Bill Maher: Religion is a "Neurological Disorder"
Further demonstrating the gap between Hollywood's leftist elite and the American mainstream, comedian Bill Maher called people who believe in God mentally ill. On MSNBC's "Scarborough Country" last night, Maher stated, "I think religion is a neurological disorder." When Joe Scarborough pressed for clarification, Maher reaffirmed those people "have a neurological disorder." He continued: "I think religion stops people from thinking...Religion makes people not respect other peoples'" opinons. Then he quoted theologian and philosopher Jesse Ventura to the effect that "religion is a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers." When told Adolf Hitler shared similar views, Maher said, "Even a broken watch is right twice a day."
Perhaps Maher can clear up why "enlightened" Kerry voters like himself, who are statistically less likely to belong to any religious faith, reported to psychiatrists' offices en masse following President Bush's smashing victory. One psychoanalyst described Kerry's bereaved brigade: "My patients were incredulous, depressed, angry, very frightened. Everyone talked about feeling frightened [about] the future of this country." Some may well have had "neurological disorders."
The creeds of man certainly show know no respect for "the views of others" The Soviet (capital-s) State regularly classified theists as "mentally ill" and confined them to psychiatric hospitals — or killed them.
Despite Maher's demonizations, the dominant tradition of American religion is one of tolerance and pluralism. President George Washington, a man of deep religious faith, wrote in his Address to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island:
It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.He completed the letter by praying "the father of all mercies" make both Christian and Jew "in his own due time and way everlastingly happy." (Washington, a vestryman in the Protestant Episcopal Church, composed many profound and beautiful prayers.) Washington's theory of government proceeds from his faith, not in spite of it. True religion reflects a God Who respects the human intellect and rejects any compulsion that might devalue conversion by robbing it of its volition.
Religion actually innoculates its faithful against neuroses. As believers understand, however important the battles our nation faces, there is more to life than the temporal battle, and even in defeat there is One Who may yet intervene, Who holds permanent veto power over the designs of His creatures, as it were.
The Psalter contained in the prayer book George Washington regularly used in his devotions expresses that sentiment in these words: "The kings of the earth stand up, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against his Anointed...He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh." That's more than Bill Maher's viewers usually do.
2 Comments:
It doesn't bother me that people need religion, I just want them to appreciate, that maybe I dont need It. I'm tired of the TV holy rollers, trying to get me to send money on the basis that I need to give,to get into heavin. Did they ever think that maybe some people just don't want to go to heavin. What did George Carlin, say "Its a form of mental sickness, and they always need money"
Religion has been a part of humanity for so long that humans likely co-evolved with certain religious memes, in the sense that the parts of our brains that are active during religious thinking were evolving along with the rest of our brains. We (some of us) have brains adapted to process religions memes. I recall, but don't have references to, neurological studies where when certain parts of the brain are stimulated, people reported feelings of religious peace, presence of Godliness, etc. It's likely that, just like any other mental ability like music, art, or math, some people's brains are more sensitive or adaptable to religion, and some are less so. But religion is so prevalent in humans, and goes so far back in our history, that to call it a disorder is obviously wrong. It would be like saying tool-making or use of symbolic language is a disorder, just because some people use tools badly, or express bad thoughts with language.
More interesting is the theory that religion is a check on worldly misgovernance, that without religion, and its after-death consequences for worldly actions, bad governments can more easily lead people to do bad things, by removing all inhibitions against them. This theory generally works in the case of Judeo-Christian, Hindu, and other religions which have a "normal" correlation between worldly actions and after-death consequences. When bad governments drop the ball on consequences, religion is still there to guide people well. Not so much for the radical Wahabbi branch of Islam, which inverts the correlation by offering positive after-death consequences for bad worldly behavior. At that point (and in the case of bad cults, etc.), the system breaks down.
This points out the logical problem: Either we are left to worldly judgements about which religions are good and which are bad, by examining their worldly consequences, which ignores their possible theological merits or after-death righteousness. Or we simply have a "battle of religions," and last cleric standing must be the one God wanted to win.
Both avenues are being pursued at this point in history. But which avenue makes more sense to a particular person depends on how much their brain has that religious sensation/talent ability developed. To use a weak analogy, some people hear their own religion as sweet music and opposing religion as cacophony, and some people are just "doing the math" of which religion (or lack thereof) is piling up the bigger body count of atrocities.
Either way, the unfounded claim that religion itself is somehow a disorder doesn't advance the cause of civilization in improving people's lives. It's simply mischevious sniping from someone who may not have the mental capacity for religion, and also can't recognize that capacity in others, or else may have some inner conflict with his own religious thoughts, and expresses this by lashing out at others, even possibly projecting his disordered thinking on his fellow man. If prayer works for you, pray for him, that he may find peace.
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