Is Religious Fundamentalism a "Mental Illness"?

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Is Religious Fundamentalism a “Mental Illness” to Be Cured?

Religious fundamentalism is a mental illness that will someday be curable by science, a leading University of Oxford neurologist recently argued. Future advances in neuroscience, as well as research tools currently under development, may go a long way to combating beliefs which lead to harmful practices such as child abuse. For those who become ordained ministers in the Universal Life Church it is a question that deserves serious contemplation: how does religious extremism hurt us, and how can science help?

Dr. Kathleen Taylor made the suggestion at the Hay Literary Festival in Wales (once described by former U.S. president Bill Clinton as the “Woodstock of the Mind” for its celebration of intellectual diversity). “One of the surprises may be to see people with certain beliefs as people who can be treated,” she said, and somebody “who has for example become radicalized [into] a cult ideology—we might stop seeing that as a personal choice…as a result of pure free will and may start treating it as some kind of mental disturbance”. Taylor pointed out that treating fundamentalism as a mental illness does not apply only to radical Islam, but also to more obscure extremist cults as well as the belief that it is OK to beat children as a disciplinary measure. This new approach could be highly beneficial, she argued, “because there are no doubt beliefs in our society that do a heck of a lot of damage, that really do a lot of harm”.

Taylor’s ideas are not without precedence—other researchers have also suggested a link between religious extremism and mental illness. Religious conversions may be significantly correlated with a developing psychotic mental illness, according to Dr. Dinesh Bhugra, former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. In a paper entitled Self-concept: Psychosis and attraction of new religious movements, Bhugra draws attention to research from several different studies showing that religious converts are more likely to exhibit first onset psychosis. (Importantly, Bhugra’s study does not necessarily peg religious belief in general as being correlated with mental illness.)

But what kind of reception should these ideas get from us as Universal Life Church ministers, and are they compatible with our beliefs? At first glance, treating religious fundamentalism as a mental illness may seem unusual, but in some ways it corresponds with our values. The ULC Monastery teaches its ministers to value science is a tool for understanding nature, and it also admonishes its ministers against the harm of extreme, unwavering religious dogma, so it seems appropriate for us to approach religious fundamentalism through the critical lens of scientific inquiry.

Obviously many religious people are good people, but many religious extremists are dangerous. Treating religious fundamentalism as a mental illness can be viewed as an attack on religion, or it can be viewed as an attempt to shine a light on more predatory or malevolent belief systems, offering tools for diagnosis and treatment. As interfaith ministers a part of whose mission is to cultivate religious solidarity, perhaps we can find a way to treat the symptoms of unwavering dogmatism while nurturing the core values of spiritual curiosity.

Is Religious Fundamentalism a ?Mental Illness? to Be Cured? - Universal Life Church Monastery Blog

Watch the video below

Kathleen Taylor, Neuroscientist, Says Religious Fundamentalism Could Be Treated As A Mental Illness

 

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Pope Francis Takes Aim At Ideologically Obsessed Christians, Says They Have Illness (VIDEO)

“In ideologies there is not Jesus: in his tenderness, his love, his meekness. And ideologies are rigid, always. Of every sign: rigid. And when a Christian becomes a disciple of the ideology, he has lost the faith: he is no longer a disciple of Jesus, he is a disciple of this attitude of thought… For this reason Jesus said to them: ‘You have taken away the key of knowledge.’ The knowledge of Jesus is transformed into an ideological and also moralistic knowledge, because these close the door with many requirements. The faith becomes ideology and ideology frightens, ideology chases away the people, distances, distances the people and distances of the Church of the people. But it is a serious illness, this Christian ideology.”

Pope Francis Says Right-Wing Christians Have An Illness

 

[Delta4Embassy]

I don't think it's a mental illness per se', as much as a sign that those who adhere to a given religion taking the holy book literally are simply too lazy to read and study it. I've always maintained the most effective way to discredit the Bible is to teach it. More people know what's in it, and how the NT half contradicts much of the OT half, less likely they are to take the whole thing literally. But most people's faith seems more about appearences. It's a social activity going to church and associating with a given religion. When if it's actually true, it's more literally between the follower and their deity. Yet most peoples' identify in their faith isn't concerned with the deity so much as the people at their place of worship.

