Religion as a mental illness

[abaris]

Having been brought up in a fundamentalist family myself I would add to the charge of mental illness that religion is also a form of child abuse (but that's for another thread). In short, being born into a society that holds nutty beliefs doesn't make those beliefs any less nutty.

Having been brought up in a fundamentalist family is neither the norm in America nor is it the norm anywhere else in the world. It's the exception, but I agree that it can be child abuse to be exposed to that kind of environment. And as far as nutty believes and society are concerned. The US is about the only Western society where religion still lays that large a role.

Funny as that may sound, I think it is because of the non establishing clause in the Constitution. As opposed to European countries, America never had a controlled religious environment. It never had a state religion. The result was that every itinerant preacher or con man set up his own congregation with it's own interpretations of scripture. And since there never was any legislation, it could take on every shape or form. It also contributed to the continued support of the people, since they never associated it with the state and it's monopoly of power, but with their own personal freedom of choice.

I also think that the federal structure of the US plays a role. The USA aren't the only federal nation in the world. There are quite a few in Europe too, but the States are much more independent in their legislations than they are in federal European nations. That allows for some outright religious laws being pushed through at the state level.