Religious delusion and religious psychosis tells us a lot about our brains and why we create religion in the first place. Includes tips to help family members or friends who are falling into religious delusion.
I have a family member who grew up in religion. She still deeply religious. In recent months, she has been making some bizarre decisions. She quit her job and went back home to live with her mom, she dedicates lots of her time praying, reading scriptures, organizing things around church. It's annoying her parents who are also deeply religious. When asked about her plans, she says she is awaiting a sign from God. I'm the only atheist in the family. I advised her parents to seek secular help. They refuse. They only want her to speak to pastors or religious people. I'm worried she is disillusionned . She is 32 and has a master's degree. She is very bright. But her sense of reality is non existent. She had a car accident. I said thankfully her car had airbags. She replied violently that it was God who saved her life and got angry at me for not thanking god. Anything that happens to her, she says it's God's will. Her self esteem is very low. I'm seriously worried about her ... As there is a history of self harm in my family.
I grew up in AOG. After 38 years in fundamentalists Christianity my mind and emotions were destroyed. My first panic attack happened at the age of 12 because we were forced to watch the Thief In The Night and Left Behind movies. The teaching of the rapture and blaspheming the “Holy Spirit” only further damaged me. Now at the age of 48 I can’t talk about god or Christianity. I can’t be around Christians for long. I have been an atheist for 10 years and I’m still damaged. I was diagnosed with religious trauma syndrome when I was 40. I have a deep seated hatred for Christianity and the Bible.
Amazing video. I appreciate your point that these subconscious processes unfold in all of us, and that conditions like religious psychosis and religious delusion can happen to all of us, even if some delusional frameworks don’t easily fit into traditional paradigms. People fall into this stuff because they want to feel accepted and connected, creating inner worlds to gain control, and pulling them out of that requires empathy, while pushing back too much isn’t helpful since these delusions are so entrenched and personal. When you just say they’re completely wrong and everything they’re saying is delusional, it can make them feel like that which is so personal and deeply connected to their being isn’t real or valid, which is not only emotionally painful but slightly wrong in the sense that their ideas are at the least grounded in their emotional and social needs as a human. My question is, if too much pushback makes things worse, should we be calling them delusions? If not, what’s a better term?
Yeah but what happens when they force those delusions onto their children? Because that’s what happened to me and it ruined my childhood and well into my adult life? When does showing empathy to those need to stop because of the damage it’s causing to others??
I am at a place in my life where I move back and forth with the idea of God. I'm experiencing life problems and I am trying to not attach a story for my suffering. I find it challenging not to ask for strength from God, though I'm battling with the existence of God. I realize that this has been my safety net, and without I find it hard to cope.
I was once in this position and it sucks. Now, I know, If I just give you the answer “𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭“ you'll just continue stressing...“how do you know for sure?“ How I moved forward?...it's a long story, but in short, I followed the “god-crumbs”, which led to the Sumerians. You see, questions like; what are we? where are we from? What inhabited the earth before us? What happens when we die?, etc, are all recurring questions throughout every generation. So the Sumerians theorized “what if there’re aliens (Anunnaki gods) and what if we were created by these aliens?”….but they didn’t stop there. They created their own characters (Enlil, Enki, etc) which led to many famous stories (creation myth story, Ziusudra and the flood story, etc), which were all copied and remixed by every later civilizations. Tho I’ve wasted quality time on this, one thing I’ve learned is that everyone has to embark on their own journey to find peace tho we’re all going to end up with the same answer; it’s the only way that you’ll finally have some peace of mind…anyways, hope I was helpful, good luck🥲
We should work 9 to 5, have two weeks of vacation for 30 years, with three kids graduating from prestigious colleges, and call this the best of all possibilities.
I used to believe that the people who could help me the best were Christian enthusiasts! I was so fucking wrong!!! I was taught this and it honestly pissed me off for the longest time!
@@idreadFell365 its an addiction. And a seething one at that. Like candy on the shelf. People like me can fall into deep trances and have all of these amazing experiences that we create in our mind somehow.
I’m a survivor of Religious Trauma (as a cult survivor) . Ended going to seminary and earned an MTS just to try to reset . Pretty much an Agnostic/Non-Theist now. I have/ had at least 5 of those you listed. I literally laugh at myself. Especially when I tell someone about it. Fkn Hilarious now. Man that was a TRIP. I’m a physician. Do You Believe That SHIT??!! Will always think of myself as a survivor. I’ll always be at risk for that Sh*t. Looking back , I should kick my Own Ass for falling for that sh*t. (Then again I did, TRUST) It’s like you can never be an Ex-Alcoholic. Human beings need an origin story I guess. I totally hear what you’re saying cause that sh*t was me🫤
I did heal a boy that was mute!!! He could make sounds but could not talk. Two years later, he was able to thank me in speech!!! I said: Don't thank me, thank Issac!!! (I play James Son of Zebadee, and the boy was the donkey wrangler. Issac is a jackass!!! ) A donkey made him frustrated and he spoke!!! LoL 😵💫 No magic here.