If people literally believed the Bible they'd be unable to function in our decidely secular society. They'd be recluses hiding out indoors lest they venture outside and sin simply noticing the myriad of sinful images all over the place. So I think the ones who'd say they believe the Bible is literally true, yet hold down professional careers and participate in society are simply saying what's PC to say. Afterall, if they admitted they don't believe all the BIble is literally true it'd open the door to just what parts do you literally believe, and what parts do you not.

 

[hobelim]

I don't think it's a mental illness per se', as much as a sign that those who adhere to a given religion taking the holy book literally are simply too lazy to read and study it. I've always maintained the most effective way to discredit the Bible is to teach it. More people know what's in it, and how the NT half contradicts much of the OT half, less likely they are to take the whole thing literally. But most people's faith seems more about appearences. It's a social activity going to church and associating with a given religion. When if it's actually true, it's more literally between the follower and their deity. Yet most peoples' identify in their faith isn't concerned with the deity so much as the people at their place of worship.

If people literally believed the Bible they'd be unable to function in our decidely secular society. They'd be recluses hiding out indoors lest they venture outside and sin simply noticing the myriad of sinful images all over the place. So I think the ones who'd say they believe the Bible is literally true, yet hold down professional careers and participate in society are simply saying what's PC to say. Afterall, if they admitted they don't believe all the BIble is literally true it'd open the door to just what parts do you literally believe, and what parts do you not.

I'm afraid a lot of what you say is true, but I also see that it's true that what you described is a mental illness, a cognitive dissonance in otherwise intelligent people, whose minds have been befuddled since birth by irrational religious beliefs and degrading religious practices that sap the intelligence, awareness, and will to resist captivity.

If what defines whether a person is in dire need of help because of a mental health issue is whether they present a danger to themselves and others, then many religious people like the word and gism fit the bill perfectly.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

I don't think it's a mental illness per se', as much as a sign that those who adhere to a given religion taking the holy book literally are simply too lazy to read and study it. I've always maintained the most effective way to discredit the Bible is to teach it. More people know what's in it, and how the NT half contradicts much of the OT half, less likely they are to take the whole thing literally. But most people's faith seems more about appearences. It's a social activity going to church and associating with a given religion. When if it's actually true, it's more literally between the follower and their deity. Yet most peoples' identify in their faith isn't concerned with the deity so much as the people at their place of worship.

If people literally believed the Bible they'd be unable to function in our decidely secular society. They'd be recluses hiding out indoors lest they venture outside and sin simply noticing the myriad of sinful images all over the place. So I think the ones who'd say they believe the Bible is literally true, yet hold down professional careers and participate in society are simply saying what's PC to say. Afterall, if they admitted they don't believe all the BIble is literally true it'd open the door to just what parts do you literally believe, and what parts do you not.

I'm afraid a lot of what you say is true, but I also see that it's true that what you described is a mental illness, a cognitive dissonance in otherwise intelligent people, whose minds have been befuddled since birth by irrational religious beliefs and degrading religious practices that sap the intelligence, awareness, and will to resist captivity.

If what defines whether a person is in dire need of help because of a mental health issue is whether they present a danger to themselves and others, then many religious people like the word and gism fit the bill perfectly.

Strictly speaking, any defined set of human behaviours can become a mental illness. But lying to avoid a longer discussion or an arguement isn't itself a mental illness. So when some people say they believe the BIble's literally true (or other religious text) I'm more inclined to take it as a figure-of-speech than literal statement of belief. Maybe a few do, but by and large I htink it's just a very simplified answer to a very loaded question.

 

[hobelim]

Strictly speaking, any defined set of human behaviours can become a mental illness. But lying to avoid a longer discussion or an arguement isn't itself a mental illness. So when some people say they believe the BIble's literally true (or other religious text) I'm more inclined to take it as a figure-of-speech than literal statement of belief. Maybe a few do, but by and large I htink it's just a very simplified answer to a very loaded question.

If you don't think that people, grown educated adults, who profess religious beliefs that have been proven to be literally impossible and are contradicted by the very reality they live in and experience every single day and night of their lives are not suffering from a mental illness then you might have a case of the sniffles yourself.

