Christians are Delusional!
May 10th, 2008 by Brother Jeff
Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable…. A man full of faith is simply one who has lost (or never had) the capacity for clear and realistic thought. He is not a mere ass: he is actually ill. — H L Mencken
I fully agree with Brother Mencken. Christians are not just anti-intellectual, anti-science asses; they are actually mentally ill.
In psychology, a delusion is an erroneous belief that is held in the face of evidence to the contrary, or false beliefs firmly held. Many delusional beliefs are present in Christian mythology. Delusion is so prevalent in Christianity that it’s hard to know where exactly to start pointing it out! But just to hit a few highlights:
God belief. God belief is delusional because there is no evidence that a god of any kind actually exists, and because the theory (and fact) of biological evolution accounts for the diversity of life on this planet beautifully without reference to a god or the supernatural. The existence of the universe can also be explained by purely natural processes.
Belief in the bible as the inerrant, infallible “Word of God”. This belief is delusional because it is demonstrably false. The bible is far from being inerrant or infallible. In fact, it is riddled with contradictions, absurdities, atrocities, myths, fables, and scientific and historical errors.
Belief in Jesus as a historical person. This belief is delusional because there is no evidence that Jesus ever actually lived in history. Not one contemporary historian makes mention of him. The only records we have of his existence are four unreliable, anonymously written gospels authored decades after Jesus allegedly lived. Other alleged mentions of Jesus all qualify as hearsay. An excellent documentary movie on this subject came out in 2005 - Brian Flemming’s The God Who Wasn’t There.
Belief in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. Even if Jesus did live in history, he wasn’t the Jewish Messiah. Relevant links:
http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/
http://home.att.net/~fiddlerzvi/j4j_no.html
Belief in sin. Belief in sin is delusional because it has no basis in demonstrable reality. Sin is a mythological concept taken from an ancient Book of Myths. Psychologists can explain human behavior quite well and quite thoroughly without referencing “sin” or mythological gods or the supernatural.
Belief in Hell. Belief in Hell is not just delusional, it is morally reprehensible. How else but delusional and horribly wrong should we view those who firmly believe that everyone who doesn’t believe as they do is going to be barbecued forever by an allegedly loving god?
Belief in resurrection from the dead. This belief is delusional because it has no basis in demonstrable reality. It is an article of religious faith, but there is no evidence that anyone who has died has ever returned to tell about it. Once we are dead, we are really dead. Death is a real event signaling the end of a life, while resurrection from the dead is a myth based in religion, not reality.
I think I have made my point. Christians are mired in delusional beliefs, but it is possible for them to recover and return to beliefs based much more in demonstrable reality. I did it, and if you are a Christian reading this, then so can you! Glory!
