[WashuSaotome]

To the point of insanity?

Seriously?

I've known some *serious* Baptists (some of my family members). They attend church every Sunday, even when they were sick, and do their typical churchly things and whatnot...

However, my grandfather (who is also Baptist) seems to be really dependant on this religion to the point where it's harming him. Here are some things I noticed:

1) He claims to feel very lost and hopeless without his bible. He takes it everywhere he goes. (And I *do* mean everywhere. It's always by his side.) There's nothing wrong with that, but when you become afraid to leave the house without your bible... Something's wrong.

2) Despite having a tv and other community activities going on in his neighborhood, all he does is stay in the house with his radio tuned on the gospel / praise station and reads his bible in dim light. (He is disabled, but he can still walk outside if needed. However, he has told me several times that he does not wish to go out during the weekdays unless he's really hungry or my mom picks him up. He says that he would rather stay at home and read his bible undisturbed.)

*NOTE* The thing about this is that I think that this isn't doing him much good. He's not getting any social interaction for days on end (unless my mom comes to pick him up, or when he goes to church with the rest of his family). He is also really dependant on my mother to do his daily chores (cleaning, washing clothes, helping him pay bills, send off mail, etc) because he doesn't want to budge from his bible. He's not old, either. He's only 53 years old.

3) He thinks that because he's Baptist and has been going to church, his neighbors in the same apartment complex are trying to control his mind so Satan could get to him. My grandfather has claimed that a guy living upstairs from him was trying to seduce him and control his mind with a machine just because he always had the bible by his side. He also called the police on a woman next door from him because he thought she was "putting that Voodoo Satan stuff" on his soul, causing him to do bad things when his bible isn't near.

Well, there's also the factor that he's on drugs. (Is currently on Methadone, smokes weed, has done cocaine at one point in time, smokes cigs, abuses over-the-counter drugs...) But I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it, really.

But that aside... Is it possible for someone to become so dependant on religion like a horrible drug type thing?

*EDIT*
Grammar check gone wrong.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: WashuSaotome on 2005-11-23 00:46 ]</font>

[Rion772]

He seems to like the way things are more than anything and hes's addicted to his schedule. It happens, I assume it's somewhat common. In a different way and with less of a magnitude my dad plays games like this. I only see him on the weekends and I pay for World of Warcraft there so I can play, and when I want to play he's usually like "no" and makes up a decent excuse, but when I do get to play is when he gets up and says "Mark you can play for a few hours". He decideds when it's time for him to quit whatever he's playing for me to spend time with the game I can ONLY PLAY at HIS house.

My dad too used to smoke weed, he used to drink A LOT but only on the weekends, in 1 day he would down a 12 pack of budwiser. He quit the weed by himself so it seems and I've been pressuring him to slow down with the beer and he has, I go all weekend so there's no way he could get by me when he's getting a beer. My brother somehow got him to quit cigs too, thank god.

What I think you should do is just pressure him, everyday, consistantly bug the shit out of him to go outside and quit the stuff he does. It's all bad for him, he needs help (no offense). If you bother him daily, continuesly, as much as you can, whenever you get the chance, I'm sure he'll atleast slow down and get up to do stuff more. If not, just take away his ways of getting money, and then take away his bible and drugs. Take away his transportation, treat him like a kid or something. Scold him for doing bad stuff. No one is hopeless, everyone can be helped. Some people are harder to help than others, some people are more addicted that others. Being addicted doesn't mean you're weak, it means you're dependant on whatever it may be. The only way you can help someone is to take action, and by that I don't mean call the cops or anything, I mean just wear him down to the point where he's had enough of you bothering him and he's willing to quit. He may not like you much for helping him, but atleast he'll stop his sh!t and do stuff.

[Uncle_bob]

Religion usually IS an addiction. Most people are simply too mentally incompetent to use it properly.

[Kent]

Eh... I'll hold back on posting the truth on this matter, due to not wanting mods on my ass...

But yeah, religions can be bad for people, when they're abused (see first post, the vast majority of wars, etc.).

[Scejntjynahl]

Any extreme in life is an addiction.

[Daikarin]

I've got nothing against religion. Religion is an excellent way to tap into the benefic and prosperous secrets of spirituality. In fact, you can find a lot of good people in churches and other religious places. The only problem is that it focuses a lot on the rituals, and less on the subject itself.And of course, there's the false beliefs that modern times are full of. Like those who twist the words in the bible, to adapt to their square mind.

Instead of begging for mercy on punishment and praying to God that you go to Heaven after you die, think about if God locked you up in eternal hell for all the mistakes you do. I refuse to believe in a unwise God that "beats you up" for your sins.

"He who hath never sinned, throw the first stone."

Did Jesus told those people "You're going to Hell!" on that episode? Of course not. Why is that?

Religion can sometimes be an effective weapon of mass belief, if you don't approach it with your eyes well open and know when to draw the line.

What if your grandfather realized that his feeling of safety isn't in the bible but within himself? And that the bible is only an agent to release that power? Imagine the possibilities.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Daikarin on 2005-11-23 14:29 ]</font>

[Solstis]

On 2005-11-23 13:20, Kent wrote:
Eh... I'll hold back on posting the truth on this matter, due to not wanting mods on my ass...

But yeah, religions can be bad for people, when they're abused (see first post, the vast majority of wars, etc.).

The truth eh? Religion tends to have enough absolutes as it is; don't add more to the mix by countering with "truths."

Could have great opinions that work in 99.9999% of cases though.

Oh, and the drugs probably have a *lot* to do with it. Or, at least, whatever reason he has for using them.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Solstis on 2005-11-23 14:36 ]</font>