 

[Darkwind]

Another case of the monkey's trying to discredit the humans. How unoriginal.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Strictly speaking, any defined set of human behaviours can become a mental illness. But lying to avoid a longer discussion or an arguement isn't itself a mental illness. So when some people say they believe the BIble's literally true (or other religious text) I'm more inclined to take it as a figure-of-speech than literal statement of belief. Maybe a few do, but by and large I htink it's just a very simplified answer to a very loaded question.

If you don't think that people, grown educated adults, who profess religious beliefs that have been proven to be literally impossible and are contradicted by the very reality they live in and experience every single day and night of their lives are not suffering from a mental illness then you might have a case of the sniffles yourself.

What religious people might say, and what they truly believe in their hearts are often very different. Unless you can determine how literal people believe, that so many identify as rleigious doesn't really tell you much.

 

[hobelim]

Strictly speaking, any defined set of human behaviours can become a mental illness. But lying to avoid a longer discussion or an arguement isn't itself a mental illness. So when some people say they believe the BIble's literally true (or other religious text) I'm more inclined to take it as a figure-of-speech than literal statement of belief. Maybe a few do, but by and large I htink it's just a very simplified answer to a very loaded question.

If you don't think that people, grown educated adults, who profess religious beliefs that have been proven to be literally impossible and are contradicted by the very reality they live in and experience every single day and night of their lives are not suffering from a mental illness then you might have a case of the sniffles yourself.

What religious people might say, and what they truly believe in their hearts are often very different. Unless you can determine how literal people believe, that so many identify as rleigious doesn't really tell you much.

I agree. If you need evidence of what I have said, have a talk with gism or the word and they will confirm what I have said.

There is such a thing as the point of no return....

 

[Votto]

Is Religious Fundamentalism a “Mental Illness” to Be Cured?

Religious fundamentalism is a mental illness that will someday be curable by science, a leading University of Oxford neurologist recently argued. Future advances in neuroscience, as well as research tools currently under development, may go a long way to combating beliefs which lead to harmful practices such as child abuse. For those who become ordained ministers in the Universal Life Church it is a question that deserves serious contemplation: how does religious extremism hurt us, and how can science help?

Dr. Kathleen Taylor made the suggestion at the Hay Literary Festival in Wales (once described by former U.S. president Bill Clinton as the “Woodstock of the Mind” for its celebration of intellectual diversity). “One of the surprises may be to see people with certain beliefs as people who can be treated,” she said, and somebody “who has for example become radicalized [into] a cult ideology—we might stop seeing that as a personal choice…as a result of pure free will and may start treating it as some kind of mental disturbance”. Taylor pointed out that treating fundamentalism as a mental illness does not apply only to radical Islam, but also to more obscure extremist cults as well as the belief that it is OK to beat children as a disciplinary measure. This new approach could be highly beneficial, she argued, “because there are no doubt beliefs in our society that do a heck of a lot of damage, that really do a lot of harm”.

Taylor’s ideas are not without precedence—other researchers have also suggested a link between religious extremism and mental illness. Religious conversions may be significantly correlated with a developing psychotic mental illness, according to Dr. Dinesh Bhugra, former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. In a paper entitled Self-concept: Psychosis and attraction of new religious movements, Bhugra draws attention to research from several different studies showing that religious converts are more likely to exhibit first onset psychosis. (Importantly, Bhugra’s study does not necessarily peg religious belief in general as being correlated with mental illness.)

But what kind of reception should these ideas get from us as Universal Life Church ministers, and are they compatible with our beliefs? At first glance, treating religious fundamentalism as a mental illness may seem unusual, but in some ways it corresponds with our values. The ULC Monastery teaches its ministers to value science is a tool for understanding nature, and it also admonishes its ministers against the harm of extreme, unwavering religious dogma, so it seems appropriate for us to approach religious fundamentalism through the critical lens of scientific inquiry.

Obviously many religious people are good people, but many religious extremists are dangerous. Treating religious fundamentalism as a mental illness can be viewed as an attack on religion, or it can be viewed as an attempt to shine a light on more predatory or malevolent belief systems, offering tools for diagnosis and treatment. As interfaith ministers a part of whose mission is to cultivate religious solidarity, perhaps we can find a way to treat the symptoms of unwavering dogmatism while nurturing the core values of spiritual curiosity.

