"Christianity is a mental illness" - True or False?
It seems to be en vogue in the United States to declare that any ideology which opposes one's own is a "mental illness." And, ironically, it seems to be those Christ-like Christians who fling this particular poo with abandon. So my question is this: is it okay for me to say that Christianity is a mental illness?
Here's my argument:
Christians believe that an invisible man in the sky created man from dust and woman from some guy's rib. They believe that there are people with feathered wings who fly around the clouds playing golden harps and they believe that there's a place you can go when you die that has fire that will never stop burning.
I think this argument is legitimate. How do you Christians feel about it?
Update:Go Go Girls: My, my, aren't we touchy? Arguments ARE opinions, honey. Stop getting so angry.
Update 3:Bob: Because my question is about right-wing Christians calling liberals mentally ill. Use your own five points to ask your own question and stop abusing other people.
Comments
I wouldn't go as far as to call it a mental illness, Like any belief it can be taken to the extreme. Now that might be where mental illness comes in. People can be what they choose. They need to allow me same.
From my perspective, this phrase does have some truth to it.
The way I see it and the way many others see it is that to be a Christian is to live life like Jesus. The deal however is that Christianity is usually considered to be a religion so therefore, it's burdened by rules and that kind of stuff.
The question for most Christians is:
a) are they a Christian because they follow the rules or
b) because they live their lives like Jesus.
Many devoted Christians believe that to be a true Christian, you need to be (b). That is the problem with Christianity. When you believe that all it takes to be a Christian is just to follow a few simple rules and not live it, when to some extent, Christianity is a mental illness.
and @bob, the deal with many other religions is that they are formed through a set list of rules where breaking them is the end of the world... In those cases, to be a follower of those religions are simply just following the rules formed within that belief pattern.
Personally, I think your point of view is a simplistic, and a reductionist approach to religion as a whole. Much like Christianity's Hebrew origin (i.e. involves Islam), Zoroastrian, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc; they all have supernatural concept which is supposedly thought to be have been a sort of metaphor for social legislations enacted by ideologists. In this case, it will be Jesus himself. So what are their objectives? Generally speaking, they intended to place a set of rules and values, presented to promote the common good, and protect the weak as a result. Now you might say, why bother with the "invisible man in the sky" or the "people with feathered wings", and that it all seems too dodgy. Therefore, before you try to engage this question in a 21st century mind-set, flex your imagination and think of yourself as Jesus who wanted to support this ideology in a gory era of roman conquest and brutality. Where women were raped, thieves were abundant, genocide was usual, and the whole population expelled from academic knowledge of the world in general (variables may include the lack of technological advancement). The so-called "Zeitgeist" itself was significantly different from the modern world mentality. People back in the days would have questioned, "what is good?" or "what is the point of following these rules?". Indeed, what is the point if you earn nothing more than individual morale goodness, which again has no materialistic value. That's where Jesus comes in and preaches, the reason for your life and action for morale good. People believed the so-called "invisible man" as the messiah of "their purpose" and there were in fact a certain order in the society influenced by Christianity as a result. Of course, not all was good after the transformation of Christianity; embarrassing history like the crusades, papal corruption, forced belief and racial discrimination became the insignia of Christianity, much like the Islam and the Jihad. However, I say, it's not religion that caused it, it is the responsibility of the "interpreter", or the "abusers" within these realms that functioned this ideological gear to the wrong direction. It is they, that should be tagged the "mentally ill", who deserves to be known as the compound of contradiction.
In this 21st century, religion (i.e. Christianity in this case) might be a relic of tradition and cultural background, but even to this day, many linger amongst the very concept of morale regulations through politics, society, popular media, fashion, etc. I'm sure in a thousand year time, people would look back at us saying, "are they sick? why are they destructively giving off fuel emissions while we thrive to be healthy and ALIVE!". Ultimately, we are critical of ourselves, which again seems ironical.
(Note: I'm not a Christian, so my counter-argument would lose credibility; but this is mere personal reflection to the subject.)
I rest my case,
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Well it's a proven fact that we are made from the dust of the ground.. around our homes the dust is our dead skin... and to the ground our boddies return... The feathered wings flying around clounds is mostly pictures of art and or symbols of scripture depicting the kind of holy glory of GOD!!! Chritianity is no where near a mental illness.. If one was to determine it being a illness then one would have to put all faiths in that catigory.. even theories that are not poven yet!!! No man can prove GOD because GOD proves man and the proof is that we and creation exsist......
Why stop at Christianity? Plenty of other religions have their own ideas of creation and where they go when they die. If the majority rules, and more people than not have a belief in a higher being, then maybe those who don't should be considered mentally ill.
Whats wrong with your question is that it is put in a manner were you are being sarcastic to a belief not genuine therefore you are acting as someone who has a mental illness. The kind where if people dont believe your beliefs they are crazy. Prove the arguement that they do or do not exisit goodluck with that.
mental ilness no, STUPIDITY YES,Christians are raised in a shame based theology, Christians quite often become Christians because of personal trauma and having made poor choices and they are looking for a quick fix. The belief that you can be forgiven for things that you have done, that a higher power will "fix" your life if you just believe and you don't do the work to understand WHY you have made mistakes in your life, just sets you up for failure. Then when you fail to "get over it" and still are a sinner in spite of being a believer, you believe that it is YOU that are flawed and then the shame takes over and you go underground rather than to seek help. So because they often don't have anyone to have an honest personal discussion about the things that are troubling them, they blame the devil, which makes it easy for them to continue to "sin".
When you have a bunch of people who choose Christianity because they don't feel they have control over themselves and need a higher power to save them from themselves, you have a bunch of really screwed up people with access to children who are uneducated on the foibles of man and also have an inordinate trust of the adults they associate with. They also have the shame - so when someone molests them they don't deal with it and then grow up very confused about their sexuality. Churches are a hotbed of pedophiles.
False
Your argument is not legitimate for numerous reasons, not the least of which is that your premises are incorrect (i.e. Christians don't believe what you attribute to them).
In order to make your argument, you'd have to further define mental illness, show how your definition is professionally accepted and then demonstrate accurately how Christians meet that definition. You have done none of that; you've merely stated an opinion with no actual facts.
Nobody believes that you're crazy because you believe that there is wind. You see its work every day, and you feel it when you walk outside, but you can't see it. It's the same way with Christianity. Christianity is a faith, and nothing science has come up with can actually prove that anything in the Christian faith, from the Creation to the Resurrection, did not happen the way it is said to have happened.
First off, i would caution you from making generalizations about complicated religions
For instance, the bible says nothing of hell, and neither does it claim that angels fly arround with golden harps...
By your definition, a mental illness is all a matter of perspective
I find your lack of religious knowledge to be an illness