All theists, across thousands of religions and denominations, believe their way is "the one true way". They dont even for a moment stop to sincerely consider how paradoxical that is. All other faiths are silly, except theirs. All other faiths are myths, except theirs. All other faiths are wrong, except theirs. Even those who convert from one faith to another never consider the irony. The dogma prohibits any shred of critical thought. I believe that's what most of them find to be relieving. It's a method of programming that relieves them of the "burden" of autonomy.
You are generalizing unfairly here. Some movements like theosophy are perennialist in nature. That is, they attempt to find the underlying truth of all world religions
I would add an 11th sign: claiming to know what can't be known; i.e., that God exists or does not exist. The only options here that are not arrogantly stupid is to embrace faith in the face of objective uncertainty or to be an agnostic. If only atheists knew how much they resemble fundamentalists.... Small wonder that so many young people who deconstruct the brittle religion in which they were raised wind up flipping from one smug certainty to another on the opposite side of the same spectrum.
Atheists aren’t claiming to know what cannot be known, they are simply saying that they don’t believe any of the thousands of organized religions that have ever existed because there’s never been any proof.
Unless we know little of this natural existence …. Limited senses , limited knowledge of our ecology and the possibility that more advanced life, a higher sense of awareness and advanced technology coexists . NDE’s and observed strangeness in our space cannot be illusion. There’s more going on , our interpretation of these phenomena is responsible for all this confusion.
I need to hold on to the belief that my mind is part of the universal mind that is dreaming this whole thing up. Do you think this belief is harmful or delusional?
You may be right, you may be wrong, but the key work you said is *need. If you need something to be true, there's a fear underneath that that we can face directly.
just the claime of a "god" is not justifiable. no one knows what that is. we are an animal like all the others- totally dependent on healthy/diverse ecosystems- which by the way are all under decline.
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Is “hearing the Holy Spirit” one of these delusions? My parents always talk about how they know what’s right from the Holy Spirit speaking to them. I think they’re delusional narcissists.
I believe in God, yet what keeps me grounded is that what I do matters if for nothing else to me. My question is why would you try to destroy faith that keeps a person grounded in life. I will admit that fanaticism is an excess of religious fervor. But I was raised that everything in moderation. This has allowed me to still find peace in my faith. That I believe in God. That there is a God. That also brings hope and directs my morals. So there is a lot of truth to what you say, but don't try to play God yourself. Thus destroying healthy faith.
This woman is not speaking to those with a “healthy faith.” It is very easy for some people to fall into an unhealthy religious fervor, to the point that it destroys them mentally, emotionally, socially, AND spiritually. That is who she is speaking to.
Good for you, you want a cookie 🍪 no one cares you’re not the target audience of this video. Just like the rest of the religious folks you force yourself where you don’t belong & then wanna cry abt how it’s not pleasing to you. disgustingly selfish. If you’re grounded in your faith then why are you here
I don't think any faith is healthy, and faith is not a moral virtue. Faith in the correct unbelievable story is not a virtue. We can build better morals, better tools, and better spirituality without God. The reason that I challenge people's grounded faith is because Im so glad someone did that for me. I'm so glad that people challenged my faith so I could face my fears directly and find a life of beauty and freedom on the other side of stories I wanted to be true but arent.
People only think of an afterlife and seeing loved ones in the short term Sounds good.What will living FOREVER do to you though ? Yikes.!And you can't leave? Scary!!
I don’t believe in an afterlife, but this argument is ridiculously unintelligent. Obviously a perfect brain in a perfect world would not have the issue of depletion of excitement over time. If one is able to be happy and content forever, your objection is invalid. Honestly, I think this argument is just a cope for people who don’t want to feel the brunt reality of oblivion. Given how fast life is going, I could easily see living 500 with zero boredom even with this crappy unoptimized brain.
@@rogersacco4624 It is naive, but that wasn’t my argument, now was it? Your smooth brain is doing the same thing hyper religious people do: refusing to think critically and honestly about an alternative perspective.
These delusions are a result of bad theology taught by charismatic churches. Feelings and experiences are emphasized over scriptural understanding. Charismatic churches are increasing in number and teach heresy because scripture is apparently not enough. The understanding of scripture in these churches is terrible. Adding to scripture is common even though we are forbidden from doing so. The severe penalties for false prophecy are brushed under the rug. Scripture and prayer is all that is needed to understand God's character, His plans, and our place in creation.
If scripture and prayer were all needed, you wouldn't have so many churches even within one denomination. I find believers to be far more prideful than atheists. Atheists say I'm not convinced. Believers say everyone else is deceived and everyone else's theology is bad by my experience and my theology is right. I don't have the hubris for that.
@@nononsensespirituality The more churches and denominations the better because of redundancy. False teaching by one big shot is not going to corrupt everything. False teaching is rampant. Pride for a true believer has been destroyed long ago. God hates pride. It is the primary issue that creates separation. All I have is scripture and it is available to all.
Worldview doesn't seem to make much difference: most people behave in generally comparable, predictable ways regardless of belief/non-belief. Evangelicals, Vegans and Atheists, Democrats or Republicans, capitalists or communists are obnoxious or not in comparble percentages.