Is Religious Fundamentalism a ?Mental Illness? to Be Cured? - Universal Life Church Monastery Blog

Watch the video below

Kathleen Taylor, Neuroscientist, Says Religious Fundamentalism Could Be Treated As A Mental Illness

I am very much concerned with left winged fundamentalism. It is the belief that humans only become human once the baby comes out of the birth canal, and a magical fierry waves her magic wand over the "fetus", thus turning into a human.



Then there is the practice of ignoring science when it comes to the gay lifestyle. Gay males only make up about 3 % of the population, but account for well over 60% of new AIDS and STD cases in the US every year. Why would cities like San Fran try to ban Happy Meals and soda bottles because they are bad for us but ignore this?

Will the far left continue to blindly ignore science while holding on to their primitive belief systems while chastising those of faith for not doing so because they shun homosexual conduct and abortion? Science has told us that gay male sex is inherently unhealthy and dangerous and that nothing of significance changes once the infant passes out of the birth canal to make it human. Those of faith embrace science and recognize these truths, while left winger glibly ignore them and try to preach to those of faith about being illogical.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Is Religious Fundamentalism a “Mental Illness” to Be Cured?

Religious fundamentalism is a mental illness that will someday be curable by science, a leading University of Oxford neurologist recently argued. Future advances in neuroscience, as well as research tools currently under development, may go a long way to combating beliefs which lead to harmful practices such as child abuse. For those who become ordained ministers in the Universal Life Church it is a question that deserves serious contemplation: how does religious extremism hurt us, and how can science help?

Dr. Kathleen Taylor made the suggestion at the Hay Literary Festival in Wales (once described by former U.S. president Bill Clinton as the “Woodstock of the Mind” for its celebration of intellectual diversity). “One of the surprises may be to see people with certain beliefs as people who can be treated,” she said, and somebody “who has for example become radicalized [into] a cult ideology—we might stop seeing that as a personal choice…as a result of pure free will and may start treating it as some kind of mental disturbance”. Taylor pointed out that treating fundamentalism as a mental illness does not apply only to radical Islam, but also to more obscure extremist cults as well as the belief that it is OK to beat children as a disciplinary measure. This new approach could be highly beneficial, she argued, “because there are no doubt beliefs in our society that do a heck of a lot of damage, that really do a lot of harm”.

Taylor’s ideas are not without precedence—other researchers have also suggested a link between religious extremism and mental illness. Religious conversions may be significantly correlated with a developing psychotic mental illness, according to Dr. Dinesh Bhugra, former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. In a paper entitled Self-concept: Psychosis and attraction of new religious movements, Bhugra draws attention to research from several different studies showing that religious converts are more likely to exhibit first onset psychosis. (Importantly, Bhugra’s study does not necessarily peg religious belief in general as being correlated with mental illness.)

But what kind of reception should these ideas get from us as Universal Life Church ministers, and are they compatible with our beliefs? At first glance, treating religious fundamentalism as a mental illness may seem unusual, but in some ways it corresponds with our values. The ULC Monastery teaches its ministers to value science is a tool for understanding nature, and it also admonishes its ministers against the harm of extreme, unwavering religious dogma, so it seems appropriate for us to approach religious fundamentalism through the critical lens of scientific inquiry.

Obviously many religious people are good people, but many religious extremists are dangerous. Treating religious fundamentalism as a mental illness can be viewed as an attack on religion, or it can be viewed as an attempt to shine a light on more predatory or malevolent belief systems, offering tools for diagnosis and treatment. As interfaith ministers a part of whose mission is to cultivate religious solidarity, perhaps we can find a way to treat the symptoms of unwavering dogmatism while nurturing the core values of spiritual curiosity.

Is Religious Fundamentalism a ?Mental Illness? to Be Cured? - Universal Life Church Monastery Blog

Watch the video below

Kathleen Taylor, Neuroscientist, Says Religious Fundamentalism Could Be Treated As A Mental Illness

Now, let's get serious and speak about the real mental illness: Liberalism, Progressivism, communism, socialism....all fruit of the same tree.


