Poking around for information, I came across an interesting neurological disorder known as Hyperreligiousity, where a person (usually suffering from Temporal Lobe Epilepsy) can have a profound religious experience in the middle of an epileptic seizure. They can also develop hypergraphia, where they obsessive-compulsively write "inspired" texts. But my real question: Is it possible for a person to be addicted to the Bible? Do any of the psychiatric or psychological associations recognize such a thing? (Fundies & Antis - PLEASE do not hijack this thread into a religious debate or personal atacks on other forum members. I am looking for clinical references only.) Peace.
GoofyFish, addiction has very negative connotations. The title of this thread is an open call to arms to anyone with any fondness for the Bible. To ask a person not to defend their beliefs seems unfair. This hamster believes non-drug addiction is a worthy topic of discussion. Perhaps the subject could be discussed on a new thread with a broader focus that included obsessive interest in gambling, sex, football games, soap operas, golf, news, science articles, Internet surfing, religion, wheel running, or any behavior whose roots might share biological similarity to drug addiction.
Not at all. Addiction is a medical condition, and any connotation associated with it, positive or negative, is the responsibility of the person making it. I am not judging, merely searching for information. Not to someone who reads the post in an unbiased manner. The fact that it is in a non-religion forum indicates the question has nothing to do with an individual's personal beliefs. I agree, that might prove an interesting subject. As that thread would have a different topic than the one I have originated, I encourage you to pursue its creation as you deem appropriate. Peace.
Imahamster bares teeth. Can any person growing up in US society NOT be aware of the negative connotations associated with the word “addiction”? This hamster thinks not. This is not an issue of whether or not “addiction” is a medical condition. This is about whether a reasonable person visiting a friendly forum on general science and scanning thread titles would see this thread as an honest inquiry or as a thinly veiled attack on religion. If one started a thread entitled “Atheism Leads to Alcoholism, Wife Beating, and Child Abuse?” would a dispassionate discussion ensue? How would a reasonable atheist react to seeing that thread title thrown up during each search for new posts? This hamster is non-religious and owns no Bible. If this hamster sees this thread title as an attack on religion this hamster wonders how a religious person would see it. This thread was started under the human science category. In this hamster’s opinion the title of this thread may be an attack on religion under the guise of science. As a lover of science this hamster is concerned when the authority of science seems to be abused. This hamster’s first post was an attempt to determine whether GoofyFish was truly interested in scientific enquiry and was unaware of how in-your-face the thread title might appear to a religious person. Perhaps this hamster is overly sensitive. If others see this issue differently then this hamster will impede this thread no further.
Re: Imahamster bares teeth. A reasonable person would not make a judgement based on the title. A reasonable person would read the post, see the requests regarding information from medical associations, see the request NOT to turn this into a theological debate, and understand the intent. Perhaps the hamster is "judging a book by the cover", certainly something a reasonable person would avoid. A concern that I addressed, yet you persist in you attempts to paint my post with an ulterior motive. Perhaps you are attempting to goad others into a reaction as a means of self-justification. And you claim the right to impede this thread base on...? I must have misread the name of the moderator of this forum... No, I just checked. It isn't you. And as Yogamojo has been on since this thread was originally posted, and appears to have no issue with it, perhaps you should accept it as a valid inquiry and pursue another cause. Peace.
This hamster’s implied right to impede is only that available to any poster who may choose to go off topic. Going off topic at the beginning of a thread is very impolite and not something this hamster does lightly. This hamster has not asked for a moderator to censor this thread. Censorship is distasteful to this hamster. This hamster encouraged exploration of this topic on a thread whose title would have less potential to offend others. This hamster does feel a duty to speak out when a friendly community may suffer harm. This hamster claims no special insight or infallibility and if others wish to pursue the topic of this thread this hamster indicated a willingness to abide by their wishes. No threat was made or implied.
Your position is unsupported and demonstrably so. I don't need the support of others. My replies to your ineffectual arguments can stand. Peace.
Shaman - Thanks for the links, they look very interesting. As for the "bad english", not at all. Be proud, you write english far better than I write any language that is foriegn to me. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Peace.
