Magical Thinking versus Delusion.
One and the same
No. I consider them going through a developmental stage.
Perhaps a stage that could bring us all down?
@calgirlblues Perhaps, who knows? After all, a toddler can burn down a house and all its occupants.
Yes. I truly believe they have a mental illness.
I am still debating if that is a fact. Dr. Marlene Winell has said that it is a death cult.
Your picture gave me a flashback to about twelve hours ago when a man here in Louisiana was walking along the road carrying a huge cross over his shoulder.
Ugh.....
If they are trying to get something religion can not provide.
Some people think that God is going to give them what they want or if they pray the right way God can be bribed into giving it.
Religion is simply a type of philosophy. It's suppoed to help you improve yourself and your life.
People are lazy, they don't want help, they want magic.
Delusional people can be one's who think there are ghosts out there. If you think there are religious people and ghosts then they are one in the same.
I consider religious people indoctrinated, often by attending church from birth.
Three of my friends are Christian ministers. Two men with Ph.D.'s and a woman with two master degrees. Two are counselors. All three are politically liberal and peace activists. They are among the most intelligent and kindest people I have met. Joe, a retired counselor, is the wisest man I know. They never hassle me about being an atheist.
I know some Christian ministers who have degrees and still believe in the deluded concept of the rapture!
Some certainly are, but many are just going with what they've been taught and have been given no reason to question it.
That's what cause their delusion.
@calgirlblues agreed, but I think many, given a real chance, would see through the delusion. They just haven't had the opportunity.
It's like being stuck in a picture show and never being told that there are exits.
@scurry ...and where do you suppose a person would get a real chance? Certainly not at church. I know we can't force them to change. Most people know to look up for exit signs, LOL. I think the delusional ones are lost for good. At the least the ones I know who are entrenched into a life-long commitment to not looking for exit signs.
@calgirlblues Yes, some absolutely buy into it and are there for life. But some, as they learn, grow, meet others... go to college, travel... If they then start to look, they may be able to see that what they've been told isn't the whole story (or more accurately, was only a story).
Just saying that you can't really call an eight year old delusional if they haven't had a chance yet, even a sheltered teenager or young adult.
Different story for a thirty or fourty+ year old, for sure.
If they don't respect division of church and state.
Depends on why they are religious? I know people who are "religious" because going to church is something that they've always done and it's how they learned to socialize. Being in those circles and socializing with familiar trappings helps them deal with the world. They are happy that the really complicated questions about reality can be put in a book so that they can go on with the daily mistrations of living in our world. It's easy because nothing really complicated has happened, nor have they experienced any hardships in their lives, to make them question what they get from their beliefs. I would say these people are not delusional.
I also know people who are religious because they strongly believe in the reality of their god, and the belief that their god actually interacts with them personally and with others in their lives. That their god does things for them personally based on a belief, prayer or offering of some sort despite the fact that there is no real evidence to support it. To me, that's delusional.
So, I find most religious people to be someplace on a spectrum of the non-delusional to the delusional and their position constantly moves based on what's going on in their lives in the present.
Finally, I find that the delusion, at least AFAIC, to be more related to their belief in a god than their tie to a religious organization.
It really depends on the religion. If I consider Judah/Christian I would definitely say there is a level of delusion if they have been presented with facts, otherwise I consider the person(s) misinformed. Other religions like Buddism it harder to say they are delusional because it a faith that can't be proven at this point in history.
Well said. We must listen for the clear truth that resonates as other than a fairy tale.
It depends on how religious they are. I consider any belief in a supreme being to be silly. But when you start getting super religious, you start to appear crazy in my eyes.
Crazy deluded. It's a fever that can take us all down!
Certain theists insist that a snake spoke.
Certain atheists agree too, but the snake only said one letter several times
"ssssssssss"
So, yeah, I would agree that if people of the book. ( all books) believe such theistic stories, then they're delusional in this aspect.
Yes, especially the super devout and ones who take religious texts literally.
No amount of consideration on my part is going to change the delusional thought process of a religious person. The comfort achieved by rationalization is difficult to overcome. When a person devotes themselves to the mantra, "It's God's plan," they have divorced themselves from responsibility and, by default, the consequences of they're action. They suffer, because the brought it on themselves. Of course, this does not apply to the pretenders, like 45 and his ilk.
well said. I cannot endure it when a person says those words..."it's God's plan"...what an escape hatch that is!