And God Shall Strike Ye with Paranoid Schizophrenia
If you’ve ever known any hardcore sanctimonious Biblehumpers, this latest research probably isn’t surprising. People who believe in an angry god are more likely to suffer from certain mental disorders.
These findings have been published in the Journal of Religion and Health, April edition. The research was conducted by Marymount Manhattan College Assistant Psychology Professor Nava Silton. She used data from the 2010 Baylor Religion Survey of American adults.
The research was based on three types of believers: people who believe in an angry vengeful god, people who believe in a loving god, and a third “neutral” category that doesn’t see God as angry, loving, bigoted, kind and gentle, or any other particular personality trait.
People who believe in a loving forgiving god are more likely to have positive psychological traits. The researcher, Nava Silton, described them as “almost protecting against psychopathology.”
And what about those people who believe in an angry vengeful punishing god? Nava Silton says: “That belief seems to be very much related to these negative symptoms.”
“These negative symptoms” include social phobias, paranoia, obsession, compulsion, and anxiety disorders.
I guess we should feel sympathy for these people.
Nah.
Labels: angry god mental disorder, Nava Silton
posted by Tom Harper @ 1:31 PM
9 Comments:
Looks like man creates god in his image, not the other way around.
Not surprising. Life is tough and would seem way tougher if you always thought there was an all-powerful angry supernatural diety looking over your shoulder.
I was raised in a fundamentalist church and let me tell you it is no picnic. According to the fundamentalists, children are inherently evil and need to be abused to grow up "god fearing" and "righteous" so hell yeah, all that abuse causes mental disorders big time! A good post about this is over at Love, Joy, Feminism.
A Baylor study. Can't even dance there. It's ok, if you look like you are dancing while running on hot coals. Think that is ok, now.
Since we are talking about God, fear, and evangelicals, and I've got Waco, on the brain, AGAIN...
Why don't Baptists have sex standing up?
Because they are afraid God will think they are dancing.
Don't forget, buy organic! Pretty sure, that's what God wants! ;)
If Ms Silton gets hit by a lightening Bolt - we got our answer.
The main difference between Liberal and Conservative Churches is emphasis on either the old or new testaments. The Church I grew up in concentrated on the new testament and knew Jesus as a pacifist who preached love and understanding to all - what a bunch of hippie wimps eh?
When I have watched fundamentalist shows like Jimmy Swaggart and Pat Robertson, it's a curious mix of old and new testament preaching still evoking a vengeful, active god and making Jesus like some sort of vigilante.
This is why we have justification for Wars, slavery, segregation, American and/or European dominance, xenophobia, capitalism (God blesses those who make more money then others - regardless of how they do it!) and even Gun ownership (how many times have you heard them talk about their God Given right to own a Gun!).
And now we find out they may have some mental problems
Ya Think?
Erik
these tamborine bangers are testing the limits of my patience.
Religion is very much like pot and booze, in a key sense: It's not just what faith, pot or booze brings to you but also what you bring to faith, pot or booze. For some folks, unfortunately, these things are poison while to others they can be positive and helpful.
So, that study's findings aren't surprising at all. I think a more helpful study would shed light on how and why authoritarian types use religion as a tool for gaining influence and wielding control over others. I suspect that tactic is learned from authoritarian parents who use it on their children. Some of those children grow up using it not only on their children, but on others, sometimes for political advantage.
Jerry: Yup, that's exactly what it comes down to.
Jim: LOL. I'd be pretty jittery if I thought an angry judgmental sky wizard was looking over my shoulder every minute.
Life: Sorry to hear about your fundamentalist upbringing. I'm glad you've (presumably) escaped that type of environment.
FRESH: Good one about why Baptists can't have sex standing up.
Erik: And if there's an earthquake or hurricane in Ms. Silton's neighborhood, all of our favorite televangelists will be pointing and shouting about God's vengeance.
Jess: But where would we get our laughs without the tambourine bangers?
SW: That's true, religion -- like drugs -- is what you bring to it. A lot of good things are done in God's name as well as a lot of tyranny and evil.
Religion -- the Angry God type of religion -- does indeed make a very effective tool for manipulating and controlling people.
One of the main symptoms seen in patients that are living with paranoid schizophrenia is their world of delusions. schizophrenia symptoms
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