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Are you killing brain cells by being a Christian?
The link can be found here.
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Does your brain improve if you get rid of religion? Let's plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
I was recently sent this article by Caroline Beaton about religion and what happens to one's brain when they stopped believing in God. Of course, Beaton describes it as an improvement. Does her argument hold water?
It's interesting that Beaton begins this with a personal testimony. She talks about losing her virginity at 16 and then living a life of disobeying the rules. I find it amazing that many skeptics of religion who used to be Christians always seem to start with a personal testimony. It's like they can't get away from their upbringing.
It also looks like for parents and throughout this article, that much of Christianity in particular is all about morality. Christianity has things to say about morality, but the purpose of Christianity is not to be a moral philosophy but a historical faith with moral implications. On a related point, the word true, or some variation of it, never shows up in the article. Apparently, that question didn't really seem to matter.
Beaton says that 35% of youth show no religious affiliation. These are called the nones, but it's a misnomer to think they're necessarily non-Christians. Many people in a higher power. Many pray. Many have high views of the Bible. They just don't care for something along the lines of "organized religion." I recommend anyone wanting information on that read this book.
She quotes a radiology professor who says that religion acts like a drug. For some people, that is no doubt true. There are many people who will use their religion as a way to get spiritual highs. The goal of the religion then is to feel good about one's self or to feel that one is close to God. In that case, the idea that religion can act like a drug is certainly true. That's also part of the me-centered aspect of Christianity today. It's my contention that true Christianity at times can make you feel good, but it can also make you feel miserable. In fact, it should make you feel miserable at times. You should feel sad about the suffering of humanity or the realization of your own sin or knowing that your friends and family are lost.
Beaton also says she believed in young-earth creationism and evolution for awhile both. At this, it never seems to occur to Beaton that maybe she was the problem and not the religion. Had she ever really thought deeply about her religion? She talks about losing interest in a picture Bible. What did she expect? Of course it wouldn't bring the same interest. We can't all be children forever and we need increasing awareness of our religion.
Beaton goes on to say
Absent is any mention of doing any real research. Instead, the lines are arbitrary. What were the grounds for this? You don't want God to see you poop but you want Him to hear you pray? It sounds like Beaton had her religion for personal comfort. Beaton goes on to say
Part of the problem here is a scientism that has taken over much of our thinking. In fact, I would say the fact that we have debates on if the Bible teaches YEC or OEC is a demonstration that we read even the Bible through a scientific lens. It never seems to occur to some people that maybe science isn't the best place to go to for this question. I also notice the idea of rationality. Let's say something about that.
There are stupid Christians and there are stupid atheists. There are genius Christians and there are genius atheists. It's not the point that you "become rational" and suddenly you change your worldview. One of the big problems I have with many atheists today is that they deem automatically that anyone who believes in anything religious is automatically irrational. This contributes nothing to a good debate.
She continues
Of course, parties where you stagger home, no doubt from drinking too much, are the perfect places to be thinking on Western religion. Apparently, the college library isn't of much use. Beaton is accurate when she says that an adolescent faith is deflated. Perhaps it needs to be. Perhaps they need to look at these doubts and move onto an adult faith where they actually think about what they believe.
And once again, there you have it. It's all about the feelings. You could have feelings and emotional experiences with a religion based on your own temperament and such. For me, they don't happen often because I am not a man of emotional passion like that. That's okay. Still, if the purpose of your religion is to make you feel good or have pleasurable sensations, you're doing it wrong. Your religion is meant to inform your life about who you are and the way the world is and your place in it.
Ultimately, Beaton doesn't really give us anything here. There is no question of truth. There is no question of research. All we have is really a long personal testimony with some scientific statements thrown in. It's good to know that just by entering college Beaton thought she had all that she needed. Hopefully, Beaton will in the future visit a library and learn something about these systems she has been freed from. Until then, I do not know what happens when your brain gets freed from religion, but I know what happens when it gets stuck on your own experiences and doesn't understand religion.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
The link can be found here.
