The Dark Side of Faith

Yeah, that God is a real pisser, ain't He.

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To the truly nonrational, even evidence that on its face undermines your beliefs can be twisted to support them. Absolutism means never having to say you're sorry.

And that, of course, is what makes it so very dangerous.

Great article, Blatham. And the last two sentences sum up the entire issue quite succinctly.

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And while Paul's study found that the correlation between high degrees of religiosity and high degrees of social dysfunction appears robust, it could be that high levels of social dysfunction fuel religiosity, rather than the other way around.

I think that this "chicken and egg" issue needs to be explored more thoroughly. I have always suspected (very unscientifically, to be sure, but based on lifelong observation) that the more deprived and dysfunctional the community, the larger and more rigidly fundamental the congregations in the area.

I have experienced over time, that many people who have difficulty with coming to grips in managing their lives, will turn to a structured form of religion for comfort. Apparently the structure, and absoluteness that the religion offers, enables the person to find solace, outside of themselves, in an otherwise chaotic life.

I am well aware of the groups that many proselytizing groups target: recovering alcoholics, drug addicts, people with mental health problems, youngsters (especially of college age) grappling with difficulties of attaining maturity.

In my experience, the majority of self-directed, happy, fulfilled, people do not need or desire an all encompassing outside force, the kind that a rigidly based religion offers, to direct their lives.

I am interested in the thoughts of other members of this group.

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Thanks for posting that, blatham.

The people who agree with the article, as I do, have seen the light all along; however, the religious fanatics are going to scream blasphemy and burn you at the stake for your sin of false communication.

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Just how many Gods are there?

Which God is the best God?

How did He get picked as the best God?

Does God get paid?

Who the Hell signs His paycheck?

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gustavratzenhofer wrote:

Thanks for posting that, blatham.

The people who agree with the article, as I do, have seen the light all along; however, the religious fanatics are going to scream blasphemy and burn you at the stake for your sin of false communication.

gus

I know. Please pray for me.

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phoenix

Re chicken and egg... I doubt that religious practice or membership (of the absolutist sort alluded to) brings about a psychic need or preference for absolutist answers/worldview any moreso than joining a Kirby vacuum-cleaner sales team will bring about poverty, low ethics, and a fondness for crude humor. I suspect it is personality structure which finds a comfortable home in such a milieu.

Clearly, the times can matter. I do not see much important difference between fundamentalist Islam, fundamentalist Judaism, fundamentalist Christianity or fundamentalist Hinduism, etc, where by 'fundamentalist' we mean extremist or absolutist...each of these (and why not include extremist nationalism and severe ethnic/racial division) seem a common response to 'modernity' or change.

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blatham wrote:

I suspect it is personality structure which finds a comfortable home in such a milieu.

I agree. But then again, one might extrapolate that there are certain personality types that are statistically more likely to find comfort in the sort of social milieu that would foster adherence to a fundamentalist type religion.

One must also factor in the results of parenting, and again it is a chicken and egg situation. Children who are brought up in rigidly religious homes have a greater tendency to adhere to those beliefs than those who are taught from birth to rely on their own intellect and rational judgements.
On the other hand, some children who are raised in more secular homes, may find that the necessity of more intense intellectual judgement too threatening, and join a rigidly fundamentalist group in adulthood.

The thing is, that there are children who have the mental acumen to pull away from a religious system that is intellectually stifling. (CDK is a prime example of this phenomenon). So one must really take genetics, environment, and the strength of will of each person.

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Quote:

(CDK is a prime example of this phenomenon).

True. But he is into some very odd stuff with farm animals.

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Bob Lablob wrote:

Just how many Gods are there?

Which God is the best God?

How did He get picked as the best God?

Does God get paid?

Who the Hell signs His paycheck?

one, but he suffers from a multiple personality disorder

see answer above

see answer above

yes

the pope, the vatican is the only organized religion with that kind if cash

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Reminds me that my wife's professor who taught about substance abuse and addiction had her primary study as sexual fetishism. She moved to Lubbock, TX (a highly religious town) because that's where the fetishists were. Apparently there's quite the S&M underground society in Lubbock. Go figure.

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bm

Interesting!

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DrewDad wrote:

Reminds me that my wife's professor who taught about substance abuse and addiction had her primary study as sexual fetishism. She moved to Lubbock, TX (a highly religious town) because that's where the fetishists were. Apparently there's quite the S&M underground society in Lubbock. Go figure.

There ain't, I think, many questions more interesting than how and why control of sexual behaviors gets so mixed in with religious proscriptions. As true with Osama's crowd as it is with Dobson's or the Pope's crowd.

The head-banging, teeth-gnashing thing of it is that where these two things get mixed together then form or appearance trumps reality...unwanted pregnancies, spread of disease, etc are no longer the real focus of attention, and actual solutions or ameliorative strategies fall by the wayside.

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Bookmark

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I suspect that the less educated and well off you are, the more you are likely to be attracted by godism.

I likewise suspect that the godism is an artefact of the educational and economic ills, rather than a primary cause of them.

Where fundamentalist christianity and islam, eg, may become part of the problem, and help to cement the disadvantage, is their stupid dislike of birth control and rational discussion of sex.

Also, both (and other religions, too) have acted to cement in disadvantage and lack of education for women (christianity less so now).

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I have observed that in fundamentalist (and sometimes more mainstream) sects that derive from Abrahamic traditions, the consonant thread that runs through all of them is the subjugation of women (to a greater or lesser extent), and the control of reproduction.

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Oh, I hate this damn edit thing, I was gonna add to my post:

Edit: Oh, your article says that.

Ach, dogma, whether religious, communist, neocon, fascist etc sucks.

I agree with the bit that talks about accepting uncertainty as being healthy and helpful.

Down with dear based control systems!

Yes, Phoenix, these middle eastern desert cults are a pain that way!

But, is it particular to them?

What about Hinduism, eg?

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dlowan wrote:

What about Hinduism, eg?

Since I do not know very much about Hinduism or other eastern religions, I would not attempt to offer an opinion on those religions.

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One day, many freaking moons ago, some hairy goon walked out of his cave just in time to see lightning strike a tree and set it on fire.

The caveman -who's name was Earl- screamed, "GODDAM!"

Thus was God born and He was cursed by man even then.

Earl would have s**t his pants but he didn't have pants so he just s**t his furry robe thingy and walked back into his cave and said to his mate -who's name was Edna- , "Edna honey, I need a damn Xanax. God just blew up a tree and scared the s**t out of me."

Edna looked at Earl and said, "Earl, you moron. Trees don't just blow up, there is no God and Xanax won't be invented for another few hundred thousand years"

Earl, staring dejectedly down at the floor muttered, "....goddamit..."

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Do you work for Upjohn pharmaceutical company, Bob? Or just have an affinity for Xanax?

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The Dark Side of Faith

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