God corrupts mental health

God corrupts mental health
it was enough for me to read one Orthodox book to believe in God
only at the age of 25, after reading the history of religion, I became an atheist
do you agree

 

I'll tell you what I don't agree with...the word atheist. Should we have a word that is simply the negation of another word? Do we actually have to have a word that describes folks that don't believe something? Maybe there should be a word that describes people who were believers at one time, then didn't believe for a while, and then believed again.

A retheist?

 

What history of religion did you read?

 

No.

If God doesn't exist, he can't corrupt anything. Religion certainly has the potential to be harmful, but even that isn't necessarily theistic religion and plenty of other philosophies, systems and groups have the same potential. Gods don't corrupt people, people corrupt people.

To be blunt, the fact you so easily flipped back and forth between opposite beliefs as you describe suggests you're especially vulnerable to such influences, good, bad or indifference. There are obviously loads of people who aren't "corrupted" in that way, be they currently, previously or never religious.

 

Humans corrupt mental health, through lack of love and compassion for our fellow man in the pursuit of power. God has nothing to do with it, whether you believe in him or not.

 

simple logic
Islam is further from the truth than Christianity
rather, Judaism is true, chronologically
before the Bible there were Sumerians, Enuma Elish, Gilgamesh

 

I agree that at the age of 25, after reading someones history of religion, you became an atheist...yes.

 

The doctrine does not corrupt. The dogma...what man does with it...very often does.

 

So, was this guy mentally unwell before he became a Christian or did his Christian beliefs lead to this type of ridiculous religious thinking?

Mental health issues and religion is a dangerous combo.

Betcha he buys merchandise from China.



'Christian man demands refund at Chinese restaurant after he notices a Buddha statue'

• June 19, 2023

'A video posted to Reddit shows a man throwing a tantrum in a Chinese restaurant after noticing a Buddha statue, saying it offended his Christian faith.'


video:
https://deadstate.org/christian-man...-restaurant-after-he-notices-a-buddha-statue/

 

We have a lot of words that are simply negations of other words. And, in this case, many of us have a reason to reject the previous word, having had negative experiences with theism, having been pressured to accept theism, facing confusion (at best) or aggression (at worse) when we reject theism, etc. Now, personally, I prefer the term "humanist" because I do actually prefer to identify with things I agree with rather than what I disagree with, but I see the benefit of associating with other atheists (some of whom are not humanists like myself) and forming community.

 

What an idiot. I mean, he has the right to be an idiot, but I have the right to make fun of him for it. Such a waste of food, though. Hopefully the restaurant gave them meal to another patron or to a staff member.

 

I haven't reflected much on how other doctrines might have impacted me, but growing up with the doctrine of Hell DEFINITELY harmed my mental health and my social health.

 

I don't know why the "hell fire and brimstone" type of preaching would persuade anyone to become a Christian. Where does the following verse fit in with their preaching?

Romans 2:4
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”

 

They tended to use other verses.

 

Yea, any verse can be used incorrectly to support a doctrinal position. Yet, hell fire and brimstone preaching is a shame when one considers especially a clear verse like John 3:16.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Where is hell fire in that? What kind of parent would threaten their child with hell to get children to love them?

 

Do I agree with what?
That god corrupts mental health? Yes.
That "it was enough for [you] to read one Orthodox book to believe in God”? I suppose.
That "at the age of 25, after reading the history of religion, [you] became an atheist”? Could be.

I dove into religions to find out. I became a mystic like St. John of the Cross, Meister Eckhart, Swami Abhedananda, etc. for about ten years. And I had spiritual experiences many christians would die for.

Then I stepped back and evaluated. I found scientific studies of the mind that reported the exact same experiences I had, all produced at will in subjects by electrical stimulation.

All those “spiritual experiences” I had were the result of practicing meditation on the Bible exactly as the ancient mystics advocated and practiced. And it turned out they were the normal response of the human mind under stress. There was never anything material about it; no premonition of any real events; no predictions of future events. There was nothing to prove anything to me or anyone else. It was all ideas, thoughts, imagination, and myth.

I’m now a solid atheist. Death is the end of existence. That’s all.

 

You are making the fundamental error of equating "God," with what any given religious denomination presents, as being God. But since there is no way to verify any information about God, and because we live in a society which values free speech, every religion is free to tout their own beliefs.

The lucky ones, have parents who realize the difference between what can and cannot be known, as well as appreciate that many other people do not seem to realize this, so make it clear to their children, the need to take such claims with ample salt, and to engage their own minds (and hearts), in coming to an understanding of their own relationship with the rest of Creation, with or without a Divine Presence.

 

I thought Jesus was God... and God's can't be killed, they can only pretend to be killed

was Jesus stuck in his dead body for 3 days, or just pretending to be dead

 

I don't subscribe to the Trinity.

No, for Jesus to fulfil the OT prophesy he had to be completely dead for 72 hours.

Matthew 12:40
"For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Note that contrary to common belief, of Jesus dying on "Good Friday and rising on Easter Sunday morning (less than three full days and nights) he had to be legally declared dead to fulfil the law. That legal standard requires a full 72 hours.

 

So in your eyes, Jesus died, then after 3 days....God revived him

at least that makes more sense than believing a God can be killed

 

To be more precise, 72 full hours. Anything less would not fulfil the prophesy.

The Trinity never made sense to me on so many levels. However, I understand and respect other's belief in it. The majority of denominations teaches the Trinity. How can one not accept it without questioning?

 

I'm kind of the opposite. I was born into a non religious family. We didn't belong to any Church, and never went to Church unless it was by invitation to someone's marriage or funeral. Aside from that, we worked, played, and just lived by our consciences. Then at age 26, thru a peculiar set of events, I was spiritually called and converted to Christianity, or more precisely to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And there I remain, having gone from life without God, to life in God by his spirit rather than by indoctrination or study.

 

Were you in college at the time? I've seen many students come away from college that became atheists. It's almost like anti Christianity is a course that's subliminally being taught in some classes.

 

i see organized religion as man corrupting god once again, i have read extensively on history of such, and it appears the roman empire adopted and made christianity into a religion to push roman culture as evidenced by male domination, and there exist no religious text dating before the year 2-300 AD...pre-roman christianity , actually more a jewish sect was egaliarion..mythros and saturn had birthdays on december 25th,,,i find many ideas crosover between more than one religion, with the common thread that we are all connected running through them

 

I see spirituality as the pure connection to God/source. I see organized religion as a corruption of the ideas of spirituality, quickly co-opted by man for their own purposes. I think religion starts off as an attempt to spread the ideas of spirituality, but it never lasts long before hierarchies appear with priests and kings acting as the “mouthpiece” for god and as gatekeepers to the afterlife. At that point, religion is used as an excuse for war and judgement of others.