On Hell and Forgiveness

[Catholic_Lady]

[quote='vulcanlogician' pid='1808061' dateline='1535664368']

Yeah CL... the word delusion is connotatively linked to mental disorder, but check the definition...


misconception... misunderstanding... mistake... all synonyms. When separated from its typical association with mental disorder, one can see why an atheist would consider theism "delusional."

https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictio.../Delusions

Delusions
Definition
A delusion is an unshakable belief in something untrue. These irrational beliefs defy normal reasoning, and remain firm even when overwhelming proof is presented to dispute them. Delusions are often accompanied by hallucinations and/or feelings of paranoia, which act to strengthen confidence in the delusion. Delusions are distinct from culturally or religiously based beliefs that may be seen as untrue by outsiders.

But you quoted from a medical dictionary whose purpose is to try to quantify delusion as a behavioral phenomenon. If a medical dictionary were to categorize belief in God as delusional, it would thereby advance what you and I know to be untrue: that belief in God constitutes mental illness.

To call theism delusional in the colloquial sense is to say that theists are wrong. To call them delusional in the medical sense is to say they are mentally ill. To me, the shoe fits according to the first definition... not the second.

But even the "non medical" definition of delusion doesnt fit, and says it is typically a mental illness.

Maybe some of the people here who call me delusional don't mean it in a medical sense, but it still has a demeaning connotation due to its association with mental disorder. And they know that. Otherwise they would just say I'm wrong or mistaken.