Religion does behave like a (mental) virus. There are many similarities of religions to parasitic behavioral control of certain animals aka virus. So the metaphor is useful to explain much about individual and group religious behavior and gives religious skeptics a framework by which to understand the subtle influences of religion.
After all, science fiction is full of examples of aliens taking over the minds and bodies of humans to further their own ends, and the science fiction got its idea from religion.
Religious virus, like other parasites, viruses and many other pathogens, literally takes over parts of the brain and “controls” the host. It reprograms the organism in the best interest of the parasite, to the detriment of the host. Religions therfore
1. Infect people. (Virtually all religions rely upon early childhood indoctrination as the prime infection strategy.)
2. Create antibodies or defenses against other viruses. (When a religion infects a person, it immediately begins creating antibodies against competing viruses.)
3. Take over certain mental AND physical functions and hide itself within the individual in such a way that it is not detectable by the individual. (Stress can activate the chicken pox virus in adults, leading to the condition known as shingles. Similarly, stress tends to activate the god virus in many people. If they have a traumatic experience, they may reactivate their childhood religion.)
4. Use specific methods for spreading the virus. (People can be programmed, even reengineered, to be effective carriers of the virus. We call these people priests, ministers, imams, rabbis, popes, televangelists, shamans, apostles, nuns, Bible professors and, to a lesser degree, elders, deacons or Sunday school teachers.)
5. Program the host to replicate the virus. (Certain behaviors are programmed to ensure that the virus is passed on to others, especially the host’s children. These may include guilt-inducing ideas that create a sense of security in rituals. Examples include first communion, baptism, Bar Mitzvah, confirmation, daily prayer or Bible reading and confession.)
After all, science fiction is full of examples of aliens taking over the minds and bodies of humans to further their own ends, and the science fiction got its idea from religion.
Religious virus, like other parasites, viruses and many other pathogens, literally takes over parts of the brain and “controls” the host. It reprograms the organism in the best interest of the parasite, to the detriment of the host. Religions therfore
1. Infect people. (Virtually all religions rely upon early childhood indoctrination as the prime infection strategy.)
2. Create antibodies or defenses against other viruses. (When a religion infects a person, it immediately begins creating antibodies against competing viruses.)
3. Take over certain mental AND physical functions and hide itself within the individual in such a way that it is not detectable by the individual. (Stress can activate the chicken pox virus in adults, leading to the condition known as shingles. Similarly, stress tends to activate the god virus in many people. If they have a traumatic experience, they may reactivate their childhood religion.)
4. Use specific methods for spreading the virus. (People can be programmed, even reengineered, to be effective carriers of the virus. We call these people priests, ministers, imams, rabbis, popes, televangelists, shamans, apostles, nuns, Bible professors and, to a lesser degree, elders, deacons or Sunday school teachers.)
5. Program the host to replicate the virus. (Certain behaviors are programmed to ensure that the virus is passed on to others, especially the host’s children. These may include guilt-inducing ideas that create a sense of security in rituals. Examples include first communion, baptism, Bar Mitzvah, confirmation, daily prayer or Bible reading and confession.)
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