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Does your brain improve if you get rid of religion? Let's plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
I was recently sent this article by Caroline Beaton about religion and what happens to one's brain when they stopped believing in God. Of course, Beaton describes it as an improvement. Does her argument hold water?
It's interesting that Beaton begins this with a personal testimony. She talks about losing her virginity at 16 and then living a life of disobeying the rules. I find it amazing that many skeptics of religion who used to be Christians always seem to start with a personal testimony. It's like they can't get away from their upbringing.
It also looks like for parents and throughout this article, that much of Christianity in particular is all about morality. Christianity has things to say about morality, but the purpose of Christianity is not to be a moral philosophy but a historical faith with moral implications. On a related point, the word true, or some variation of it, never shows up in the article. Apparently, that question didn't really seem to matter.
Beaton says that 35% of youth show no religious affiliation. These are called the nones, but it's a misnomer to think they're necessarily non-Christians. Many people in a higher power. Many pray. Many have high views of the Bible. They just don't care for something along the lines of "organized religion." I recommend anyone wanting information on that read this book.
She quotes a radiology professor who says that religion acts like a drug. For some people, that is no doubt true. There are many people who will use their religion as a way to get spiritual highs. The goal of the religion then is to feel good about one's self or to feel that one is close to God. In that case, the idea that religion can act like a drug is certainly true. That's also part of the me-centered aspect of Christianity today. It's my contention that true Christianity at times can make you feel good, but it can also make you feel miserable. In fact, it should make you feel miserable at times. You should feel sad about the suffering of humanity or the realization of your own sin or knowing that your friends and family are lost.
Beaton also says she believed in young-earth creationism and evolution for awhile both. At this, it never seems to occur to Beaton that maybe she was the problem and not the religion. Had she ever really thought deeply about her religion? She talks about losing interest in a picture Bible. What did she expect? Of course it wouldn't bring the same interest. We can't all be children forever and we need increasing awareness of our religion.
Beaton goes on to say
As I tried to reconcile my belief in God with my growing knowledge of the natural world, I drew arbitrary distinctions. God couldn't see me poop but he could hear me pray, I decided. Eventually I couldn't figure out how, physically, he could do either.
This scientific descent from religion is common. Pew's 2016 survey on why now-unaffiliated Americans lost faith yielded explanations such as, "Rational thought makes religion go out the window," "Lack of any sort of scientific or specific evidence of a creator," and "I'm a scientist now, and I don't believe in miracles."
There are stupid Christians and there are stupid atheists. There are genius Christians and there are genius atheists. It's not the point that you "become rational" and suddenly you change your worldview. One of the big problems I have with many atheists today is that they deem automatically that anyone who believes in anything religious is automatically irrational. This contributes nothing to a good debate.
She continues
When we get to college, however, cultural testimony changes. An analytical, scientific view reigns, and there's little room for God. We staggered home from parties pontificating on the pointless evil of Western religion. We made friends by cynically confessing our doubt. College is "very likely to challenge the more conservative belief systems we have in our brains," Grafman says. It deflates our adolescent faith.
When we finally break up with religion, we rebound. Eventually, non-religious people who once had religious epiphanies get those same feelings from being in nature, or from seeing profound scientific ideas expressed, Anderson says. "The context changes but the experience doesn't." Most non-religious people are "passionately committed to some ideology or other," explains Patrick McNamara, a neurology professor at Boston University School of Medicine. These passions function neurologically as "faux religions."
Ultimately, Beaton doesn't really give us anything here. There is no question of truth. There is no question of research. All we have is really a long personal testimony with some scientific statements thrown in. It's good to know that just by entering college Beaton thought she had all that she needed. Hopefully, Beaton will in the future visit a library and learn something about these systems she has been freed from. Until then, I do not know what happens when your brain gets freed from religion, but I know what happens when it gets stuck on your own experiences and doesn't understand religion.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
FWIW, I didn't get that impression before you deconverted. Maybe it's the deconversion process that makes people forget how to think.
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