Where is my hate mail?

Question

Is religion a mental illness?

"Philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote:

"'Religion is based...mainly upon fear...fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand in hand.... My own view on religion is that of Lucretius. I regard it as a disease born of fear and as a source of untold misery to the human race.'"

RELIGION EQUALS RACISM, SEXISM, SPECIESISM, SELF-HATRED, EXPLOITATION, SLAVERY, WAR. WE THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH ARE ONE. NO RACES, NO RELIGIONS, NO DUALITY, NO WAR.
Need i say more

Answer 1

Religion isn't the cause of the those problems, it's the vehicle. Some people use religion to justify or excuse how they feel. Do you really think without religion people wouldn't be bigoted, ignorant, self-righteous or violent? Wow, if only it were that simple.

Answer 2

I wouldn't say that religion is a mental illness, but it is born out of fear. People needed answers, they needed a purpose; and so they came up with religion. Think of all the people who have been killed in the name of religion. The holocaust, the crusades, the list goes on and on. But some people get real comfort out of religion. I can see someone who is incredibly poor or unfortunate needing something to believe in to get them through the day. I often think that the world would be a better place without religion, but maybe people need something to believe in.

Answer 3

I have to disagree. Religion is not the primary cause of everything you quoted. Religion is only a result of bad philosophy or a lack of a proper philosophy.

The base cause of all the terror and fear in the world is: Altruism.

"What is the moral code of altruism? The basic principle of altruism is that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that service to others is the only justification of his existence, and that self-sacrifice is his highest moral, virtue and value.
Do not confuse altruism with kindness, good will or respect for the rights of others. These are not primaries, but consequences, which in fact, altruism makes impossible. The irreducible primary of altruism, the basic absolute is self-sacrifice - which means; self-immolation, self-abnegation, self-denial, self-destruction - which means: the self as a standard of evil, the selfless as the standard of the good."

Bertrand Russel's philosophy only replaces one evil (religion) with another (collectivism).

Answer 4

Except that none of that describes religion.

Religion gives us what we need to find truth and thus God. Religion, if it's the kind of religion we need to be following, tells us to overcome racism, sexism, self-hatred, exploitation, slavery and war. Religion helps us to rationalize our fears and put them into perspective. Of course we fear death in a way; none of us have died, and since we've been with our bodies since birth we don't exactly jump at the opportunity to be separated from them. But religion gives you a reason to overcome your fear; when you get to meet your maker at the end of your life, it isn't like you suddenly are no more. You are united with the One who created you and loves you most of all.

However, I disagree that religion has any relation to fear of mystery or defeat. Religion can't possibly be based upon fear of the mysterious because it is in itself a mystery. We can't see God. We can't explain why He created us, or what His plan is for our lives. That sounds fairly mysterious to me. As to fear of defeat- what are we afraid of being defeated by? Life? At the end of it we die. The end. Or rather, the beginning.

People often confuse religion itself with the people who are racist, sexist, etc in the name of religion. They are twisting their own beliefs to match their desires. In these cases, they aren't practicing their religion, only warping it.

So I don't think religion is a disease. But you're entitled to your opinion, if you believe that Bertrand Russell knew what religion was.

Answer 5

ummm...
How to combat that? debate, or show another perspective that may enlighten.

Good thing a bunch of stuck up slave owning, land owning, political dominent old fogies decided not to pay taxes back in the 1700s otherwise your ideals would have been lost before you were even born. After all, one ideal breeds all kinds of unrest, any dictator will vouchsafe that. Since you blame religion I say you could simply blame humans, we are all those things without religion too, often much less commpassionate.

Answer 6

Bwahahaha! What a joke! Berty seems to be upset that the world is a contest of the survival of the fittest and he seems to be lacking. Listen to his words, they reveal him----cruelty is repeated over and over as is fear. This sounds like a clown that was probably jilted by some religious woman and is now crying in his latte and railing againts God. Puh-LEEZE!

That phrase was stolen by Michael Savage's "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder".

I'd advize you to read a bit more Nietsche and a lot less Russell. Russell seems to have built himself a imaginary world reality to shelter himself against the cruel world. Russell sounds like some bed wetter to me.

We are not one world and we are not equal. The only time we are equal is when we are born and when we die.

Answer 7

I think you do need to say more. I think you need to argue that the nature of religion as such makes your conclusions necessary. Please, don't just quote Bertrand Russell at me, tell me *why* he said what he said. Show me his argument.

Further, even if it is true that some religions are born out of fear, you have yet to prove that *all* of them are. Again, unless you can make an argument from the nature of religion as such, you need to examine every single religion and say how they are all individually "based on fear."

Answer 8

Religion is only one the evils, there are others like patriotism etc.

religion in terms of a closed system is death, religion in terms of a religious feeling at the incredible beauty and perfection of all that is around us...i dont see how that can be wrong.

why so angry at the world? it seems like you want the hate mail, you want them to hate you, why?

Answer 9

Change the word religion with "immaturity" and you will be a lot closer to the truth. It's just that the immature are more attracted to religion.

Answer 10

"The very purpose of religion is to control yourself, not to criticize others. Rather, we must criticize ourselves...."

When used for what it is intended Religion can be quite useful and meaningful. People have used religion to justify their closed mindedness. Religion isn't bad, it is the way people use it.