Sorry to be so blunt, but... You're screwed...
I guess... The best you can do is make him see that all religions are the same and offer the same... hot air and good wishes.
There are books on the psychology of belief, like "The believing brain" by Michael Shermer, but... a believer will read that and think it's a croc of shit, in spite of all the studies that are presented to substantiate all the claims. There's always a way to reinterpret science to be in tune with the belief in god...
Maybe show him actual cases of people who claimed they could talk to god or for god.... like old Van Gogh who thought he was Jesus, at times...
Will he connect known brain malfunctions with his own religious experiences? doubtful... they never do...
Would you doubt your own experience, if it aligned with your perception of reality, even if other people were showing you alternative and more realistic ways to explain those experiences?
Some people are just more vulnerable to faulty reasoning over their brain's inner workings... and religions prey on that. At any given moment, roughly half the population is prone to it... and a good deal of the rest operate from indoctrination and faulty arguments, like Ad Populum or From Ignorance.
It sucks and I know a bit of what you're going through... the wife has recently turned a bit more radical than what I'm comfortable with...
I guess... The best you can do is make him see that all religions are the same and offer the same... hot air and good wishes.
There are books on the psychology of belief, like "The believing brain" by Michael Shermer, but... a believer will read that and think it's a croc of shit, in spite of all the studies that are presented to substantiate all the claims. There's always a way to reinterpret science to be in tune with the belief in god...
Maybe show him actual cases of people who claimed they could talk to god or for god.... like old Van Gogh who thought he was Jesus, at times...
Will he connect known brain malfunctions with his own religious experiences? doubtful... they never do...
Would you doubt your own experience, if it aligned with your perception of reality, even if other people were showing you alternative and more realistic ways to explain those experiences?
Some people are just more vulnerable to faulty reasoning over their brain's inner workings... and religions prey on that. At any given moment, roughly half the population is prone to it... and a good deal of the rest operate from indoctrination and faulty arguments, like Ad Populum or From Ignorance.
It sucks and I know a bit of what you're going through... the wife has recently turned a bit more radical than what I'm comfortable with...
