Is the belief in the Christian God a form of delusion?

I've seen so much fuss about the term "delusion" that I thought I'd poll our members to see how you all feel.

Results (total votes = 7):

Yes, I do think you have to be deluded to believe	5 / 71.4%
Yes, but not to the extent that Dawkins seems to think	0 / 0.0%
It is irrational, but not delusional	2 / 28.6%
Belief in the Christian God is not irrational and not delusional	0 / 0.0%
Strong atheism is a form of delusion	0 / 0.0%

I'm voting that belief in the Christian God (and all gods for that matter) is irrational, but not necessarily delusional. If a believer thinks that their god is talking to them then we might have a form of delusion happening.

Dawkins is disgusted with faith and who can blame him. His goal was to shock the world with his book title and again who can blame him.

I'm going to say definitely irrational, sometimes delusional.
To me, prayer is borderline delusional behavior in itself. To speak out loud (or in one's head for that matter) and imagine that The Head Honcho or one of his attendees is listening and/or responding seems like an act of self delusion.

Ahh good point. I'll agree that any belief that it is possible to communicate with a deity is delusional. The only form of theism that I find even remotely rational would be deism, so prayer doesn't make sense to me.

I've answered the poll with "yes, but not to the extent ..." etc.

But I have a problem with any response to the question.

It assumes there is a Christian "God." My experience in talking with Christians and reading articles and books by Christians and listening to Christians talks among themselves is that there is no consensus on the part of many Christians about what is meant by the term "God."

Once one goes from generic descriptions

Creating quality poll questions is no easy task. It is hard to word the questions in a way that applies across the board, and then coming up with concise answers is extremely challenging too. The goal is to stimulate thought and then discussion. so hopefully this poll questions does the trick.

A delusion is merely a false belief. So yes, theism is a delusion.

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NO! BUT YOU CANT PROVE THAT MY GOD DONT EXIST!!!!

THHHPPPPPP!


Mr. P.

I'm not saying it's usual for people to do those things but I(with the permission of God) have raised a dog from the dead and healed many people from all sorts of ailments. - Asana Boditharta (former booktalk troll)

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

What is all this shit about Angels? Have you heard this? 3 out of 4 people believe in Angels. Are you F****** STUPID? Has everybody lost their mind? - George Carlin

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper

The DSM-IV describes a mental disorder of group delusion.

A bunch of people wasting their precious Sundays gathering to support each other in such a delusion, is sad behavior, but is it harmful?

Aside from Hawkins' claim that those who believe in Armageddon, even wish for it, are potentially harmful to the world, which puts those types in the same class of the mentally ill as suicide bombers, I think,-- is, believing something as absurd as the virgin birth or people coming back to life after being mutilated to death, harmful to that person, alone?

I think, yes, that such beliefs cause a schism in self and world concept--leading to, a profound, insecurity and a dependence on the body of persons (Christian organizations which advocate such delusions) to substitute for a missing, well formed identity, and a lack of confidence and individualism needed for mental health.