I'll just copy/pate 2 articles as an answer to both sides.
""Revealed" Religions and Mental Illness
Mental health is a very important and required element for a productive, progressive and happy life. The false claims made by the various "revealed" religions, especially when introduced at an early age, cause much mental anguish and pain to individuals which then has a great potential to have a negative effect on society in general. For example, the case of Andrea Yates who murdered her five little children because she thought Satan had possessed her and was soon going to possess her children. In her twisted Bible based mind, if she murdered her children before "the age of accountability" they would all go to heaven. She thought she'd be executed for the murders and Satan would die with her.
In a similar case which stinks of the Bible story of God telling Abraham to kill his son, Deanna Laney murdered two of her little boys by stoning them to death and then severely handicapped her third little boy. She did this because she thought God wanted her to do it to "prove her complete and unconditional faith in Him." Of course, God never told Abraham or Mrs. Laney or anyone else to murder their children! THE BIBLE IS WRONG!!! Our God-given reason tells us this! Unfortunately, the billions of people who are currently suffering from "revealed" religion put the teachings of men before God's gift of reason.
The World Union of Deists is very happy to announce that we now have a new member of the WUD Speakers' Bureau who can professionally address the critically important issue of "revealed" religion and mental illness! Henry Jones, M.D. has volunteered to speak to groups who are interested in learning about this terrible reality, as well as to offer positive and effective solutions to the problem. Anyone who'd like to have Dr. Jones speak to their group can contact me at [email protected] "
Life long atheist and philosopher Antony Flew, pictured at left, has evolved into a Deist! Professor Flew is a man of profound integrity who is more concerned with the truth than he is with orthodoxy of any kind, whether religious or secular.
Professor Flew wanted to be certain that his acceptance of a belief in God was not misunderstood to a belief in the Bible god or any god of the various "revealed" religions. Professor Flew said, "I'm thinking of a God very different from the God of the Christian and far and away from the God of Islam, because both are depicted as omnipotent Oriental despots, . . ."
Like all Deists, Professor Flew believes we should be honest and be concerned with facts, not mythology and hearsay/revelations. And he is not concerned if he is attacked by either the "revealed" religionists or the atheists. He said, "My whole life has been guided by the principle of Plato's Socrates: Follow the evidence, wherever it leads." This idea is key to Deism. Deists are open-minded enough to know the importance of that Socratic standard.
Many people unfamiliar with Deism claim that Mr. Flew has developed a belief in God because he is getting older and fears death. These people who make these statements don't realize that Deists openly state that they don't know what, if anything, happens to us after our body dies. And Mr. Flew is among those Deists who don't believe in an afterlife at all. (Because there are no man-made dogmas in Deism, Deist are free to believe whatever makes most sense to them as individuals regarding things like an afterlife.)
I'd like to welcome Professor Flew into the family of Deists! He's an outstanding man loaded with honesty and integrity and it's a true honor to have him as a self-proclaimed Deist!
The fact that Professor Flew has become a Deist, and the fact that Ray Fontaine, a former Roman Catholic Priest, has become an active Deist, as well as Jayson Post who evolved from a Christian Orthodox Priest, demonstrates the power of Deism to reach across the lines of both atheism and "revealed" religion. Deism can do much, provided we do much to promote Deism!
Here is an audio file of Professor Flew being interviewed by the BBC. It is an interesting interview. The interviewer mispronounces the word "Deist" as "dayist", which demonstrates how much work we must do to get the word out about Deism! Click here for the audio file.
I'll just copy/pate 2 articles as an answer to both sides.
""Revealed" Religions and Mental Illness
Mental health is a very important and required element for a productive, progressive and happy life. The false claims made by the various "revealed" religions, especially when introduced at an early age, cause much mental anguish and pain to individuals which then has a great potential to have a negative effect on society in general. For example, the case of Andrea Yates who murdered her five little children because she thought Satan had possessed her and was soon going to possess her children. In her twisted Bible based mind, if she murdered her children before "the age of accountability" they would all go to heaven. She thought she'd be executed for the murders and Satan would die with her.
In a similar case which stinks of the Bible story of God telling Abraham to kill his son, Deanna Laney murdered two of her little boys by stoning them to death and then severely handicapped her third little boy. She did this because she thought God wanted her to do it to "prove her complete and unconditional faith in Him." Of course, God never told Abraham or Mrs. Laney or anyone else to murder their children! THE BIBLE IS WRONG!!! Our God-given reason tells us this! Unfortunately, the billions of people who are currently suffering from "revealed" religion put the teachings of men before God's gift of reason.
The World Union of Deists is very happy to announce that we now have a new member of the WUD Speakers' Bureau who can professionally address the critically important issue of "revealed" religion and mental illness! Henry Jones, M.D. has volunteered to speak to groups who are interested in learning about this terrible reality, as well as to offer positive and effective solutions to the problem. Anyone who'd like to have Dr. Jones speak to their group can contact me at [email protected] "
source: http://www.deism.com/religionmentalillness.htm
Life long atheist and philosopher Antony Flew, pictured at left, has evolved into a Deist! Professor Flew is a man of profound integrity who is more concerned with the truth than he is with orthodoxy of any kind, whether religious or secular.
Professor Flew wanted to be certain that his acceptance of a belief in God was not misunderstood to a belief in the Bible god or any god of the various "revealed" religions. Professor Flew said, "I'm thinking of a God very different from the God of the Christian and far and away from the God of Islam, because both are depicted as omnipotent Oriental despots, . . ."
Like all Deists, Professor Flew believes we should be honest and be concerned with facts, not mythology and hearsay/revelations. And he is not concerned if he is attacked by either the "revealed" religionists or the atheists. He said, "My whole life has been guided by the principle of Plato's Socrates: Follow the evidence, wherever it leads." This idea is key to Deism. Deists are open-minded enough to know the importance of that Socratic standard.
Many people unfamiliar with Deism claim that Mr. Flew has developed a belief in God because he is getting older and fears death. These people who make these statements don't realize that Deists openly state that they don't know what, if anything, happens to us after our body dies. And Mr. Flew is among those Deists who don't believe in an afterlife at all. (Because there are no man-made dogmas in Deism, Deist are free to believe whatever makes most sense to them as individuals regarding things like an afterlife.)
I'd like to welcome Professor Flew into the family of Deists! He's an outstanding man loaded with honesty and integrity and it's a true honor to have him as a self-proclaimed Deist!
The fact that Professor Flew has become a Deist, and the fact that Ray Fontaine, a former Roman Catholic Priest, has become an active Deist, as well as Jayson Post who evolved from a Christian Orthodox Priest, demonstrates the power of Deism to reach across the lines of both atheism and "revealed" religion. Deism can do much, provided we do much to promote Deism!
Here is an audio file of Professor Flew being interviewed by the BBC. It is an interesting interview. The interviewer mispronounces the word "Deist" as "dayist", which demonstrates how much work we must do to get the word out about Deism! Click here for the audio file.
source: http://www.deism.com/atheisttodeist.htm
Only God Can Judge Me
الله فقط يمكنه محاكمتي
I am you and you are me, if you love i love, if you suffer i suffer
أنا أنت, و أنت أنا, إذا أحببت نفسك أحببت نفسي, إذا عانيتَ عانيتُ