Unintended Consequences of Listing Theism in the DSM
Posted on: September 20, 2007 - 5:00pm
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Unintended Consequences of Listing Theism in the DSM
While I agree that Theism can be accurately labeled a brain disorder (technically faith is just the opposite of Paranoia - the irrational belief that someone is out to help you), having it listed in the DSM could back fire - Listing religion as a "mental illness" could provide a legal defense for those who justify their crimes "because god told them to". If it were in the DSM I can see slick lawyers using "Theism" as a defense for someone who bombs abortion clinics for example .
Technically faith is just the opposite of paranoia - the irrational belief that someone is out to help you ~ The Vandingo
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Did I miss a memo somewhere? Is someone talking about listing it as a mind disease? It boggles my brain to even imagine such a thing happening.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
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From the home page:
3. Setting forth yet again that theism is a mind disorder! When Sapient asked a few questions on youtube, he never expected for everyone to dodge the questions and attack only one. By attacking only the question about theistic delusional disorder, some people illustrated their possession of this disorder. We will not back down now. We now hold that almost all theists have Grandiose Delusional Disorder and that theism itself should be listed in future versions of the DSM. And each time that someone with this disorder whines about our tactics, we will remind them with another video why in fact all forms of theism have some form of delusion embedded within them.
Technically faith is just the opposite of paranoia - the irrational belief that someone is out to help you ~ The Vandingo
Hehe, good one.
"Everyone knows that God drives a Plymouth: "And He drove Adam And Eve from the Garden of Eden in His Fury."
And that Moses liked British cars: "The roar of Moses' Triumph was heard throughout the hills."
On the other hand, Jesus humbly drove a Honda but didn't brag about it, because in his own words: "I did not speak of my own Accord." "
It already is used in that manner, however the cases are usually more extreme things such as murder, physical violence etc.
Organised religion is the ultimate form of blasphemy.
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Well, there it is. Maybe I should actually read the homepage from time to time.
I'll put getting theism listed in the DSM up there with all the children of the world holding hands and singing in a spirit of unity and harmony, at least as far as real possibilities go.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
We already get "insanity" as a defense to crimes driven by religion. Isn't that ironic?
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I really don't see theism as being a mental disorder, though. I hear about it all the time, but it just doesn't make sense to me. It seems like it should go into the same area of science that said homosexuality was a mental disorder. I think it's junk science. I mean, just because my grandmother believes in God doesn't mean she's crazy. She's a sane, functioning member of society and she happens to be a good person. If anything, I think it should be labelled as a social problem since most religion revolves around a group. A preacher says certain things that influences the group. The group deems the words to be true, so they obey.
Some of us were religious at one time. Were you crazy then? I know I wasn't crazy. I was just taught different things that shaped my life for that time. Again, you have someone in authority telling someone else how to act. Dawkins said that comes from the evolutionary link that tells a child that an adult knows what they're talking about (whether they do or not).
We all know that not every religious person is one of those kooks that bombs an abortion clinic or straps on an explosive in the name of Allah. So some can have a mental disorder that is based on religion, but, for the most part, that's not the case for other religious people.
I know that presenting this view on this website is sort of like farting in an elevator, but I don't care. If I'm wrong, show me. That's one of the reasons why I'm here. I love the debates the RRS is famous for.
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I don't think it would be a problem. There's a difference between having a mental disorder and being criminally insane. To get out of a crime for mental illness, they must prove that the person cannot differentiate between right and wrong, and I don't think a xian would ever say that their religion makes them incapable of distinguishing moral from immoral.
I agree and disagree. IM sure you are right in that a christian would not say that "I don't know right from wrong." However, that may not be a defense. Someone killing a doctor who performs abortions for example may be seen as right by someone but wrong by the law (I want to make clear that I don't think that all Christians think this, but there are some that think its justifiable to murder someone to save a few cells).
To use a less extreme version, its justified to discriminate against Gays/Lesbians currently. The only reason that I know of is cause the bible says so. To me, making up stupid laws seems to be a conflict of what they may consider right and what is.
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Well, if you go by the DSM's definition of mental disorder:
"mental d. [DSM-IV] any clinically significant behavioral or psychological syndrome characterized by the presence of distressing symptoms, impairment of functioning, or significantly increased risk of suffering death, pain, disability, or loss of freedom. Mental disorders are assumed to be the manifestation of a behavioral, psychological, or biological dysfunction in the individual. The concept does not include deviant behavior, disturbances that are essentially conflicts between the individual and society, or expected and culturally sanctioned responses to particular events."
I think you'd have a hard time getting theism listed as one. Theism is a learned behavior, but not necessarily one that causes dysfunction.
Nobody I know was brainwashed into being an atheist.
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