First, superstition Religion is a superstition. It is full of beliefs and dogma without real evidence. The denial of that is to some point, a mental illness. What other superstitions are there? Astrology, for example. It's the idea that the planetary movements of planets in the solar system affects your life. Just like religion, it is incredibly egocentric; who do you think YOU are? The universe doesn't care about YOU. You're just a very small spec on a spec of dust called earth. (Religion: God listens to me and actually gives a rat's ass about who I have sex with!) There's no serious reason or evidence to believe in astrology, just like religion. Go watch Penn&Teller's bullshit series, they debunk many superstitions.
Which begs me to ask, why are so many people deluded into believing in psychic powers, etc? It is due to an evolutionary byproduct... We tend to try to recognize patterns to survive... if we do this, that tends to happen; based on that info, do we do this or not do this to reflect the result we want? In a test, scientists gave a bird food whenever it turned to look over its left shoulder. After doing so several times, eventually the bird continues to look over its left shoulder despite getting no food. Of course, this is unlike the savannas we used to be in, there were no scientists testing the fallacies of our logic in 1 gazillion BC. However, it demonstrated how our logic is by its core, flawed. We were not evolved to be intellectuals We were evolved to survive and do what is required to survive. Just like the sex drive, the gullibility to see patterns when there isn't any still affects us today.
Ironically, that's insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
We are scared of NUMBERS. Number 13 is bad, number 7 is good; number 8 is lucky in other countries. Do numbers (which we made up) have powers that change depending on your geography to reflect 8 as lucky in China but 7 as lucky in America? Why do we believe in lucky underwear? Do we really think that wearing a necklace will 'ward of bad luck'? Luck doesn't even exist, it is solely an invention of our minds, and illusion of reality.
Which brings me to my next point: It's taboo to question faith. It's ok to ridicule a guy for believing in Thor today because nobody believes in it. It's more acceptable to distrust Mormons because the religion is new. Christianity is old and familiar with a big audience. But why should that any bearing on my respect for people that believe in Christianity? You might as well be worshiping the great juju of the mountain. In fact, it probably makes sense that I'd have more distaste for the bible because it fools to many people. But somehow, FAITH is a GOOD thing, especially in COMMON RELIGIONS. Faith is gullibility. It is the surrender of reason and logic, giving up everything that makes us different than all other animals. I understand that not everybody has what it takes to analyze things like this, but with all the progress being stymied by religion, and the readiness to be a victim of our ancient, incorrect logic, it irritates me to a very high degree. Humanity cannot move forward when we're believing in space daddies. Humanity cannot move forward when we worship a book calling for slavery, rape, and murder. The sooner we realize that the endless majesty of the universe is well worth learning about, and we quit turning to a burning bush for answers, the faster humanity can improve itself.
The logic we apply to religion and only religion would not be acceptable anywhere else. (Of course, some idiots still play the lottery thinking they will win.) But, most people don't play the lottery because they know it's stupid to. Yet a few will buy tickets, and have 'faith' that they will win. The holy books of religion are so profound, they could not have been written by a human being. Think about how differently we deal with scientific evidence. Isaac Newton invented calculus and discovered the laws of motion in a year. It took 300 years on the part of many amazing scientists to fully add on to his work. Do we call this a work of god? True, Newton was a Christian, but only because everybody was at his place during his time, much like how Lincoln accepted slavery. On the other hand, anybody can improve the bible, scientifically, ethically, spiritually in moments. Clearly this is not the work of an omnipotent being.
Not all religions are created equal. All are ridiculous, but some are more harmful than others. When was the last time you heard a Buddhist bomb a building? Exactly. On the other hand, you have Islamic beliefs. Christianity isn't the worst, but it's one of the worst religions out there. I actually have a friend that is so sexually ashamed, he has never masturbated. And he's 18 going onto 19.
Is religion a mental illness? Possibly. It depends on what you define as 'affects normal life'. I would argue that wasting time every Sunday affects normal life. A mental illness isn't one until it affects your day to day life. The slope is slightly slippery, because then how much effect affects your life? Are some of the other superstitions also mental illnesses? I don't think there's a good way to answer this question. Not all superstitions or even religion, to be specific, affect a person the same way. You can also slightly believe in a bible, or fully believe in it; you can be extremist of moderate.
Lastly, I'd like to mention that breaking the taboos of doubting religion publicly and discussing these issues with believers is the best way to proceed. How else will change occur? If you are religious and reading this, I'd encourage you to start debating with your fellow atheists or people from other religions. You are proud of your god; show it. Don't be afraid to defend your god and why you believe in your god. Not doing so is cowardly. Do not duck under the guise of 'being insulted'. What do you have to be insulted about, exactly?
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