On Hell and Forgiveness

[Angrboda]

I wouldn't claim that religious people are delusional in the same sense that a person with mental illness is delusional, but at the same time religious behavior shares some features with it that merely being mistaken does not.  Of particular note is the absolutism, the supposition that one's belief is knowledge, the fixedness of the beliefs, and the extreme lengths to which religious believers go to defend their beliefs, as well as the tendency to spin ad hoc rationalizations rather than questioning belief.  These are traits that are, at minimum, more emphatic in the religious than in those who are simply mistaken.  So I think there is some merit to analogizing it to delusion, even if it is not one in the same sense.  The reasons for this likely have to do with the neurological support for concepts like God which imbue them with a reality that mere abstract belief does not possess (e.g. the sensus divinitatis).  So religious belief seems to fall in a hinterland between mistaken belief and mental disorder.  And moreover, that aspect of religion tends to be responsible for motivating much of the harm that religious people cause in this world.

Claims of 'delusion' would require overwhelming evidence that the beliefs are false. All atheists have are ad hoc theories to combat the evidence/reasons Christians point to for their belief. Pressing the 'delusion' conclusion shows a complete lack of critical thinking and do no deserve an answer. However your comments are more interesting. 

You are saying something like:

1. There are no good reasons to believe in God
2. Christian belief has a component of neurological support 
3. Christians believe in God despite being shown persuasive arguments to the contrary 
4. Therefore Christians are more than merely mistaken

First, I think (1) is question begging. But I seem to see that in every atheist argument. 

Second, I don't think (1) is true. Even if the belief is false, there are reasons to believe in God (do I need to trot out my long list?). 'Good reasons' is subjective and especially when it comes to the personal reasons people give for their belief, there is no way an atheist can qualify those reasons.  

I believe the original question which Neo asked was why atheists refer to theists as delusional rather than just mistaken, with the implied question of whether it was reasonable to do so. Since the question grants a position of considering theism at least mistaken, your comment about question begging and premise one aren't relevant. Since the rest of your post follows on the heels of that mistake, I'm not going to bother responding to the rest of it. I believe Neo has started a thread specifically on the question of whether theists are deluded (IIRC). Your questions might be more relevant there. For my part, I'm a bit tired of interacting and so don't have any immediate plans to follow up further in this thread.