Oxymoron

Dunno. How about dealing with the arguments instead of making big general assertions?

Big, General Assertion. I have argued that it is. Deal with the argument.

Now you're repeating yourself. But just to keep you happy, from www.dictionary.com:

neurosis:
Any of various mental or emotional disorders, such as hypochondria or neurasthenia, arising from no apparent organic lesion or change and involving symptoms such as insecurity, anxiety, depression, and irrational fears, but without psychotic symptoms such as delusions or hallucinations. No longer in scientific use.


"Not a mental illness" my ass.

Sadly so. Then again so has child abuse.

Hold on a minute. I am not religious. I have never been religious, and railed against that religion which was imposed on me as a child. So don't make Big General Assertions about humans as a species.

I think that arguing that religion is a "benign quirk" makes two mistakes - one that is a quirk, two that it is benign. Adopting religion is a choice, not an accident. It requires rejection of many things, and acceptance of many others, and the ramifications for the individual and society are deep. Examples: some of those with a particular "quirk" wish to prevent the teaching of evolution by natural selection to our children; others wish to kill doctors involved in abortion; others wish to kill anyone and as many in a certain radius without caring about their own lives. And perhaps the most bizarre of all: populations with a totally arbitrary belief believe others' totally aribtrary beliefs are by nature wrong. These are not "benign quirks", and it is naive to portray them as so.

Stephen T-B

Jagella: "A precise definition for “God�?? I’ve yet to see any good definitions for any god."

I think most priests attempt to provide as precise a definition as they can of the god whom they and their congregations worship.
RC priests are let off the hook a bit because the Church's teaching is dogmatic, and it comes from infallible statements issued by the Pope. But many Protestant preachers, (and Imams, come to that) do provide their congregations with a guide as to what it is they are worshipping, and what that deity requires of its devotees.

Jagella

Maybe they’re trying, but they’re having little success. “God�? has got to be one of the most cryptic words in the English language. I’ve tried in vain to get a coherent definition for that word. Believers don’t seem to know what it is that they supposedly believe in. Is such behavior reflective of mental illness? I believe it may be.

Really? Then what do they say “God�? is?

Jagella

Evoken

What sort of definition are you actually looking for?

Jagella

Yes. The differences are obvious:

Mentally ill people hallucinate. Religious people have visions.

Mentally ill people hear the voices of people nobody else can see or hear. Religious people hear the “still small voice of God.�?

Mentally ill people may become suicidal. Some religious people seek martyrdom.

Mentally ill people sometimes undergo uncontrollable fits. Religious people experience “spiritual ecstasy.�?

And so on.

I wouldn’t say that we as a species are mentally ill. After all, many of us have outgrown religiosity. Moreover, even religious people can and do act rationally in order to survive.

I agree, but when I speak of mental illness, I’m not discussing “little quirks.�? I’m speaking of emotions and thoughts that can be harmful to the person experiencing them. Atheists can be mentally ill, but their illness is obviously not a result of religious belief.

Jagella

Jagella

Good question. I would like to know exactly what God is. Is he animal, vegetable, or mineral? What is he made up of? What does he look like? Can we see or recognize God?

Jagella

Rational BAC

[QUOTE=Jagella]Yes. The differences are obvious:

Mentally ill people hallucinate. Religious people have visions.

Mentally ill people hear the voices of people nobody else can see or hear. Religious people hear the “still small voice of God.�?

Mentally ill people may become suicidal. Some religious people seek martyrdom.

Mentally ill people sometimes undergo uncontrollable fits. Religious people experience “spiritual ecstasy.�?

And so on.
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Can't remember ever having had a vision.

Not sure about the "still small voice of God" --but it sure sounds purty and rather poetic

Martyrdom??---Not me baby.

Spiritual ecstasy??? NAAAH. ------

-------The only ecstasy I have ever found to be ecstasy in my lifetime came from good sex. If enjoying good sex means that I am mentally ill-----then what the fuck ---I must be seriously crazy.

Your concept of a religious person certainly does not apply to me. Nor, I suspect does it apply to the vast majority of religious people.

(Will give you that there do exist loony tune believers. ----There also do exist loony tune atheists) So what?

I still think your idea that religiosity has anything to do with true mental illness for the great great majority of believers ------is complete balderdash.
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Oxymoron

And here lies one of the problems with theists on these fora. They are very willing to tell us what they are not... and usually quite slippery and evasive when it comes to telling us exactly what they are - why they believe what they do in a honest and open sort of way. Usually the subtext is "there may be a lot of believers of X out there that fit your description, but I am a true believer of X and I do not" : No True Scotsman. One is tempted to conclude that there are actually no true believers of X out there... which is odd, because theists love to appeal to "lots of people believe X therefore it has credibility".

Rational BAC

Well I was just bringing up the idea that the vast majority of Christians really do not fit this strawman pattern of the original post.

It just ain't there.

There are always some "strange" people everywhere----having nothing at all to do with religion or lack thereof.

Most people are quite sane. Be them theists or atheists.

Oxymoron

Your definition of "sane" would be interesting.