The Dangers Of Spiritual Religions

The following is a compilation of events that I have personally witnessed that only show the dangers of spiritual religions.

There is this kid that is running around my college who is under the impression that he is possessed. Seriously, you can't make this up. He claims to be having "dark, blasphemous thoughts" that he feels unapologetic about. Not only that, but because he has been brought up to fear God his whole life, he is having a baptism tomorrow to purge himself of these "evil spirits." I've tried to explain to this child that these "blasphemous thoughts" are not harmful unless you give them that power. It goes in one ear and out the other.

Now, this sort of behavior is extremely dangerous. Do some research on serial killers and you will find several names of killers who claimed to be "possessed" or "sent by God" to do what it was that they did. And of course, there is always those "the Devil made me do it" cases. I have compassion for this individual, because he is an outsider and anything but popular amongst the masses, but his passion for these spiritual concepts is on the level of insanity. I've thought about reaching out to this individual and taking him "under my wing" so to speak and reassuring him that it is okay to be an outsider, but as his behaviors escalade to these enormously fanatical levels, I cannot help but sever all ties with him and distance myself from him for my own safety. I have to say that if this baptism he is supposed to endure does not relieve him psychologically, I am going to have to take it to a higher authority simply because if he does snap and I predicted it, I would not feel good about having allowed it to happen.

Here is a separate series of events that while unrelated, also gives way to the idiocy of spiritual religion.

Here at my school, we have a diverse collective of religious affiliations floating around. We also have a group for Christians called "Common Ground" that was started by one of the students. One day, I was sitting there eating my lunch when I hear this person discussing to another about how he is not going to raise his children to believe in Santa or any of those other holiday personifications. This sounds reasonable, until he explains why. He says that this sort of fantasy support leads to atheism.

Apparently, telling a child that the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus are real and then explaining to them when they mature that they are actually mythical ideas instills doubt in the child and that because of this doubt, the child will begin to question the existence of God. Personally, I see no problem in teaching a child to question the information they are being presented. I also see no problem in allowing them to utilize their natural magical abilities as well as exercising their faculties of imagination and fantasy. I thought I'd heard it all before, but blaming Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny for a child's rejection of God? Come on! How ridiculous can you get?

Spiritual religion is a retardation of progress. Unfortunately, it isn't going away anytime soon as it also serves as a social stratification. Beware these fanatics, they are dangerous in more ways than one.

HS!

~D