Is Religion A Mental Illness?

[The Cummunist State]

no butt ATHIESM is

"Ron Paul 2012, Athiesm"


You must be new here.


Anywho, no. it is a mindset. A faith.

Are you calling Atheism a faith, or responding to the thread's main question?

[Demen 2]

"Ron Paul 2012, Athiesm"


You must be new here.


Anywho, no. it is a mindset. A faith.

Are you calling Atheism a faith, or responding to the thread's main question?

He spelled Atheism wrong, and he finds Ron Paul to be a legitimate presidential candidate.

[Evraim]

I really just don't see how me sitting in church, giving some prayers, and then going about my day makes me mentally ill. The OPs accusations seem baseless, is he one of those neo-athiest cult people? One of the people who if Dawkins told him to jump off a cliff he would do it. Cause if we want to talk about being crazy, well blind faith in anything is crazy.

if the pope told every catholic that god told him to tell them to jump off a cliff, I have a feeling that there would be a rapid decrease in the catholic religion.


Just saying.

Sauce? This is NSG. You could say you adore My Little Pony and somebody would probably ask for a source.

[Demen 2]

if the pope told every catholic that god told him to tell them to jump off a cliff, I have a feeling that there would be a rapid decrease in the catholic religion.


Just saying.

Sauce? This is NSG. You could say you adore My Little Pony and somebody would probably ask for a source.

If I could sauce a theoretical situation, I would.

[Evraim]

Sauce? This is NSG. You could say you adore My Little Pony and somebody would probably ask for a source.

If I could sauce a theoretical situation, I would.

You could always try to become the Pope...

no butt ATHIESM is

"Ron Paul 2012, Athiesm"


You must be new here.


Anywho, no. it is a mindset. A faith.

His name is Satire and Mocking...

[The Cummunist State]

Are you calling Atheism a faith, or responding to the thread's main question?

He spelled Atheism wrong, and he finds Ron Paul to be a legitimate presidential candidate.

This is no way answers my question.

[Demen 2]

"Ron Paul 2012, Athiesm"


You must be new here.


Anywho, no. it is a mindset. A faith.

Are you calling Atheism a faith, or responding to the thread's main question?

Oh... You meant the second part. Forgive me.


I was responding to the main thread idea.

[The Cummunist State]

Are you calling Atheism a faith, or responding to the thread's main question?

Oh... You meant the second part. Forgive me.


I was responding to the main thread idea.

Okay, cool.

[Demen 2]

He spelled Atheism wrong, and he finds Ron Paul to be a legitimate presidential candidate.

This is no way answers my question.

I can be a bit slow sometimes.. Forgive me.

[Demen 2]

If I could sauce a theoretical situation, I would.

You could always try to become the Pope...

"Ron Paul 2012, Athiesm"


You must be new here.


Anywho, no. it is a mindset. A faith.

His name is Satire and Mocking...

I think one of the main requirements for pope is to be religious.


I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure.

[Raeyh]

I really just don't see how me sitting in church, giving some prayers, and then going about my day makes me mentally ill. The OPs accusations seem baseless, is he one of those neo-athiest cult people? One of the people who if Dawkins told him to jump off a cliff he would do it. Cause if we want to talk about being crazy, well blind faith in anything is crazy.

if the pope told every catholic that god told him to tell them to jump off a cliff, I have a feeling that there would be a rapid decrease in the catholic religion.


Just saying.

More likely the Catholic priests would come up with homilies involving the goodness of jumping off cliffs. The congregation would listen politely during church and give the weekly tithe. When they got home, they would just keep on going on with their lives.

[The Cummunist State]

This is no way answers my question.

I can be a bit slow sometimes.. Forgive me.

I get it sometimes too, haha

[Demen 2]

if the pope told every catholic that god told him to tell them to jump off a cliff, I have a feeling that there would be a rapid decrease in the catholic religion.


Just saying.

More likely the Catholic priests would come up with homilies involving the goodness of jumping off cliffs. The congregation would listen politely during church and give the weekly tithe. When they got home, they would just keep on going on with their lives.

There's that, too.


I like mine better.

[Ende]

Anyway, as for my actual answer?

No. Religion in itself is not mental illness. Taken to an extreme...yes. Unquestioning religion? Yes. Forcing others to conform to it, and blind faith...yes, those are signs of mental illness.

However, I go to a church regularly. The thing is...well, most people DON'T use religion like that. Do you want to know what 90% of sermons are about? Improving yourself. Being a better person. Stuff like that. I've never heard a single sermon that goes: "Gays are bad, because God says so." Ever. In fact, I've heard several speeches that go: "Judge not, lest ye be judged." That's actually not an uncommon one.

And I've gone to church for every Sunday since I was, oh, four? I do, however, admit that when brought up in faith, you don't question it very much.

And that's what can make it dangerous, and fringe into the territory of mental illness. Until I found NSG, I had incredibly firm faith. Then I took it back and questioned it a notch and came to the conclusion that there's no way to prove whether God exists, and there's no way to confirm he's benevolent or omnipotent or whether the Bible is even accurate. I rescaled a large amount of views that now I see were frankly somewhat irrational.

But I still choose to call myself a Christian. Why? Well, for one, the general goal seems to be one of self-improvement and helping others. I don't mind spending three hours every Sunday going to church, I like 95% of the verses within the Bible and would say I agree with them, most of the most intelligent people I know are Christians, and I have friends there. There's nothing inherently bad about being religious, but when religion is applied incorrectly...that becomes mental illness, in a sense.

