Offending Religion with Reality......

by AK - Jeff 35 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  glenster

  I don't think a psychiatrist would say mentally ill people are dangerous--that's
  a stigma popular entertainment creates. Most dangerous people are sane. People
  who are mentally ill may seek treatment or have to have treatment because they're
  a danger to themself or others. Most as schizophrenic as you describe show
  secondary symptoms so most people, at least, would notice and report it to some-
  one.

  The notable experience I've had recently of noticing that someone was obviously
  mentally ill and dangerous but wasn't recognized as such by many was when I read
  the posts under some YouTube clips of Charles Manson. He actually has a lot of
  defensive fans who think he's a misunderstood and mistreated brilliant man (?!).
  http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/manson/murder_1.html
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Manson
• 

  tec

  It is funny to me how some people think that they can diagnose mental illness over the internet... (all without a licence to practice psychology/psychiatry)... simply because they don't believe something is possible.

  Peace,

  tammy
• 

  diamondiiz

  Many mental ill people don't realize they have a problem. Some hear things, other see things and on many occasions can live a normal live without others even knowing the person has a mental illness. How many people claim to hear god or talk to angels and so forth... Many think they're fine and won't seek help. Many people around them don't even think they have a problem and won't do anything about it until the mental illness acually progresses to the dangerous levels, but then again seemingly sane people have drowned thei kids because the voice told them so - by that point it's too late for help.
• 

  AK - Jeff

  One example: A few days back, amidst the excitement of the Higgs Boson discovery, I mentioned it to a Christian friend. Her reaction [out of obvious ignorance of the science] was " Well, I can't believe anything like that. I am a Christian."

  I mean Really? Delusion overrides the science that may explain mass? Religion does a fine job of dumbing down its adherants. The eventual survival of our species is endangered by a population of ignorants who prefer to believe in unprovable invisible friends over reality.

  Yes, that should be offensive to those who think the human brain is more than a receptacle for ancient Jewish legends and hymns.

  Jeff
• 

  Phizzy

  I always used to say I didn't care if people had delusional beliefs in God's and Fairies etc as long as their belief was not harmful to others, but good ol' Jeff, you have put your finger on what is harmful to society simply by holding such beliefs, the eventual survival of our species is, according to the deluded, in the hands of Him who we know to be fictional.

  Sitting back and waiting for a fictional character and His fictional "Kingdom" to sort out societal and planetary problems is simply not an option for us.
• 

  glenster

  Schizophrenics with strong auditory hallucinations are a couple times more
  likely than others to be violent but they're in a small minority of mentally
  ill people and a very small percent of those who are violent overall, who are far
  and away mostly sane and culpable. Even then, schizophrenics with auditory hallu-
  cinations are more likely to create a voice to drown their kids of their own
  imagination than get instructions to do that from a typical church.

  Fundamentalist bigots or Islamists extremists are minorities. They'd be a bad
  influence on such a mentally ill person, but are mostly sane but 'centric intoler-
  ant people. 'Centric intolerance comes in all flavors including those of belief
  or non-belief who've murdered enough of those different than them to get on small
  lists of the main abominations of history. The basic concepts of God or atheism
  aren't to fault there but being 'centric and intolerant about either.

  Findings about a particle that gives mass, or any things that become known
  later, will always be able coexist with a choice whether or not to have faith in a
  possible God beyond those known things. While most people are ignorant about
  science, and a segment, not all, of religion are of outdated conservative inter-
  pretations, it's more likely they'd be right in denying that a "God" particle re-
  futes the possibility of God than wrong by denying the finding about the particle
  itself.

  Likewise, scientists typically dislike the name "God particle." The basic God
  concept is a personal choice about faith or as a philsophical concern (I'd recom-
  mend M. Adler) outside the scope of what the finding shows.
• 

  Twitch

  Some interesting thoughts here

  However, I fear these are somehow off topic and that this thread may inevitably devolve into talk of Ferraris and Porches. Both of which have mass.
• 

  WTWizard

  Any time a subject is almost universally taboo, and not dealing with something like kiddie porn, one must ask the question "What are they trying to hide and prevent the masses from finding out?". This is as true with a global issue as with an issue that affects members of a cult.
• 

  Miles3

  @Tec

  Why in the world should someone else's faith offend you?

  You want to be able to live in peace as you feel is right, yes?

  Are you not willing to allow the same?

  Live and let live?

  I know some shove it in your face... and so who can blame you for shoving back. Many (but not all) of those points in the OP ARE offensive. But some think they can define all people of faith as the same... so I am hoping that you are not doing so. Because if you are, then are you not stating that everyone who has a different world view than your own (faith) is offensive?

  Having left the Jehovah's Witness fundamentalism, I do not condomne fundamentalism. It shouldn't be that hard to understand why many people here do not agree with your, Shelby's, or anyone else's fundamentalism, and point to its flaws in an attempt to conterbalance it and bring a bit of reason in discussions.

  Do not misconstruct distate for your fundamentalism with distate for believers. Nobody here has any grips with jgnat, dogpatch and plenty of others with a belief in God and in Christ (or just in God), we just wish the fundamentalists toned it down a bit so the former would speak and express their opinions more often. I do not find their opinions offensive, I actually find their comments interesting and enlightening, and if you and other fundamentalists didn't drown out their voices on this forum more would realise that there's more to Christianity than the simplistic beliefs you express.
• 

  OldGenerationDude

  The myths of the Jews, hmmm.

  So because I’m Jewish, I’ve been “dumb-downed”? So that would mean that Jews are “a population of ignorants.”

  That’s anti-Semitism. That’s more than just being offensive.

  I believe this is my cue to leave, ladies and gentlemen. That has crossed the line.