http://www.amazon.com/When-God-Becomes-Drug-Understanding/dp/0962328294 I saw the title of this book - I haven't read it - and it reminded me of a chain of thought I once had: most theists are indoctrinated from an early age, and it is very difficult to throw off that kind of thing, so I wondered whether instead of arguing with them, applying reason and expecting them to respond to it, we would be better off treating it in the same way as substance abuse. I was thinking about rehab particularly for severe cases, where an individual can be taken out of his or her environment and treated properly. I have no idea what that treatment might be, but someone on this esteemed board might. You could say that any reasonably intelligent, educated person should be able to shake off the indoctrination, but I only had a weak strain of the virus and still found it difficult, so it would be tougher if you were brought up in a much stricter environment. Maybe tough love would be better than rational argument.
I think when Marx said "opiate of the people" it only touched on the addictive side. I have usually thought of it as programming but what you're getting at speaks to the chemical rewards that come from the prospect that the strategy is going to pay. Bower birds come to mind. The male goes through these insane antics building her a prototype nest the size of a castle and collects all the shiny stuff he can find (jewels to a bird?) plus fruit etc. He goes through all these excessive displays. There must be a constant supply of chemical rewards to put him through all of that just for fleeting moment of fertilizing her eggs. Whatever that stuff is, they must have put it in the holy water back in the day. These people are loaded up on it like crack fiends. So yeah I think there's a case for calling it addiction. At some point I would expect to read about the discovery of "Religi-opamine" or something like that. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people".
I have been a religious addict. It sucks. All my life I said "I don't know" if there was a god until I was 28. At that time, severe depression basically caused a sort of diffuse superstition I had always quietly been running to coalesce into full-blown religious zeal. I spent a month or two feeling like everything was "a sign" and like I was constantly speaking to God with my thoughts, as if praying. I was waiting for a moment of salvation to come, and I totally let myself go during that time, embracing misery in its fullness. The nights are what I remember most. I'd stay up all night and pace in the dark silence. My mind was completely fried. There were so many times when I thought it was just going to implode in the next moment but it never did, even after hours. One can only handle so much of this concentrated mental agony before giving up. In the end I consciously decided I both did not believe in God, and if he were real I would hate him. For the next few months I frequently still found myself trying to talk to God out of habit, but just to tell him I hated him, and even though I officially didn't believe in him anymore. Now the habit has worn off. I figured it would. The past never disappears from your mind as soon as you tell it to.
Another way to interpret this is faith in God allows one to tweak the biophysical chemistry of the brain. In essence, one is using only the mind to trigger the same things science needs to use drugs to do. Religion offers a software solution to what business, who funds such studies, pitches as a hardware only solution. This software solution is all part of a natural way to tap into higher human potential without the need of external prosthesis, like pharmaceuticals. The Eastern Mystic who can control and nearly zero his heart rate, makes use of the mind to trigger command lines in parts of the brain science used to assume was beyond consciousness. The main problem with this software approach to developing the mind, is that capitalists cannot peddle as much product due to competition. Many religions give this away to the poor without big government middlemen who you can lease and buy. The businesses have a vested interest in trying to undermine this. It is like spiritual healing, although limited in effects, nevertheless cuts into the corporate bottom line thereby making creating the need to undermine all. If we assume the atheist POV, that God is an imaginary process, the definition of God defines that human capacity that is beyond normal human; spirit and soul. It represents higher human capacities of the brain that the future will allow to manifest. Religion anticipates the future this way. If someone finds peace of mind in God, this cuts into the bottom line of various self help industries with their own sales pitch mythology. The irony is the liberals, who love nature and hate big business have become the pawns of big business, undermining the natural software competition in favor of synthetic.
I try never to get into a conversation with religious people if I can avoid them. I just listen to them when I must be anywhere near them and never try to change their perspective because you really won't be able to do so no matter how many facts you tell them.