For example, I'm pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-civil policies, and much more liberal than my peers. If I examine them closely, the thing is...they haven't questioned their belief. The point I'm trying to make is that any belief followed without question is dangerous, and religion is a very commonly followed belief, and thus parts of religion are dangerous.

So my answer would be "No, but in certain circumstances it can be."

[ROBOTIC-O-ROTICA]

Two things:
Has there ever been a more controversial thread on this forum?

Anyone else around here think that holy books should be updated once every now and then?

[Tlaceceyaya]

Two things:
Has there ever been a more controversial thread on this forum?

Anyone else around here think that holy books should be updated once every now and then?

1: There was once a Communism vs. Capitalism thread that got over 175 pages long.
2: But if they're updated, then they're no longer the same as when they were supposedly divinely inspired.

[ROBOTIC-O-ROTICA]

Two things:
Has there ever been a more controversial thread on this forum?

Anyone else around here think that holy books should be updated once every now and then?

1: There was once a Communism vs. Capitalism thread that got over 175 pages long.
2: But if they're updated, then they're no longer the same as when they were supposedly divinely inspired.

I still say all religions need a panel of people who thumb through to update every now and then to say "Okay, you know what? This. Right here. About shoving corn in your ass during Praise to the Great Programmer Day? Yeah, let's get rid of that."
Some things are way the hell outdated in those.

[Peoples Republic of Love]

Ok, so as some of you know, i have taken a firm IC stance on Religion being a mental illness. IRL, i feel the same way. However, i would like to know if any of you feel the same way.

I find that religion is illogical, unproven, and frankly, a load of ancient bullshit that has never really contributed anything to the world that outweighs the horrible things it has caused for thousands of years, (racism, sexism, burning at the stake, witchhunts, inquisitions, wars, etc.) and is furthermore a society-upgraded psychological illness induced by the ignorance of how the Universe works and the fear of death.

So, nationstates: Your thoughts.

No it isn't a mental illness, only extremely irrational.

[Shofercia]

Anyone else around here think that holy books should be updated once every now and then?

I heard there's a new updated version of the Torah, but some people still refuse to use the update

*looks at a person quoting Old Testament, in the specific part where it was contradicted by the New Testament, to a Christian*

See what I mean?

[The Alma Mater]

Anyone else around here think that holy books should be updated once every now and then?

I heard there's a new updated version of the Torah, but some people still refuse to use the update

*looks at a person quoting Old Testament, in the specific part where it was contradicted by the New Testament, to a Christian*

See what I mean?

Tsk. The choice to interpret the new testament as if it replaces the old testament instead of clarifying it is obviously heresy - since it suggests god is as flipfloppy as Al Gore

The muslims solved that dilemma better by saying us silly humans just wrote the old and new testament down wrong

[Shofercia]

I heard there's a new updated version of the Torah, but some people still refuse to use the update

*looks at a person quoting Old Testament, in the specific part where it was contradicted by the New Testament, to a Christian*

See what I mean?

Tsk. The choice to interpret the new testament as if it replaces the old testament instead of clarifying it is obviously heresy - since it suggests god is as flipfloppy as Al Gore

The muslims solved that dilemma better by saying us silly humans just wrote the old and new testament down wrong

Ok - I get this is a religious thread - but what do ya have against Al Gore? BTW, Kerry was the flip-flopper, and Gore was the Tipper

Besides, the New Testament doesn't replace all parts of the Old Testament, just the ones that needed to be replaced, since God forgave us for our sins. It's kind of like going on parole, cause some really nice Person paid your bail, instead of still being in jail, ya get more freedoms, and new rules apply

[Inutoland]

<SNIP>

Of course, this is a damn stupid argument to make because both sides can keep on showing just how bad the other can be, akin to pointing out how your opponent's clothing is dirty while standing hip deep in a sewer with him.

So let's agree that neither side has a moral high ground in terms of not having someone use it as an excuse to kill, maim, or commit horrific crimes.

This was more or less the point I was trying to address. Categorizing religion as a mental illness based on how bad some religious people have been in the past, given atheism's spotty history, isn't exactly fair. Neither Christianity nor any other religion can get on its moral high horse, because guess what? Our belief systems' (and I include atheism as a "belief system" given that the existence or nonexistence of God is necessarily beyond proof) adherents have all done things any rational person should be ashamed of.

I'm not sure this entire thread isn't asking for trouble, tbh, but that's a mod decision, not mine.

[Xeng He]

You need a "depends on the religion" answer. Religions such as Buddhism, no, not at all. Things like Christianity or Islam, yes. You believe that a being you can't detect with any of the 5 senses created the universe, the world, etc etc, and that they watch over you. That's a mental illness.

Just going to mention the fact that you can't exactly detect dark energy with any of the 5 senses either.

Nor Dark Matter.

[Jormengand]

Just going to mention the fact that you can't exactly detect dark energy with any of the 5 senses either.

Nor Dark Matter.

We can, kind of. It's to do with how dark matter ironically causes curvature of light, so we notice the light is curving.

[Czechanada]

You need a "depends on the religion" answer. Religions such as Buddhism, no, not at all. Things like Christianity or Islam, yes. You believe that a being you can't detect with any of the 5 senses created the universe, the world, etc etc, and that they watch over you. That's a mental illness.

Just going to mention the fact that you can't exactly detect dark energy with any of the 5 senses either.

Nor Dark Matter.

Yes, we can. We can play Mass Effect!