/.../census/2011-census/...statistics.../rpt-religion.h...

 

11 Dec 2012 - In the 2011 Census, Christianity was the largest religion, with 33.2 million ... The second largest religious group were Muslims with 2.7 million people (4.8 ... 14.1 million people in England and Wales said they had no religion, .

 

 

So we are a multi-faith -and largely mentally stable country- and should be proud of it.

 

 

“Merry Christmas one and all “.

 

Nothing in this post refutes the statement that believe in religious teachings is a form of delusion.

[Anna B]

Which online student magazine article did you find that one in this time? Not Michigan Uni again?

 

There's just one huge, fatal flaw in that statement. With most (if not all) major religions having an ethic of "if you're not one of us, you're against us", how perfectly evolved can a believer's mentality be if they are supposed to shun or kill non-believers?

 

That does not apply to 'most, if not all religions.' I think you'll find that most religions have made huge strides in offering the hand of friendship to other religions, especially in the Christian Church. They are benign and peaceful people.

 

The exception is the fundamentalist sects, whose thinking is hard line and flawed, and influence (and media coverage) disproportionate to their size. These are the one's who make the news.

 

Please don't tar them all with the same brush.

[unbeliever]

Unbeliever,

 

 

 

What you’ve put is the worse kind of cod psychologising I’ve read in a long time.

Now that we are getting down to it. Implying that religious belief is a form of mental illness is an insult in the first place. There are millions of devout believers in religion -scientists included- who lead ordinary lives: raise families and hold down jobs-they are not deluded.

Religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices related to sacred things.

The set of beliefs by which a religious community is defined -be it Christian or Buddhist -is likely to have an ethical code that determines the behaviour and the conduct of the group -providing a perfectly mentally evolved way of living.

Belief in a religion is not a sign of mental illness.Religion satisfies certain basic human needs:

acceptance (need for approval ),curiosity (the need to learn), social contact (the need for friends ),status (the need for social standing ) and order (the need for organised, stable,

predictable environment), and a cup of tea and a bun down the Sally Army. Don’i forget to make a donation for Christmas and you won’t get a visit by old Marley’s ghost. LOL.

 

 

 

 

 

Religion in England and Wales 2011 - Office for National Statistics

https://www.ons.gov.uk/.../census/2011-census/...statistics.../rpt-religion.h...

 

11 Dec 2012 - In the 2011 Census, Christianity was the largest religion, with 33.2 million ... The second largest religious group were Muslims with 2.7 million people (4.8 ... 14.1 million people in England and Wales said they had no religion, .

 

 

So we are a multi-faith -and largely mentally stable country- and should be proud of it.

 

 

“Merry Christmas one and all “.

 

I was not the one who suggested that belief in the supernatural was evidence of mental illness. Although it is a contention I would find it hard to argue with.

 

There is no basis to suggest that there are any questions in life over which superstition can claim jurisdiction. Nor is there any basis to assert that superstitious "beliefs" (even when dressed up as philosophy or spirituality) are of any utility at all in addressing any questions whatsoever.

The case that superstition may function sometimes as psychological crutch is incredibly weak as there are plenty of superstition-free crutches available which do not come with all the damaging side-effects of superstition.

 

The reality is that once people are educated to a certain standard the ridiculousness of superstition; whether in the form of religion, spirituality or otherwise; is blindingly obvious. Many religious leaders go out of their way to deny people such education specifically because they are well aware of this effect.

For a combination of some educated religious people are unable to let it go, this is natural once something becomes a psychological dependency, and of source theres the Condorde fallacy at play in many cases as well.

It can extend to ideologies beyond the "spiritual" of course and it's a trap we all fall into sometimes and so looking back I think most people can relate.

 

But it ultimately comes down to the fact that the supernatural does not exist. If it did it would be part of the natural and therefore subject to scientific investigation.