Should religion be classified as a destructive psychological disease? Are not peoples perception of a diety the same as those of one who would have an imaginary friend who's powers of suggestion influence their actions, good or bad?
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Sunblynd 5.0
ANSWERS: 11
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People who KNOW there's a God are trapped within their own certainty. Just as people who KNOW that there is no God. No one can know. Some might have faith; but that is faith with neither proof nor certainty. Some people fear living without knowledge of God. They create their own knowledge. That is called faith. Do not confuse it with knowledge.
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A destructive psychological diesease that 84% of humanity has? Sure, why not? Classify away.
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Religion as a whole is very distructive, but taking religion out of the equasion the Bible is a different thing, things done in the name of religion have nothing to do with the Bibles teachings, the Bible makes it clear that murders is wrong, so war in the name of God is wrong, ask yourself this question in the world wars catholics from both sides killed one another, which side was God on? Well none war is a man made evil done in the name of God, its the same today, its still going on many religions claim they have Gods backing, but in truth they don't. I would be very angry if someone put my name to an evil act without my consent.
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You have asked multiple questions. Religion is neutral. It's application can be beneficial or harmful. (Guns don't kill, People do. Same argument.) Insane people can hold beliefs that are rational or irrational. Again, application of these beliefs defines their ability to function. Holding religious beliefs cannot be used as a sole criteria for sanity or insanity. People considered sane, are subject to the same criteria when practicing religion. Some do it "better" than others, and thus are regarded as "normal." Re Imaginary friends VS God and the personality, I would say the distinction is to what degree you "obey" the dictates of this presence, the nature of the messages, and how you use free will. Finally, there is the idea of the "social norm." Odds are that if you are the only person you know who hears "voices", you are troubled. But, affiliate with a majority of people who are receiving the same messages as you are, and within this group, you would function well.
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Some religions are destructive; some are very helpful. Same as psychologists and psychological theories. The trick is figuring out which is which.
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At this moment in time it has caused more halm than good, just look at the state of the world, undercover phedophelia in the catholic church, suicide bombers, evangelical leader spoke out against homosexuality and then hes been accused of seeing a male prostitute, i could go on, but religion as i sad has nothing to do with true bible teachings, in fact they are 2 seperate subjects. unless people seperate the 2 and do a check list on what their religion actually teaches and ask themselves does it agree with what the bible actually says, for instance the bible clearly states that homosexuality is wrong, yet the churches swist the truth to fill the ever growing empty seats, they compromise to be popular. But a tue christian is never going to be popular in the wicked world, because true christians want to do whats right.
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Gods standards are clearly set out in the bible, he will judge according to those standards, he has made sure through the bible that we also know his standards, so that we can comply with those standards, based on that we as humans can clearly see where we fit in, weather we choose to comply or not is either a blessing or the loss of a good standing with God. Just look at the world today its standards are reaching their lowest in history, people have decided to do things their way and look at the mess, anything goes with this world but thats not true of Gods standards they never change, they are stable,reliable, honest and just. No matter what. Gods standards never change, its the ungodly worlds twisted morality that has made a U turn, not Gods standards. People even wipe God off their agenda, just so that they can go with the flow! they reason "No God No accountability" many bad things today are being accepted as the norm, if things go on any longer what else will be accepted as the norm i dread to think!
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i agree doing what is righ is difficult but knowing what is right is not a difficult thing, Gods standards are clearly set out in the Bible, but having the courage to do what is right is often the only problem. people tend to twist the truth to suite their life style, its the same with the religious leaders, they mislead people making them think that Gods standards drop with the rest of society, but thats not true and never will be.
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ambition and greed are factors and these come into play because mankind has decided to go it alone to decide for themselves whats right and whats wrong, with out consulting the greatest book of all time the guide book for life the Bible. Religion may be able to lead people religion lead people right into world war 1 & 2 faiths on both sides were encouraged to kill one another but its the bible's teaching that leads people from the heart and this would not include fighting in any war.
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Keaner, my friend, you are replying with dogma, not verifiable facts. Afterall, this is Answerbag, not OpinionBag. I wish we all could see thru God's eyes. Let's hope he judges us on a gentle curve or there'll be hell to pay. Re homosexuality: it makes me uncomfortable, but a supreme, all knowing, God might be more forgiving and less judgmental than me.
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If you like to go around categorizing everyone you meet in life, then this question might at first sound somewhat reasonable. But ask yourself, if believing in a “God” or in some higher intelligence makes others sufferers of some type of mental disease, then doesn’t that mean that like more than 90% of the world’s population has this “illness”. If an individual feels that he is ok, but the mass population is the problem, then doesn’t that make the individual seem to be a bit paranoid? The other thing is that if we are convinced that “everybody else is the problem”, that still does not explain the answer to how this planet got here. Author and former professor of nuclear physics Dr. Gerald Schroeder compares the likelihood of mere chance being the cause behind the universe and life to the odds of winning the lottery three times in a row: “Before you collect your third winnings, you will be on your way to jail for having rigged the results. The probability of winning three in a row, or three in a lifetime, is so small as to be negligible.” Thus looking toward a higher intelligence or Creator is quite reasonable.
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