Is religion a virus?

[FrustratedFool]

Indeed. I guess we can only wait and see.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Some puddinghead will be along shortly to show us all where we're wrong.

[Data]

Some puddinghead will be along shortly to show us all where we're wrong.  

[jazz hands] Tada!

[Data]

Christ, it's a pandemic.

Literally? No. ""A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most numerous type of biological entity." (Wiki)

Figuratively or metaphorically? Uh, yeah, especially to it's own teachings. To itself. No religion has ever remained true to itself. Usually mass appeal attracts corruption in that regard. Religion is a tool used destructively once it achieves popularity. People often say it's a designed for control, but I personally think it is redesigned for control. In other words, not so ambiguous, religion doesn't control people people control religion. Guns don't kill people, knives do. Far more often.

[Fake Messiah]

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.)

[Angrboda]

I'd like to share a revelation I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with their surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to another area, and you multiply, and you multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we are the cure.

- Agent Smith

[emjay]

Personally I think it's more like a drug than a virus; dangle the carrot of immortality, and some people will do anything for it.