I also must point out (on further reflection, after I posted this) that I may not be entirely fair in my criticisms of people who believe these things.
Please consider that number of drug addicts (including homeless ones on the street) who say that they became addicted to pills from the physician, and turned to the street when the doctor cut them off.
We all know that drugs can elevate one’s mood, and amphetamines (ie: “Speed”) were once used to treat depression, and amphetamines were (and are) drugs of abuse. Methamphetamine in particular seems to be very good at destroying lives.
So, people seem to not understand the difference between a drug like an amphetamine and a drug like a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, as they both elevate the mood. They are both pills that make you feel good, and the distinction between them is lost.
This confusion brings us into a space where parents (when hearing about kids dying in wholesale numbers from drugs) become terrified of having a doctor perscribe an antidepressant because they believe that this will kill their kid from drug addiction.
This dynamic seems very apparent in much of the minority community, as ministers and preachers tell their congregations to avoid such meds, as poverty causes a lack of medical care and a lack of education . . . and while we may attack the minister for turning their congregation away from medical treatment for depression, these same ministers see addicts passed out on the sidewalk with no medical care available to help them.
So, it’s a complex issue that I probably oversimplified and–perhaps–slightly misrepresented (unintentionally) in my previous posts.
Religious Beliefs and Community Dynamics: In some cases, the teachings or cultural aspects of a religious community can impact an individual’s mental health, particularly if they feel alienated or judged. For example, LGBTQ+ youth who grow up in non-affirming religious environments may experience higher levels of stress and internal conflict, which can contribute to mental health struggles.
I’ve seen religious conservatives beat their gay sons within an inch of their lives, or throw a 14 year old son out on the street.
These cast-off kids become rich fodder for pimps and human traffickers, who often control these kids with drugs and violence. They usually develop a sick version of Stockholm Syndrome, become co-dependant, and don’t mature properly because they eat fast food and become malnourished. They contract sexually transmitted diseases from their tricks, and battle alcoholism and drug addiction without access to healthcare.
That one is called a straw fallacy, disbelieving in unevidenced deities and inexplicable magic does not remotely equate to people or their lives being meaningless.
Apes, the taxonomical grouping humans are in are apes, your all around ignorance and arrogance might be a shock had I not seen enough angry theists espouse these asinine and irrational sentiments over the years, I shan’t even feign surprise that you failed to address the issue of teen suicides associated with Christianity at all, risibly misspelled the word associated despite it being spelled correctly in the the fucking thread title, and then resorted to a juvenile tantrum involving a string of logical fallacies.
Better than your arrogant and idiotic indifference, and bombastic irrational tantrum to avoid addressing the facts presented, yes I’d be prepared to bet it might.
“I’ve grown up in the church as a pastor’s kid basically my whole life”
This is hilarious: “led me to an interest in preaching and apologetics (the rational, fact-based defense of Christianity).”
After two logical fallacies in one post, three really as his straw man also involved a type of false dichotomy. Then there is this:
“God has to exist because creation can’t exist without him”
A circular reasoning fallacy, why don’t apologists learn what rational means before using the word? I don’t think the word truth means what he thinks it does either, reading that blog, or the word fact come to that.
I know, I had a good chuckle at more than a few points reading through his blog.
“I hope you enjoy and learn from what I have to say!”
Speaking as an authority. The arrogance to think what you have to say is absolute edifying truth is the delusion I found amongst most my former theist peers. I’m sure he most likely refers to his audience as “the masses”
There are so many fallacies here that I’m having trouble deciding where to begin.
Even so, let’s try:
There is the assumption that only God brings “meaning.” People all over the world have meaningful lives without Christianity and/or the Abrahamic God. The ancient Greeks had meaning. The ancient Chinese had meaning in their lives.
Our works outlive us, so “being a dead monkey” in a few years is a straw man argument. Alexander Fleming (for example) discovered penicillin, and has saved more lives than any 1,000 Christian saints put together. The same could be said of Maurice Hilleman, who discovered (along with his team) over 40 vaccines that have saved about 225 million human lives. Will you say that these people are meaningless now that they’ve died? I think they’re meaningful even if there is no God.
A person can decide their own purpose, and do their part to make the world a better place. I was a paramedic, and I’ll soon be an RN. I’ve specialized in saving human life. Does my life suddenly have no purpose because I may decide to reject a belief in God?
Atheistic/secular nations seem to score higher in human happiness. There are studies (using surveys, and also examining statistics on depression, stress-related illnesses, etc.) which indicate that a secular populace is happier. Norway, Switzerland, France, and Sweden are examples.
Atheists are doing outreach and other types of work that can be interpreted as “missionary work.” The Satanic Temple has founded after school clubs, and has constantly pushed against this religious backlash against secularism.
Christianity has had about 2,000 years to fix things. Violence, misogyny, witch hunts, genocide, wars, and racism are what Christianity has given us. How is there “ultimate purpose” and “meaning” in any of this? Science gave us penicillin, anesthetics, vaccines, and a drastically reduced infant mortality rate. When has Christianity given us anything comparable?