Over the weekend, I stumbled upon an article on the Huffington Post religion section that I thought was pretty interesting. Whenever I go on their religion section, I am prepared for writers to push their crazy and ridiculous beliefs, but this time I found the gold standard of crazy and no surprise, this kind of crazy can only come about through religion.
The article in question seems like it might make for a great sequel to an M. Night Shyamalan movie. The author claims that she sees Angels… all the time. She insists that if you just suspend your disbelief in this ridiculous story (with no evidence) for just one day, you will receive help from the Angels for all your needs.
Now of course I had to chime in on this in the comments section and talk about how I can see Leprechauns and how if she is willing to suspend her disbelief for just one day and ask the Leprechauns for help, they will allow her to follow them to their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But that isn’t the point of today’s blog.
Today, I want to talk about how religion is truly the gateway drug to crazyville. Even among the religious, this woman is batshit crazy. But because there are Angels in the Bible, some religious believers are going to think that this crackpot might really see Angels. In fact, this woman has written two books on her “ability” and while I hope no one is actually buying them, part of me knows that they probably are. It really makes me wonder if maybe I should publish my “ability” to see Leprechauns and see who is stupid enough to fall for it. Alas, I am too damn honest for that crap. Curse my Humanism.
That’s the thing about religion. Anyone can be crazy, but when someone is crazy and religious all of a sudden their craziness become legitimized. Whatever your delusion, cloaking it in religion makes it acceptable without a straightjacket.
If this woman really does believe that she can see Angels and is not just a con-artist, then she needs serious help. She may need mental help or perhaps some combinations of drugs. Maybe even both. But one thing is certain. There are no Angels. I really hope she gets the help she needs, but as long as her delusions are cloaked in religion, she probably won’t.
Once you believe in religion, any other craziness can easily follow. One has already suspended reality based on insufficient evidence, so why bother with any kind of reality? If you can have faith in a God, why not Angels, Leprechauns, or any other imaginary creature? If one is willing to fear Satan, why not fear Demons, Trolls, Boogiemen, or Death Eaters?
One can laugh at the lack of evidence for Angels without having to laugh at the lack of evidence for God. Once someone accepts magical thinking, the floodgates are open to all manner of insanity.
