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Religious people should be sectioned under the mental health act

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strawberrywine_

Ah! That's true. But in regards to what the OP is arguing; "God doesn't exist therefore all religious believers are mental", isn't justified, because religion is a faith and thus can't be proved nor disproved.

I don't think that's actually quite what he's saying. I believe a better expression is:

If someone were using the Santa myth to justify not receiving medical treatment, and dying, people would call him insane and unfit to render judgment. The treatment would likely be forced on him. How is this different?

Reply 241

The Bachelor

menaa-x

you could video her mum and dad stickin the presents under the christmas tree :tongue:

and so she would no its not santa and its her mum and dad

That doesn't prove Santa doesn't exist.

Reply 242

strawberrywine_

The Bachelor

A belief in Santa is baseless, religion, however, is not.

As I've said before, Jehovah's Witnesses are not a true representation of the religious population. You get extremists in every aspect of life.

Reply 243

The Bachelor

strawberrywine_

A belief in Santa is baseless, religion, however, is not.

What's an acceptable base, before it becomes "insane"? I'm sure there is quite a bit of mythology for Santa. How are doctors supposed to judge which is baseful and which is baseless?

Reply 244

strawberrywine_

The Bachelor

What's an acceptable base, before it becomes "insane"? I'm sure there is quite a bit of mythology for Santa. How are doctors supposed to judge which is baseful and which is baseless?

Wait, if somebody had the stupidity to claim that their belief in Santa doesn't permit then medical treatment then so be it, it's upto them, freedom of choice (and belief) and all that jazz.

Reply 245

The Bachelor

strawberrywine_

Wait, if somebody had the stupidity to claim that their belief in Santa doesn't permit then medical treatment then so be it, it's upto them, freedom of choice (and belief) and all that jazz.

But this isn't what would happen! What would happen is that the guy would be deemed unfit to make adult decisions and treatment forced upon him. So what gives?

Reply 246

Paxdax

His choice. Why should we force him to accept treament? What he did was to voluntarily remove himself and his stupid opinions from the genepool. He will contaminate no further.

Reply 247

strawberrywine_

The Bachelor

But this isn't what would happen! What would happen is that the guy would be deemed unfit to make adult decisions and treatment forced upon him. So what gives?

I don't know :no:

If people want to die, and reject medical treatment then they should be able to.

Reply 248

callum9999

strawberrywine_

I don't know :no:

If people want to die, and reject medical treatment then they should be able to.

I kind of agree with you (except for the God thing - how that can be called "not baseless" is beyond me), but if you can decline medical treatment, surely euthanasia and suicide should therefore be legal.

Reply 249

strawberrywine_

callum9999

I believe suicide and euthanasia should be legal, too.

Reply 250

callum9999

strawberrywine_

I believe suicide and euthanasia should be legal, too.

I'm not sure myself (I wasn't insinuating you didn't think that by the way).

Euthanasia yes, but suicide can be prevented (i.e. rehabilitate the person so they want to live). Then again, you can say the same about people having the right to refuse treatment.

Reply 251

dandandarling

MrPhil

I assume you mean Bertrand Russell? :wink:

Anyway, I kind of get irritated when I hear people bang on about how's there no evidence for God's existence and how belief in God must therefore be rationality. As a Christian I will talk about Christianity here. Firstly, what counts as "evidence" is subjective. Naturally the Christian will believe there is some form of evidence - it may not be directly seeing, feeling, hearing etc God, but it's evidence to them at least that God exists. Secondly, this is not a being who just happened to exist and have nothing to do with the universe - this is the being who created and designed the universe if you follow the Bible. Humans naturally think there must be design, purpose etc in any object we see - so why is believing this massive, complex universe had a creator silly?

I could go on but I'm tired now so need some shut eye...

One of the most sensible comments on here. LOL. I'm Christian too. I believe it IS more than possible to directly experience God here on earth today; I believe that I have. The issue is that many people have selective sight and hearing - and by that, I mean that I think they're actually scared to give themselves the opportunity to say: okay. maybe this isn't it. Maybe there is more. They don't seek God because they're scared of what they might find. I took the risk. And my life changed dramatically. It's indescribable and no, it's not logical - because God is beyond logic. Everyone would understand if they'd just stop challenging what they THINK 'religion' is about and just went to go and ask the source... God. The same way He spoke to the prophets (and others) in the Bible is the way He wants us to communicate with Him today, but society has become so materialistic and superficial that we're not interested in things we think we can't 'see', or 'touch' or 'hear'. You need to give those things a chance to affect YOU because, I hate to break the news, but 'humanity' is not as smart as it thinks it is.