Is there no cure for the religiously insane?

[mopaul]

religion is o.k., as long as it's benevolent, not insane. my brother became religiously insane over 33 years ago, with no signs of letting up. my mother too. sane one day, insane the next. i see no signs of it letting up. is there no cure?

the religiously insane can't shut up, and they can't keep it to themselves. they see demons everywhere, angels hovering over them,
devils stalking them. they kill their kids in a bath tub, they blow up buildings, they molest children, they take money from the poor and waste it, they speak in tongues, they start wars and they are a big pain in my ass. being religiously insane makes you an asshole, i've seen it.

what can be done about the religiously insane? they are right now screwing up america and the world. why do we let a tiny percentage of those who went nuts for god, screw it all up for the rest of us?

[leftofthedial]

1. yes there is

but no one here wants to hear it

[historian]

14. i want to hear it pls

i am a devout atheist with a simmering hatred of religious bigotry and ignorance - not religion per se

[Speck Tater]

2. The cure is education

which is why the RWs try to criple education at every turn.

[mr_hat]

3. Great post. The only answer I hold hope in >

is that humanism will one day become stronger than myth, out of abject necessity.

[indigobusiness]

4. When religion is a crutch

it cripples.

[Snoggera]

5. My question is

Where did all these nuts get so much money?

[Warpy]

9. A few dollars at a time, from desperate people who can't afford it

They're selling the proposition that you can give lipservice to them and bribe your way out of hell.

Earning your way into heaven never occurs to them.

[Az]

6. The cure is difficult

It involves building trust and finding the underpinnings of their belief. A direct assault on these will fail. But by building on the areas that can lead them free you can find a way.

Think of it as caltrops and seeds. You plant seeds where you want them to go. Encourage them in those directions. And in the areas that are false you plant caltrops. You have to be able to see which way they may go before they do themself.

The single best way to achieve this is to just be there for them. Be strong in who you are and support who they are. At each moment they have a change in faith they may turn to you for advice. Without that establishment of trust they will not. They will turn to those that will reinforce their beliefs.

Its difficult but in time it can work. Love is a very powerful emotion. When someone tells you someone you love and know to be good is doomed the words carry less creadance.

[smiley_glad_hands]

7. Its gotta be the de-institutionalization of America's mentally ill.

[Cleita]

8. I found out with religious people that you have to lead them

to another religion that is similar but gets rid of the stuff they are worried about with greater authority. So, to explain, in our society Jesus is pretty generic. He can be twisted into so many personas. So you start with Jesus. Suspend the logic, there isn't any, but you point out what Jesus would REALLY do. I find the Sermon on the Mount to be particularly effective.

[TomNickell]

10. Can we move the Conspiracists to something.....

They'd be more pleasant as Baptists.

[pearl]

11. I would suggest

a few lifetimes in hell watching nothing but re-runs
of Chris (Tweety) Matthews. :smoke:

[Solomon]

13. Hey . I'm a conspiracist and a Baptist . So there.

:)

[Lars39]

12. Another quote from Southern Baptist's Paige Patterson......

trying to drum up missionaries for Iraq and Afghanistan....

http://www.sbc.net/redirect.asp?url=http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=18272

<snip>
One caller to the program asked if parents should be concerned about sending their children on international mission trips. Parents who have such fears should not allow their children to drive on freeways or visit the nation’s capital, Patterson said, noting that Washington, D.C., has one of the highest murder rates in the country.

“It is safer in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Patterson said. “The most dangerous thing in the world is to be out of God’s will.” The Lord provides a “double protection” for those who serve in dangerous places overseas, he said.<snip>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And they're registering voters.....
http://www.sbc.net/redirect.asp?ci=597&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ebpnews%2Enet%2Fbpnews%2Easp%3Fid%3D18180

[this_side_up]

15. I don't think there is

a cure and I doubt they could be declared
legally incompetent.

My neighbor-bot had a mental breakdown about
18 years ago.

Last year she was sucked into the Left Behind
spinoff.

Since that time, she says she talks to God
and He responds. He calls her my sister and
my child.

An on-line acquaintance is equally devoted
to the rapture. She was raised in Mississippi.
I gave up trying to discuss any aspect of this
with her because she is unable to do so. All
she can do is throw scripture back at me.

With her, it is also an IQ problem and
basic schooling (think for yourself) and she
does not like to read.

[FlemingsGhost]

16. Love. (n/t)

Dems