The religious have gone insane: The separation of church and state — and Scalia from his mind

[DonViejo]

A "strong and passionate" belief in God does real harm -- look no further than the GOP or the Supreme Court

JEFFREY TAYLER

The headline on the News Nerd was almost too good to be true: “American Psychological Association to Classify Belief in God As a Mental Illness.” A study, the story beneath it read, had led the APA to conclude that “a strong and passionate belief in a deity or higher power, to the point where it impairs one’s ability to make conscientious decisions about common sense matters, will now be classified as a mental illness.” Faith’s recurrent lethality was adduced: “Every year thousands of people die after refusing life-saving treatment on religious grounds.” Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, said the article, refuse lifesaving transfusions (on account of biblical prohibitions against the drinking of blood).

Most gratifyingly, for a rationalist, the author quoted a certain Dr. Lillian Andrews, who opined that, “Religious belief and the angry God phenomenon has caused chaos, destruction, death, and wars for centuries. The time for evolving into a modern society and classifying these archaic beliefs as a mental disorder has been long overdue.”

Finally, I thought, the educated elite is beginning to awaken to the threat that accepting, without evidence, the truth of comprehensive propositions about our cosmos (that is, religion, in all its inglorious permutations), poses to the mental health of our society!

A “strong and passionate belief” in a (nonexistent) God does our world immeasurable harm: look no further than ISIS or al-Qaida. In fact, look no further than the damage religion causes to progressive causes of every sort (and thus to our psychological well-being) in the United States, from women’s reproductive rights to same-sex marriage to teaching science in schools to depriving federal coffers of $82.5 billion a year (in tax exemptions). Consider the enrichment of all sorts of faith-charlatans who thrive off the gullibility of millions of Americans. Recall the sick “purity movements” that allow meddlesome parents to ruin the lives of their daughters.

more
http://www.salon.com/2015/07/26/the_religious_have_gone_insane_the_separation_of_church_and_state_and_scalia_from_his_mind/

[drm604]

1. News Nerd is satire.

From thenewsnerd.com:

About The News Nerd
The stories posted on TheNewsNerd are for entertainment purposes only. The stories may mimic articles found in the headlines, but rest assured they are purely satirical.

The Salon article does acknowledge this.

[pscot]

2. Lethal satire

[Uncle Joe]

3. While I do enjoy watching it, I also recognize that the corporate media is in the process

of subliminally redefining the Salem Witch Trials.

It is fiction of course but the women and men are real witches performing in many cases evil magic and not so much innocent women burned by a government controlled by religious zealots as was the case.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_(TV_series)

Salem is a fictional story based on the infamous Salem witch trials in the 17th century in colonial Massachusetts, when the government was dominated by Puritan leaders. It questions whether the Puritans were right in their actions, whether the people punished were innocent, and centers on powerful figures who controlled day-to-day lives of ordinary people, but were not who they appeared to be.[3] John Alden (Shane West) and Mary Sibley (Janet Montgomery) find themselves in the middle of an epic romance, even as Puritan witch hunts engulf the town of Salem in hysteria, horror, and despair.[4]

Historically, Salem Village and Salem Town feuded over property, grazing rights and church rights. The government was dominated by Puritan leaders. People were scrutinized closely and this resulted in obvious discord. They were afraid of being persecuted for anything that may offend the Puritan mindset. The word "witch" seemed an easy and appropriate curse hurled at someone who behaved abnormally.[5]

Perhaps next they will come out with a benign version of the Joe McCarthy era Communist witch hunts?

Thanks for the thread, DonViejo.