I was just watching a 60 minutes program on a religious sect based in Australia that 15 years ago is alledged to have brutally held captive up to 20 children with the view to discipline them for their sins.
According to the report some suicided and most have suffered irreperable damage as a result of their treatment.
The lady at the centre of this sect believes she is the Messiah and has spiritual powers.
Now of course this is a description of what I might call the side effects of conventional religion. One could also suggest that the terrorist threat to the west is also fall out and side effects of conventional religion.
There are many examples of what most people would consider as insane religious beliefs based on the experiences of the participants.
The Wacko Texus, the Jones Town and many others have made headlines.
Psychiatric institutions have many many psychotic persons who fell that they have significant religious potentiality.
The question I ask is how religion it self is creating this monster and further more perpetuating the insanity of many.
What responsibility does the Church have to the sanity of it's members?
It could be argued that the often irrational reasoning involved only aids an unwell personality to achieving an insane state. How can religion prevent overzealous beliefs and behaviour when it's very belief structure is designed to promote just that?
I really don't wish to denigrate religion but only to open a discussion on the responsibility of religion towards the sanity of it's members.
Care to discuss?
According to the report some suicided and most have suffered irreperable damage as a result of their treatment.
The lady at the centre of this sect believes she is the Messiah and has spiritual powers.
Now of course this is a description of what I might call the side effects of conventional religion. One could also suggest that the terrorist threat to the west is also fall out and side effects of conventional religion.
There are many examples of what most people would consider as insane religious beliefs based on the experiences of the participants.
The Wacko Texus, the Jones Town and many others have made headlines.
Psychiatric institutions have many many psychotic persons who fell that they have significant religious potentiality.
The question I ask is how religion it self is creating this monster and further more perpetuating the insanity of many.
What responsibility does the Church have to the sanity of it's members?
It could be argued that the often irrational reasoning involved only aids an unwell personality to achieving an insane state. How can religion prevent overzealous beliefs and behaviour when it's very belief structure is designed to promote just that?
I really don't wish to denigrate religion but only to open a discussion on the responsibility of religion towards the sanity of it's members.
Care to discuss?
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