Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I agree! Bibles come in different colors and with different points of view. However, the one below is the real deal!
The question is: Could that book replace a drug or booze?
yes.
describe people first. Then its clear that things like "OCD" can settle anywhere in the brain. People can be "OCD" about a car, a lawn, food, movies, and books.
Yes, people can be OCD about a personal statement of belief about god. How would an OCD person take anti-god or anti-religion well past rational? more importantly, how would they try to hide the fact when recruiting other people based on that statement of belief about god?
would it look similar to fundy theism? should we be "just getting out of their way"?
Then why aren't these people referred to as drug addicts?
My sister is so religious I compare her behavior to any other drug addict or alcoholic.
And, ironically, I actually envy them. I would love to be on opium every day!
How about you? Do you ever envy them?
To be obsessed about something; cars, nature, the environment, movies, Star Wars, is not really an addiction like that with drugs. No doubt everyone pretty well knows the difference, so I won't elaborate...
Would you actually like to be on opium every day? You can be high every day if that's what you are talking about, but whomever might want to be high every day probably has other issues to consider that go beyond a simple want. Altered states of mind can provide for "interesting" places to explore, but I'd say it certainly should not be an all-or-nothing scenario. Enjoy a bottle of wine or some weed now and then? Why not? All the time or too much? Probably not a good idea.
When it comes to what we are thinking generally speaking, if I want entertainment, that's one thing. If I want to know what is truth vs fiction, I want to be of sound mind and body, clear thinking, and nothing but the truth. No matter how it makes me feel. Does anyone really WANT to kid themselves into believing in make-believe? I'd say not, but clearly there are those who do believe in make-believe, and those people are truly folks I have struggled mightily to understand most my adult life...
As long las I don’t have to listen to them talk about it’s fine. I had to get a large no trespassing sign with grumpy cat giving the middle paw to get all the religious nuts to quit ringing my doorbell. My dogs would go crazy and I would be interrupted constantly. We don’t even live in the Bible Belt but the West coast.
describe people first. Then its clear that things like "OCD" can settle anywhere in the brain. People can be "OCD" about a car, a lawn, food, movies, and books.
Yes, people can be OCD about a personal statement of belief about god. How would an OCD person take anti-god or anti-religion well past rational? more importantly, how would they try to hide the fact when recruiting other people based on that statement of belief about god?
would it look similar to fundy theism? should we be "just getting out of their way"?
I know it's become a popular misuse of the term, but it irritates me when people say someone "is" or "can be" Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. People HAVE OCD. It's an actual illness that can cause a great deal of distress, not just some cutesey personality quirk, and religiosity can play a large part in the distress it causes.
I know you didn't mean it offensively, AA, and I'm not offended, but I feel obligated to point it out on behalf of people who actually have to deal with a brain affected by OCD.
I know it's become a popular misuse of the term, but it irritates me when people say someone "is" or "can be" Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. People HAVE OCD. It's an actual illness that can cause a great deal of distress, not just some cutesey personality quirk, and religiosity can play a large part in the distress it causes.
I know you didn't mean it offensively, AA, and I'm not offended, but I feel obligated to point it out on behalf of people who actually have to deal with a brain affected by OCD.
I agree. There's a difference between having OC disorder and being obsessive about some one thing.
As long las I don’t have to listen to them talk about it’s fine. I had to get a large no trespassing sign with grumpy cat giving the middle paw to get all the religious nuts to quit ringing my doorbell. My dogs would go crazy and I would be interrupted constantly. We don’t even live in the Bible Belt but the West coast.
Do you get more Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses?
I was a JW until 18 and I remember going from door to door and even bringing the Watchtower and Awake magazines to school. I never passed any out at school. That was 48 years ago and I still have bad dreams about it. I don't mind so much when the Mormon kids come to the door, but I had the JW's put me on a do not disturb list.
