whichphilosophy

[QUOTE=Newton Joseph]I thought as a person dealing with the mind you would realise it is a person not a thing that creats insanity. Gamboling does not make a person an addict, a person becomes one by their own disposition and so the same with religion, politics and anything else.

Where's the beef. Since there has never been any scientific evidence on this, one is entitled to their own opinion. If however this does annoy a real religious fanatic, or any other type, why not.


Regards

tawa

Well....We can always look at Cornelius Horan the defrocked Irish priest and serial protester, apart from his latest escapade of disrupting the mens marathon at the Olympics, he disrupted the british grand prix,and has also tried to disrupt wimbledon,rugby matches and cricket, all to fullfill a prophecy of "The second coming". Apparently he has been diagnosed with suffering from "psychological problems".

Gabe the Angel

If ever a news story had all that described this topic of Religion and Insanity this is the one for me. Its OK to have psychological problems, they can be treated once recognised, but with Cornelius Horan, he has the firm belief that its his work to bring to the attention of us all concerning evidence he has found in the Bible. How do you argue with this, since the Bible is the word of God.

Cornelius has made an interpretation and come up with news that we should all know about, and there it is, if you go down the road of Religion you have a chance of finding a self made world of Insanity. If I go down the road of Gambling or Drinking, I will have support, poor old Cornelius, how can he get help, and from whom?

Bright Life

He could come here.

whichphilosophy

This still does not prove religion causes insanity if that is what is implied.
We have a man who is possibly insane and is not even a priest because he was fired??

tawa

The point is He was a priest for many years,he followed a regimented way of life,a life that moulded him to a certain way of thinking,you don't just stop being something because you got the sack.Does a doctor stop being a doctor when he retires?

Gurdur

Usually, very usually, the "regimented" way of life you describe does not try moulding people into "disrupting the mens' marathon at the Olympics, disrupting the British Grand Prix, and also trying to disrupt Wimbledon, rugby matches and cricket, all to fullfill a prophecy of "The second coming"."

That's the big problem with your argument.
Though one has to admit, disrupting cricket matches to announce second comings would make life much more interesting for the watching public.

Jobar

I know that there have been studies made which show that in many American prisons, the percentage of incarcerated atheists, agnostics and freethinkers is far below their percentage in the general US population (in fact I have some on my hard drive). I wonder if there have been similar studies made in insane asylums? I'd be most interested to see them.

I do know that in several of Joseph Campbell's books, Myths To Live By for one, there is a strong connection made between schizophrenia and religious experience. It's been a long time since I read Varieties of Religious Experience but as I recall the connection was also noted there.

In V.S. Ramachandran's Phantoms in the Brain, there's a chapter on the effect of temporal lobe epilepsy on powerful religious experiences. And Freud wrote a monograph or two on the topic, as I recall. So there seems little doubt that there is indeed some linkage between religion and insanity.

whichphilosophy

He was sacked because he was mad, not because he was a priest. If in his insanity he was obsessed with being a priest then he was obsessed with being a priest. If he was obsessed with gambolling he would be obsessed with gambolling. If he was obsessed with colours or fashions then he would be obsessed with this. If he was obsessed with throwing bricks through windows, then he would be obsessed with throwing bricks through windows.

So Pol Pot was sane. He was obsessed against the very structure, religion, other factors, culture and fabric of the society and because people took him seriously he rose to power.

Madame Mao was also obsessed with the "corruptive" influence of religion and pretty much everything else. Her purges of "superstion, and revisionsism, turned full circle and at the end of the Red Guard era, she herself became purged for her purging.

In fact one can be obsessed with fear and/or and/or dislike revulsion for others beliefs and their concepts of the effects they can become that which they resist.

As for me, as long as my staff and collegues and associates do a good job and are honest, hardworking, they can believe in Santa Claus Feng Shui or the tooth fairy for all I care.

And if they want keep blow up sheep in the bedroom and if they want to cross dress behind close doors, run naked in the streets in their own time, it's none of my business unless it rebounds on the company of course.


Regards

whichphilosophy

V.S Ramachandran only suggest or speculates on this. And of course assumption is not fact, but assumption.

If an insane peron or person with mental problems takes on a religion, the religion in some cases would amplify the insanity.

Freud was an atheist, sure (even though most of his friends were Jews) but he never proved that religion CAUSED insanity, but that some insane were religious or even obsessed with it.

So we just have opinion