"The Left says of the Right, “You fools, it is demonstrable that dinosaurs lived one hundred million years ago, I can prove it to you, how can you say the earth was created in 4000BCE?”

But this supposed intransigence on the part of the Religious Right is far less detrimental to the health of the body politic than the Left’s love affair with Marxism, Socialism, Racialism, the Command Economy, all of which have been proven via one hundred years of evidence shows only shortages, despotism and murder."
David Mamet, "The Secret Knowledge."




Wise up.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Googling around for more info, I found this interesting article:
Religion, Spirituality, and Mental Health | Psychiatric Times

"In 1980, Albert Ellis,4 the founder of rational emotive therapy, wrote in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology that there was an irrefutable causal relationship between religion and emotional and mental illness. According to Canadian psychiatrist Wendall Watters, “Christian doctrine and liturgy have been shown to discourage the development of adult coping behaviors and the human to human relationship skills that enable people to cope in an adaptive way with the anxiety caused by stress.”5(p148) At its most extreme, all religious experience has been labeled as psychosis."

 

[Votto]

Is Religious Fundamentalism a “Mental Illness” to Be Cured?

Religious fundamentalism is a mental illness that will someday be curable by science, a leading University of Oxford neurologist recently argued. Future advances in neuroscience, as well as research tools currently under development, may go a long way to combating beliefs which lead to harmful practices such as child abuse. For those who become ordained ministers in the Universal Life Church it is a question that deserves serious contemplation: how does religious extremism hurt us, and how can science help?

Dr. Kathleen Taylor made the suggestion at the Hay Literary Festival in Wales (once described by former U.S. president Bill Clinton as the “Woodstock of the Mind” for its celebration of intellectual diversity). “One of the surprises may be to see people with certain beliefs as people who can be treated,” she said, and somebody “who has for example become radicalized [into] a cult ideology—we might stop seeing that as a personal choice…as a result of pure free will and may start treating it as some kind of mental disturbance”. Taylor pointed out that treating fundamentalism as a mental illness does not apply only to radical Islam, but also to more obscure extremist cults as well as the belief that it is OK to beat children as a disciplinary measure. This new approach could be highly beneficial, she argued, “because there are no doubt beliefs in our society that do a heck of a lot of damage, that really do a lot of harm”.

Taylor’s ideas are not without precedence—other researchers have also suggested a link between religious extremism and mental illness. Religious conversions may be significantly correlated with a developing psychotic mental illness, according to Dr. Dinesh Bhugra, former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. In a paper entitled Self-concept: Psychosis and attraction of new religious movements, Bhugra draws attention to research from several different studies showing that religious converts are more likely to exhibit first onset psychosis. (Importantly, Bhugra’s study does not necessarily peg religious belief in general as being correlated with mental illness.)

But what kind of reception should these ideas get from us as Universal Life Church ministers, and are they compatible with our beliefs? At first glance, treating religious fundamentalism as a mental illness may seem unusual, but in some ways it corresponds with our values. The ULC Monastery teaches its ministers to value science is a tool for understanding nature, and it also admonishes its ministers against the harm of extreme, unwavering religious dogma, so it seems appropriate for us to approach religious fundamentalism through the critical lens of scientific inquiry.

Obviously many religious people are good people, but many religious extremists are dangerous. Treating religious fundamentalism as a mental illness can be viewed as an attack on religion, or it can be viewed as an attempt to shine a light on more predatory or malevolent belief systems, offering tools for diagnosis and treatment. As interfaith ministers a part of whose mission is to cultivate religious solidarity, perhaps we can find a way to treat the symptoms of unwavering dogmatism while nurturing the core values of spiritual curiosity.

Is Religious Fundamentalism a ?Mental Illness? to Be Cured? - Universal Life Church Monastery Blog

Watch the video below

Kathleen Taylor, Neuroscientist, Says Religious Fundamentalism Could Be Treated As A Mental Illness

Now, let's get serious and speak about the real mental illness: Liberalism, Progressivism, communism, socialism....all fruit of the same tree.


