From: dgraham@bmers30.bnr.ca (Douglas Graham)
Subject: Re: THE MIND OF THE BIBLE BELIEVER
Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Ottawa, Canada
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 01:04:09 GMT

In article <1993Jan12.234915.21969@cs.yale.edu> rescorla@rtnmr.chem.yale.edu (Eric Rescorla) writes:
>In article <1993Jan12.212544.8542@bmerh85.bnr.ca> dgraham@bmers30.bnr.ca (Douglas Graham) writes:
>>In article <1993Jan12.172957.18493@cs.yale.edu> rescorla@rtnmr.chem.yale.edu (Eric Rescorla) writes:
>>>Ms. Mausmann could start by showing that there was a higher rate
>>>of mental illness among Christians.
>>
>>Does anybody around here actually bother to read and think
>>about some of the more interesting articles posted here?
>
>I try to. I followed this thread back as far as my expire
>time permits. I found at least one original argument by Ms.
>Hausman where she made this assertion. It still sounds
>like bullshit to me. And I'd still like to see proof.

I don't think you're ever going to see proof of any kind.  I'd imagine
that any study which unambiguously showed that Xianity makes people crazy
would either be hushed up, marginalized, or drowned in a sea of babble.
Plus the fact that on this wacked out planet, unanimous agreement on what
constitutes mental illness would probably be impossible.  Me, I think
that Xianity *is* a mental illness, because it causes its adherents to
lose contact with reality.  Its doctrines, such as those pertaining to
sex, only add fuel to the fire.

>>Like, for example, Stephen Doe's _THE MIND OF THE BIBLE BELIEVER_
>>series, from which this thread's title originated?
>
>It's expired at my site. I just turned on news a couple days ago.
>Ms. Hausman's article contains no reference to that one.

I'll email it to you if you wish.  You're right that Maddi was not
referring to that particular set of articles.  My comment was just
meant to express a bit of frustration at the fact that nobody here
ever seems to learn anything from past articles.  It's understandable
that Xians wouldn't, because their defensive reaction would kick in
immediately, causing them to either ignore the articles, or to write
them off as bunk.  However, I was surprised that you wouldn't have
gotten something out of the series, but if you never had a chance to
read it, I can understand.  Still though, there have been other good
articles, and the plethora of raving lunatics posting to this group
ought to give you some cause to wonder what made them that way.

>Do you have a point, Doug?
>Did Mr. Doe provide the proof that Ms. Hausman has not?

No, he didn't provide proof of any kind.  He posted an excellent summary
of Edmund Cohen's _The Mind of the Bible Believer_ which describes
some of the adverse effects that Xianity has on its victims.  It's
possible that you might not find Cohen's analysis convincing (I do),
but if that's the case, more progress might be made if you attacked
it, rather than starting off in a different direction.

>                        Don't believe anything you hear.

Exactly.  This is why I don't put much stock in statistics.
I'm sure that if you asked them to, the tobacco industry could
still provide statistics showing that smoking has no adverse
affect on health.  I think you're going to have to study a bit
of psychology to get to the bottom of this Xianity business.  Me,
I'm no expert in psychology, but it doesn't seem to me that it
takes much of a genius to figure out that, for example, scaring
the shit out of people with tales of the eternal fires of hell,
is going to lead to some pretty screwed up people.
--
Doug Graham         dgraham@bnr.ca         My opinions are my own.