Religion
In reply to the discussion: Religious Belief = Mental Illness: A More Venomous Response [View all]Brettongarcia
(2,262 posts)And? Illusions; enchantments; demons; false dreams; false spirits; confused thinking. Which would refer to things that Psychology looks at today.
1) So it seems the Bible itself - or in other words, major elements of religion itself - allow us and even command us to look for what would today be called false ideas - even specifically "delusions" - in others.
Ironically therefore? If we are not allowed to speak of "delusions" say, in religion - which have ultimately a psychological reference - then we are not allowed to follow religion, the Bible, itself. The Bible itself authorized a kind of proto-psychology at least. And it told us to actively watch out for illusions and confused thinking; so we could spot it, and ... repair it.
2) Calling others "deluded" might seem cruel or merely insulting. However, if you don't have time to submit everyone to years of analysis and psychotherapy and so forth? A quick retort might be all one has time for.
3) By the way? This seems obvious when we look at ancient religions, that talked to "spirits" that demanded human sacrifice and so forth.
Modern scholars might suggest that there IS "confirmation bias" in psychology on religion, even in current psychology, by the way. And therefore some researchers are suggesting that we re-think the prevailing positive paradigm on the psychology of Religion.
Do the defenders of religion here defend say, religious human sacrifice as completely functional and psychologically healthy?