Shaman's Links 2/17/02, actual time 9:55 pm Thanks for clarifying this with some links, Shaman. Which I haven't read yet, so I'm off as soon as I write this. In the Bible Belt where I'm from, people use the Bible to try to settle arguments, which requires a good working knowledge of it. Not at all abnormal or epileptic. Addiction, dependency, on a set of harms-nobody moral codes might even be a good thing! Goofyfish, are you maybe talking about a heretic teacher in religion, one who doesn't stick to the Book, could be schizophrenic? Some people say the devil is. There's a book titled "Three Christs of Ypsilanti" (a college town in SE Mich.) about three guys with an identity crisis, trying to overcome inferiority by becoming divine, probably very common in mental hospitals. We joke about "that's the only place you could meet Jesus Christ in person." I don't think epilepsy ever has anything to do with mental illness, but haven't looked up the links yet, which I wish had been in the first post of this thread. Anyone interested in the alleged discrepancies in the Bible? I just found a book about it, but I can greatly simplify. Would you prefer wordy quotes, or my streamlined, simplified version? Sample, two people can say different things and both can be speaking truth. The circumstances may be different for each, even if they're speaking on the same subject, or, one thing may be true at one point in time and not in another. They're "on-the-other-hand" statements. And there were so many copyists who may have "normalized" things according to what was true in the world back then. It's amazing that this book containing so much wisdom has been preserved so long, and always will stand, even if God's rival Satan MAY HAVE managed to cause a tiny bit of confusion. I have not thought much about that, much less obtained any other opinions. Maybe you'd like to explain that to us. I'm just starting to read the book, also have some others to read for forum discussions and eyes are getting rather bleary. Did ya know, the Bible's the only book that predicted the towers falling, ancient Isaiah, (Chapter 30,I think, maybe verse 25 or so) because of some kind of idolatry. In other scriptures, but I don't remember exactly where, priests didn't check the scriptures and we follow a corrupting, flattering Baalim, a maybe schizophrenic heretic like the Baalim who was abusing a horse and it talked to him. Don't ask me where that's located, exactly. See BlueLetterBible.com, very easy searches. To those of us who believe in the 2nd Coming of Christ with nailprints in His hands, this tech-age beastly heretic, the man of sin projecting his guilts on others, maybe framing them for murders, he's the final heretic, the final antichrist. Has hate propagandists, and we're forbidden to even receive them, or bid them godspeed. Any religious evils are from nut cases like this, Jim Jones for another example. Christ never authorized any kick-ass religion, "church discipline", those words not even scriptural. True religion doesn't harm even ONE individual. Settles the battle of the sexes, "no male or female in Christ", the apostle's opinion, Galations 3:28, I think. A thread in the religion forum Aug. 2001 points out that those who look things up are more noble, and, 2nd Thess. 2 for sure, we're warned not to be gullible, will be allowed to perish if we aren't lovers of truth. Sorry if I'm ramblin'. It's a great Book. Different. Gets right down to the whole truth. Hamster, I have to agree the word addiction's rather insulting, and he probably didn't mean it to be, but thanks very much for defending the faith and our rights to study whatever we want. IMHO, this demon-possessed heretic walks among us, spreading jealousy, criticizm instead of empathy, playing us against each other, causing "wars and rumors of wars", maybe helped "train" Saddam and Bin Laden and used them for all we know. He might manage to get the Bible and Epileptic studies rewritten to suit himself and make Christians look bad. If the links are insulting, he's probably behind it.
