Blaire, can you summarize his points?
Heck, I forgot there’s YouTube ;- )
Recovering from Religion with Dr. Darrel Ray
Did Jesus masturbate? Now that’s one we forgot to ask about during catechism.
I myself would hope so, all that semen and no place to go, sounds painful.
I actually saw Darrell Ray in person doing the “Did Jesus Masterbate” talk a few months ago in Madison
Religion is certainly not a mental illness. These are combative things anti-believers (as opposed to simply non-believers) say to demonize those they oppose. It’s a classic cheap shot at an opponent. But no belief is, itself, a mental illness. Getting too involved in a belief can lead to mental illness and some beliefs may be so radical that only the mentally ill and otherwise deficient can hold them, but belief, itself, is completely normal. We all have beliefs whether we know it or not.
I’ve given this a lot of thought over the years and have ideas on this subject, but it’s a complicated and heady subject more suitable to be posted as half a book in a new thread than a response coming in at the end of a discussion
Agreed.
New threads are easy to start. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
I would be happy to when I get the time. As soon as I figure out how to create a new thread. I don’t have any training in psychology, but have had a fascination with the human mind since I was a teenager and have seriously pondered the mental workings of belief based off my own experience traversing the path from fundamentalist Christian to full fledged, no coming back atheist. Personally I find it absolutely fascinating the mental gymnastics I now realize I used to play with myself without even knowing I was doing it. I suppose to most it would be dry reading, though.
EDIT: Figured it out! It’s at the bottom. There’s no button or anything.