As long las I don’t have to listen to them talk about it’s fine. I had to get a large no trespassing sign with grumpy cat giving the middle paw to get all the religious nuts to quit ringing my doorbell. My dogs would go crazy and I would be interrupted constantly. We don’t even live in the Bible Belt but the West coast.
I find this so bizarre. I've had Jehovah's Witnesses come to the door twice since I moved to my condo nine years ago, but not previously in the first fifty years of my life. I've never had Mormons or any other religious people come to my door at all.
It may be that I've worked all my life and wasn't home enough. Then again, I worked in NYC, so I got to hear the religious nuts on the PATH trains and subways and in the streets. That's not as intrusive as somebody coming to your house, though.
I know it's become a popular misuse of the term, but it irritates me when people say someone "is" or "can be" Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. People HAVE OCD. It's an actual illness that can cause a great deal of distress, not just some cutesey personality quirk, and religiosity can play a large part in the distress it causes.
I know you didn't mean it offensively, AA, and I'm not offended, but I feel obligated to point it out on behalf of people who actually have to deal with a brain affected by OCD.
noted ...
Originally Posted by Arach Angle View Post
yes.
describe people first. Then its clear that things like "OCD" can settle anywhere in the brain. People have OCD about a car, a lawn, food, movies, and books.
Yes, people Have OCD about a personal statement of belief about god. How would a person having OCD take anti-god or anti-religion well past rational? more importantly, how would they try to hide the fact when recruiting other people based on that statement of belief about god?
would it look similar to fundy theism? should we be "just getting out of their way"?
I smoke a little dope now and again, and I drink some wine now and again.
But mostly, I like my head clear.
BTW, in the 70s we called these people "jesus freaks", and it was an explicit reference to people who had shifted from ODing on whatever drug had been their choice to ODing on jesus. We figured it was at least healthier and safer to be a jesus freak than, say, a cocaine freak, but the obsessive need for a crutch characterizes both kinds of freakdom.
My oldest brother could have been regarded as a sort of non-hippie Jesus freak I suppose, in that he was OD'ing on alcohol before he was OD'ing on Jesus. However, that wasn't really the case. The alcohol was a side effect of the actual problem which was that he desperately needed group belonging and friendship and what actually happened is that he found a less dysfunctional set of friends. He no longer had to hit all the bars in town to be part of the new group. Also, he was alarmed about his own wild child tendencies and the new "in" group provided the restrictions and structure and support that he needed to stop overindulging generally.
Community, belonging, support and ritual are something that many religions do a good job of. I have not had terribly complimentary things to say about evangelicalism since I left it, but I do not claim they have no salubrious effect, relatively speaking, on anyone. They help some folks to an extent. I just don't need god to explain what is adequately explained as a social phenomenon -- and moreover, one that the church doesn't have a patent and a lock on. You can get it from other sources, too.
My oldest brother could have been regarded as a sort of non-hippie Jesus freak I suppose, in that he was OD'ing on alcohol before he was OD'ing on Jesus. However, that wasn't really the case. The alcohol was a side effect of the actual problem which was that he desperately needed group belonging and friendship and what actually happened is that he found a less dysfunctional set of friends. He no longer had to hit all the bars in town to be part of the new group. Also, he was alarmed about his own wild child tendencies and the new "in" group provided the restrictions and structure and support that he needed to stop overindulging generally.
Community, belonging, support and ritual are something that many religions do a good job of. I have not had terribly complimentary things to say about evangelicalism since I left it, but I do not claim they have no salubrious effect, relatively speaking, on anyone. They help some folks to an extent. I just don't need god to explain what is adequately explained as a social phenomenon -- and moreover, one that the church doesn't have a patent and a lock on. You can get it from other sources, too.
To the extent that a religious belief gets you through life with your dignity more-or-less intact and keeps you from causing serious damage to other people, I think it's fine.
To the extent that religion encourages you to want to control everyone else's life for their own good because of course you have an inside track to the master of the universe, well - not so fine.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