"The Left says of the Right, “You fools, it is demonstrable that dinosaurs lived one hundred million years ago, I can prove it to you, how can you say the earth was created in 4000BCE?”

But this supposed intransigence on the part of the Religious Right is far less detrimental to the health of the body politic than the Left’s love affair with Marxism, Socialism, Racialism, the Command Economy, all of which have been proven via one hundred years of evidence shows only shortages, despotism and murder."
David Mamet, "The Secret Knowledge."




Wise up.

Collectivism really does work. The problem is that it has not been attempted correctly as of yet.

The key is trying the same thing over and over, hoping for a different result.

 

[Katzndogz]

Strictly speaking, any defined set of human behaviours can become a mental illness. But lying to avoid a longer discussion or an arguement isn't itself a mental illness. So when some people say they believe the BIble's literally true (or other religious text) I'm more inclined to take it as a figure-of-speech than literal statement of belief. Maybe a few do, but by and large I htink it's just a very simplified answer to a very loaded question.

If you don't think that people, grown educated adults, who profess religious beliefs that have been proven to be literally impossible and are contradicted by the very reality they live in and experience every single day and night of their lives are not suffering from a mental illness then you might have a case of the sniffles yourself.

Yet we are expected to believe that a human being with a penis, whose DNA and chromosomes proclaim him as male is really a woman. Surely that belief is contradicted by the very reality and experience that they live in and experience every single day and night.

 

[Votto]

I think a better question would be, is Islam and mental illness a dangerous combination?

 

[pacer]

Here is the video of Kathleen Taylor, in her own words. Very interesting.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80xKMuA3gKo]Kathleen Taylor -Brainwashing:The Science of Thought Control - YouTube[/ame]

 

[hobelim]

Strictly speaking, any defined set of human behaviours can become a mental illness. But lying to avoid a longer discussion or an arguement isn't itself a mental illness. So when some people say they believe the BIble's literally true (or other religious text) I'm more inclined to take it as a figure-of-speech than literal statement of belief. Maybe a few do, but by and large I htink it's just a very simplified answer to a very loaded question.

If you don't think that people, grown educated adults, who profess religious beliefs that have been proven to be literally impossible and are contradicted by the very reality they live in and experience every single day and night of their lives are not suffering from a mental illness then you might have a case of the sniffles yourself.

Yet we are expected to believe that a human being with a penis, whose DNA and chromosomes proclaim him as male is really a woman. Surely that belief is contradicted by the very reality and experience that they live in and experience every single day and night.

apples and oranges. what difference did it make when Joan of arc who was born a woman lead an army exactly like a man?

Sexual orientation like sexual identity has more to do with the individual perception of their own reality than it has to do with any physical attribute that you are hung up on.

What about hermaphrodites? Are they guilty of some detestable sin in your eyes because anyone they had sex with would be gay sex because they have the physical attributes of both sexes?

I understand that you must have felt a bit embarrassed when it became obvious that believing in delusions, however specious, amounts to mental illness, but to try and divert attention away from your own real sin in perpetuating falsehood in the name of God to imaginary sins of people who are just being true to themselves is just plain despicable.

 

[pacer]

If people literally believed the Bible they'd be unable to function in our decidely secular society. They'd be recluses hiding out indoors lest they venture outside and sin simply noticing the myriad of sinful images all over the place.

The following touches on this very point.

"Catholicism and Protestant Christianity both share the New Testament messages of purity and adherence to various laws and doctrines that, for many, prove painful and seemingly impossible to abide by in their entirety. For example, in the Gospel According to St. Matthew, verse 5:28, Jesus states, “I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” If we expand this to men and women, gay and straight, the message is that we must never have sexual thoughts for anyone but our spouse, which is all but impossible."

Scrupulosity: Where OCD Meets Religion, Faith, and Belief | OCD Center of Los Angeles

 

[Vox]

No, militant atheism is a mental illness - but only as a part of being a leftard

 

[Vox]

Here is the video of Kathleen Taylor, in her own words. Very interesting.

Kathleen Taylor -Brainwashing:The Science of Thought Control - YouTube

she describes the collectivist marxist ideological brainwashing to the core

she just prefers to name it differently as she herself is a collectivist worshiper