Atheists, do you know how we know that religion is not delusional?
Because religious beliefs are not effected by antipsychotic medications. If religion or belief in a God were delusional there would be a direct impact by medications that treat delusions. There is none. On the contrary, people that are adherent to antipsychotic medication are significantly more likely to participate in religious activities, than those that are not adherent to their antipsychotic medications.
delusion : a belief that is not true : a false idea
Says nothing about it needing to be affected by medication. And if THAT is your logic then I guess my headache isn't really a headache if I take two asprin and it still hurts. Or maybe that's not REALLY cancer because it didn't respond to chemotherapy!
OK, but the first recorded religion, Hinduism was synonymous was the taking of hallucinogens, soma, which contained magic mushrooms, among other things, and made them see these "gods". If you take a look at the vision of Ezekiel, the story of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, and many other parts of the bible, you can see that these people who say they heard voices were either schizophrenic, on hallucinogens, or lying. When somebody says they hear their donkey talking to them, or see a four headed flying beast in the sky, floating in a set of interlocking rings with eyes in them, what do you first assume?
Once again we in the atheist camp are sent into frantic disarray by the deft, insightful, evidentiary polemics of a worldview that necessarily includes a talking serpent, bears who eviscerate a bunch of bratty kids for making fun of a bald guy, and a guy who gets pissed off at a fig tree. We are under no obligation to adopt your superstitious, wishful thinking in order to help you feel more secure in your fragile faith.
pscycosis left untreated deteriorates the health of the human. Religion can also, when youre face gets burned with acid... or your female genitals are removed so you dont experience pleasure... or you are forced to live in a widow camp from the age of 6 because your promised husband died.
In a study of 41 patients with schizophrenia from New York City, investigators found that patients with religious delusions were overall more religious than non-delusional patients and persons without mental illness (Cothran & Harvey, 1986). A second study of 131 patients in Cincinnati, Ohio, found that frequency of involvement in religious community activities (such as church, church groups, and religious study groups) was associated with higher ratings of religious delusions (r=0.27, p<0.01) (Getz et al., 2001). Unclear in this study, as in most studies, is how investigators distinguished "normal" religious activity from religious delusions or other pathological expressions of religious activity.
Studies in Great Britain have also consistently found an association between religious involvement and psychotic symptoms. Neeleman and Lewis (1994) compared religious practices, beliefs, attitudes, and experiences of 21 outpatients with chronic schizophrenia, 52 non-psychotic psychiatric outpatients, and 26 normal controls with physical health problems (London). Patients with schizophrenia reported more religious experiences and attitudes (but not religious practices) compared to control patients with psychiatric and medical illness. Feldman and Rust (1989) also found a positive relationship between religiousness and schizotypal thinking in a sample of 67 patients with schizophrenia compared to 140 normal controls (London).
Some of the best and most detailed information on schizophrenia and religious involvement comes from the work of Siddle and colleagues at North Manchester General Hospital in Great Britain. These investigators report positive correlation between religious delusions and religious activity in 193 inpatients with schizophrenia. Patients with religious delusions scored significantly higher on self-assessed religiosity and doctrinal orthodoxy than those without religious delusions. Furthermore, during an average 1-month course of hospitalization and treatment, Siddle and colleagues (2002b) reported that patients religiousness declined significantly (although the decline was relatively small).