Be that as it may, mental aberrations exist outside of churches.

@Gwen_Wanderer Of course, however, religion is a great attractant because any belief can be justified in their mind.

@nogod4me people outside of religion can do the same. For instance, I have heard atheists who claim that aliens built the pyramids. They justify their beliefs on pseudo science. To them, however, their opinions are not "beliefs," but facts. Long ago, I used a chat program where an atheist insisted that the gods of Sumer/Babylon were aliens who came to earth every few thousand years when their planet rotated close to Earth. He ridiculed anyone who disagreed with him.

@Gwen_Wanderer Not all believers are religious, that is why Eric Hoffer, the author of The True Believer, called them "fanatics ".
Racists are believers, there are also political believers, believers do not care about facts or reality, that is what makes them a problem. What causes religion to be more of a problem is the defense, respect, reverence, and undo deference given to it that it does not deserve. Snake-handlers, flat-earthers, etc., should be shunned, not tolerated. Just as we should shun racists and the Trump cult.

@nogod4me "religious" vs "believer" is a matter of semantics in this case. The person in point is Christian. I shun most people, but they have the right to believe what they want: it becomes a problem when the foist it on unbelievers or cause bodily harm to their families or anyone.

However, your point supports my points--it is the believing, regardless of whether it is in a god or a cause, that is the problem. The problem is also mental illness in some cases. No one pays attention to the criminally insane, even when there are signs, until they lose all restraint.

@Gwen_Wanderer Yes, not all believers are insane, however, most insane people believe insane things. Religion just gives them a support system and a hideout.

@nogod4me I agree, but the issue lies within the person, not the religion. I think I noted earlier that my maternal side of the family seems to have hereditary emotional issues ranging from bipolarism to clinical depression. However, my aunt was just outright crazy. Both she and my mother would get mad at relatives and cut them out of pictures or burn pictures. My aunt burned some pics one day and when she washed her hands afterwards, she filled the sink with water and behold! The pics, totally restored, were at the bottom of the sink. They rose to the surface and then went back to the bottom. This was repeated until she let the water our of the sink. She was 100% convinced that this happened. She did not relate it to her Xtian beliefs.

She was crazy.

She also said that the pictures of loved one "talked" to her, and she meant literally talked to her. This was also not related to religion. Had they all been dead, it might have been related, but most of them were alive.

@Gwen_Wanderer I was raised on a farm. We bred and raised animals for food, so I learned about sex and death very early, it is a part of life. My parents never lied to me about it. When we visited an area in another state that wasn't farm country, I overheard some kids my age talking nonsense about how babies arrived. I actually thought that they were insane. People can handicap their children with lies.

I once saw a child sobbing in utter grief. I later found out that someone had told her that Santa didn't exist. It was if she had lost an actual loved one. Some may say, "how awful that they told her the truth about Santa." I say, "how awful someone lied to her in the first place."

Parents can make their children victims in this world or they can tell them the truth and give them an advantage.

@nogod4me and again, I agree. I did not tell my sons that Santa existed not because it was a lie, but because the church I attended at the time did not approve of Santa. I told my sons that if they wanted to pretend Santa existed, that was fine.

However, my oldest son told his friend that Santa was not real and her parents were very upset. The mother told me that they told the girl that Santa was "like god" and that's how he was able to give presents to all kids. I was abhorred as an Xtian as it made Santa into a god, but actually, he is a god--he lives forever (apparently) and has magical powers. If I were the girl, when I found out that Santa didn't exist, it would make me reconsider if god did.

And these people were not religious--they believed in god--or so it seems--but did not attend church or show outward signs of being believers.

Religion at its root is not the cause: it is the people who interpret the religion.

@Gwen_Wanderer Religious people especially Christians have been known to carry children around in suitcases believing they would come back to life, cut off the heads of non-Christians "to save them" Another believing a preacher who told them the end was coming a few years back slit the throats of her children after wrapping them up in carpet so they couldn't struggle.... Look at Trump's supporters and the Catholic church...

@Lizard_of_Ahaz and what excuses do non-religious people give for committing the same types of acts?

@Lizard_of_Ahaz Charles Rothenberg, Hitler, and my neighbor in California who used to torture his stepchildren. Also, the relative of a family friend who put rubber bands around the penis of her young son to keep him from wetting the bed. John Wayne Gacy. Ed Gein.

@Gwen_Wanderer
Charles Rothenberg, born again Christian
Hitler, Catholic
John Wayne Gacy, also Catholic if memory serves
Ed Gein, Lutheran
I have no data on the relative of your family friend or your neighbor in California... Be aware it is common for the religious to claim their murderous coreligionists are "not Christian" or not religious often accusing them of being atheists after they are convicted of or committing crimes... This is the source of excuses of Christians that "they committed the crimes while atheists but converted while in jail or prison" bullshit even with extensive evidence that it is untrue...

The children having been "saved", were then abused by the system that was supposed to be their heroes. Disgustingly shameful!

No, not crazy. Protective.

@Betty Thank you for understanding my craziness!

I am sure that Medea would have killed Jason if she could have done so!

@Gwen_Wanderer Yup!

@michelle666gar What you call crazy, I call normal.

@Betty 🥰🥰

@Betty ((Hugs))

@anglophone Right back at you.

@michelle666gar Jason sailed away, and in some versions of the story, she threw the children of a cliff, in sight of his ship, so that he could see.

@Fernapple Some men don't care, they can have more children. Some men care, did it anger and sadden him when she murdered their children? She should have just loved her children and let him go!

@Fernapple Religion causes more harm than good and most of the stories in the Bible are filled with genocide and murder, if these so called religious people actually read it would see all the fallacies and hatred, but then again they're too stupid and kept stupid on purpose.

@michelle666gar Yes indeed.

Exactly.

I was exposed to religion from birth. Millions and millions of other people were and are exposed to religion since birth. Some, like me, leave it, but others go from birth to death and remain religious. I did not become a homicidal person who committed infanticide nor do millions of others do so.

Genetics and environment can both contribute to emotional illness. My maternal side of the family have varying degrees of craziness. My aunt saw "things" that weren't there, but she was a danger to herself and not others. My mother was bi-polar and emotionally lashed out at relatives--including me--but she never physically harmed anyone. She did, however, pray for my father to die.

It was not religion that makes or made my family crazy.

@Gwen_Wanderer It was a joke…..I’m sure you’ve been exposed to humor too at some point…..‍