Religion is a Mental Illness

Firstly, are you aware that there are mental illnesses other than bipolar and schizophrenia? You kind of zeroed in on that for some reason i can’t quite figure out. (Oh, wait. It’s all about you.) Here’s a list you might find helpful: https://psychcentral.com/disorders/

I do want to make a specific point here that you’ve derived the “bad” from the “religion” side of the “religion” = “mental illness” equation. Noted. Some people derive the “bad” from the “mental illness” side of the equation. It’s always interesting to see where their bias and offended feelings lie in an essentially neutral equation; the judgements revealed when a reader harangues me about what they’ve chosen to infer. It’s a fascinating litmus test.

So, you think that genuinely believing and even feeling the presence of an unseen wizard, who talks to you, who helps you, who guides your life, who desires fear, obedience and compliance, and who is angry at the people who don’t think he (the wizard) is real and wants to set them on fire – that this is not delusional?

What if the wizard lived in their shoes, on their shoulder, or in their garage? Would you be able to spot the problem then? Why does its residence in shoes, on shoulders or in garages, rather than in the clouds, change the equation? What places can an invisible wizard live that constitute delusion and which places can an invisible wizard live that constitute religion?

Religious “faith” is indistinguishable from delusion. The definitions are nigh on identical. They both constitute belief in things without evidence or good reason that cannot be shown to exist in reality. The difference is that one is believed en masse - which of course, doesn’t make it any more true - while the other is believed individually.

It doesn’t bother me if you think I’m an “idiot” - I don’t even know you. However, this “idiot” finds it rather ghastly to not desire unwell people to get the help they need, to rejoin us in reality, as best society and medicine can accomplish. To shed these shoe, shoulder, garage and cloud wizards people are mumbling to that make them scared in the dark, that hurt people and ruin lives – and instead live full, wizard-free lives.

But then, I just probably care more about humans and their wellbeing as individuals and as a society - and the prospect of society exhaling a collective sigh of relief when the last wizard evaporates - than your triggered feefeez, virtue signalling and fixation on/fetishization of your illness as your single defining personality trait, though. I guess it’s a failing I’ll just have to learn to live with.

I don’t think being religious/having a mental illness makes someone a bad person. They shouldn’t be harassed or anything for it. But while the person may be entitled to respect by default, a religion/delusion/illness is not a person, and we should strive to attack and eliminate these detriments to individual and societal health with as much vigour as we can muster.

If an “idiot” can figure all of this out, why can’t you?

#WizardFree

P.S. Not that it matters, but I have lived with depression my whole life, and my best friend has bipolar.

Imagine being so insecure about your ancient superstitions (ones that you don’t even actually follow) that one random person upsets you so badly that you feel obliged to message them directly, begging for attention, time and approval, simply because they make points you cannot debunk, and instead need to resort to making a feeble attempt at attacking them instead.

People who are secure and certain in their beliefs don’t have their feelings so easily triggered simply by someone else talking about those beliefs in an unbiased, critical fashion. If they were actually “true”, of course.

I mean, you haven’t actually made any point here, sweetie. All you’ve done is just cried about your delicate feelings, and how you wish I’d stop because your feefeez have an ouchie. The most notable thing about your little rant is the lack of actual content or argument.

Next time, come at me with an actual argument, instead of treating me like your therapist. This, of course, would necessitate you honestly analyzing your beliefs. (How do you like my intelligence now, “champ”?)

The cracks in your magical, ridiculous claims are visible, kid. Attempting to deflect won’t actually distract people from them. Indeed, they make us want to look at them even closer, because you’re clearly hiding something you don’t want to be seen.

It’s reactions like this that tell me I’m onto something.