re: #132 freetoken

I’m not so sure that creationism is a mental illness.

I would file it under “propaganda.” As Aristotle noted, “Give me the child until he is seven and I will show you the man.”

Creationism is inculcated in children. While some adults may chuck what they know of the world in favour of creationism (or any other religious position), very few change their positions on religious faith from the time they were children (relative to the whole of a religious group).

It is noteworthy that religious belief is largely a function of geography (whereas scientific evidence remains the same throughout the world).

It was an evolutionary necessity for children to be mindful of parents’ admonitions (go near the river and the crocodile will have you for lunch). Any child who failed to follow a parent’s admonition against crocodiles would not pass along his or her genes to the next generation.

As those here know I am an atheist, so religious people here probably will take my opinion with a grain of salt. I don’t see any difference between a strict creationist view of the origin of the world and a rabbi rising from the dead.

To call creationism “mental illness” in my mind cheapens actual mental illness. A person suffering from depression or schizophrenia did not get that way because they were taught to be so.

Creationism is learned behaviour. Mental illness is not.