Goofy, Yes I suspect someone could become addicted to a book especially if it was believed the book contained the answers to life, death, the universe and everything. When that person has also been indoctrinated into believing that other books might criticize their choice and should not be believed then the problem then becomes one of not being able to trust anything else other than the chosen book. The subject may well believe that if the book were inspired by a superior power then simply reading the book, with or without understanding, would be beneficial. If they believed their future eternal life depended on keeping a particular religious faith then continuously referencing the user guide would give the feeling of strengthening and enhancement of their beliefs. The Quran is used in a similar way. Another example has been the Communist Chinese little red book that had to be always carried and read every day. It is reported that those who didn’t read regularly suffered from feelings of guilt. But any activity that is practiced regularly could be classified as an addition. Would you classify brushing your teeth an addiction for example? Drug addiction is caused by a physiological imbalance. If the drugs are removed for a significant period then the addiction will subside and largely diminish. Could we apply the same argument to biblical addiction? If we were to remove access to a bible would the subject suffer pains of withdrawal and eventually learn to live without the book? It would seem likely. I’m not sure that calling an addiction to the bible is derogatory. People can become addicted to their hobbies. Addiction to something is not necessarily a bad thing, but we tend to consider it bad because it is usually connected with dangerous clinical and pathological side-effects. The only real danger I see with a bible addiction is that the subject would be limiting their opportunities to absorb a much wider range of wisdom and knowledge, the lack of which would result in a very narrow range of ideas and concepts based on a single book. That I hope wasn’t too controversial or subjective. Cris
Winning Arguments Is The Addiction? Hi, Chris, Sunday afternoon Feb. 18, 2002 re critics of "extra" or "independent study" just poor sportsmasnship? Why are you assuming Bible readers don't know other subjects as well as or better than anyone? Einstein did independent discoveries. His field happened to be relativaty but he also had other interests. I personally know a few people who've earned the credits for the highest degrees, but are still studying, too busy to bother to claim their credentials, or to call themselves "Dr." and like that. And some Ph.d's who aren't very smart at all! Here's a slightly funny illustration. A minister for staid "frozen chosen", not "hotties", Presbyterians preached to a gray-haired audience about sex and prostitution, the sins of Corinth. If you don't know Presbyterians, you probably won't get that. Americans love winners and to be winners, and this kind would likely know all the normal secular info you mention, but it's just not enough. Are we impressed that the Bible is the ONLY book that predicted the towers falling? You'll say it means "any" towers. Well at least it says towers. No other book did. There's so much in it that we just can't get from our earth-bound agencies, who may now be claiming to be holier than thou (Web site Holy Spooks still there?) but not really getting it right. About poor sportsmanship, criticis depended entirely on run-of-the-mill studies, thought that was all there was, would obviously be tempted to call us "savants" or "idiot savants" or try to put us down with sexism tactics. Not realizing they could also become proficient in this so-neglected and misunderstood field. There's national security warnings in it, for instance that some treacherous brothers, Jeremiah 12, make some nation "desolate" by their Cain and Abel jealousy of some couple, deceiving even the priests into something the didn't check scriptures about. Maybe the "wicked ways" they sometimes confess means abuse of technology, because in one place it says "watchers" for iniquity will be cut off. Isaiah 29:20. They may have gone way beyond what was authorized in ancient times, Hebrews 13 I think, if my memory serves. If even the spooks are turning to it, shouldn't we all, before we maybe get another 9-11 type of attack? I appreciate your feedback, welcome more. Thanks. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Geschwind Questionned I forgot to say in the above post, I went to the links, which always lead you to investigating lots more subjects than you intended. In the second of the two, or maybe in the "Geschwind Syndrome Epilepsy" search I did, including left-handedness, there's a brief disclaimer that some experiments have not been replicated, Geschwind's and some others', should be taken with a grain of salt, etc. (And probably all any of them knows is science, no religion, humanities of any kind, not well-balanced personalities. Addicted? I dunno.) Goofyfish, I'm interested in the religious experiences you mentioned, couldn't find anything. You got another link? Anyone? Thanks in advance. AmerEagle Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
goofyfish, It depends of what you call addicted... I personally Love the Bible. It teaches about Love and virtues. It's a very good book. So I read it very often. I know many people that reads it a lot. People say that a good Bible is one that appears to be old... Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! It seems that it has been read a lot. You should see mine... It has lots of papers marking the best parts... Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Love, Nelson
Martin Luther had his "grand vision" after losing hlaf the blood in his body in a knife fight. Pieces.
Everyone wants to feel death isn't the end. Religion gives that. Many holy books also say everyone but them are going to hell. This makes people feel superior to the rest of mankind.
