Social Intoxication of a Religious Nature

 

March 2009

 

By Jeff Wismer

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intoxication

Intoxication is the state of being affected by one or more psychoactive drugs. It can also refer to the effects caused by the ingestion of poison or by the overconsumption of normally harmless substances.

Some types of intoxication:

**Insert Religious Intoxication Here**

Somewhere between Chemical Intoxication and a State of Mind that leads to insanity is where I would put RELIGIOUS INTOXICATION.  It operates like a chemical intoxication in that it has feelings of being HIGH, DRUNKEN Behavior, and is at its height the more doctrine and dogma that is consumed by the willing victim.  It is also a state of mind (http://imjdwismer922.tripod.com/Darwins_God.htm) that may lead to insanity but certainly not always, and it may result in very small amounts of insanity.

Intoxication can cause a state of mind that remains once the person is no longer intoxicated that can be used as a legal defense:

I’m sure by now you’ve heard Organized Religion and Religious behavior referred to has a social disease, or as Sigmund Freud put it “The opiate of the masses”.  It may be an opiate but even opiates taken in very small amounts doesn’t produce a visibly measurable form of intoxication nor does it lead to abusive behavior and eventually addiction.

 

Nor do I believe that religious behavior should be classified as a social disease, like a cancer or a virus, that can be eradicated with some kind of medical treatment.  It’s true that psychotherapy may help a person find themselves, and be used as a vehicle to stir them away from religious behavior.  However psychotherapy and psychiatry is just a means to an end, and it and of itself is not a cure all.  Psychotherapists and Psychiatrists oftentimes employ some form of spirituality to help guide the person back to a healthier state of mind.  This falls in line within the chain of reasoning that one doesn’t force agnosticism down the throat of a homeless person, or someone who is terminally ill.  Sometimes we can justify having someone cling on to hope b/c there current situation is very bleak.  Nor would we want a potential psychotic homeopathic killer rejecting god when it’s the fear of eternal damnation is the only thing stopping him/her from going on a murderous rampage.  In conclusion religious behavior has its purposes in life beyond that of the obvious fear of death.

 

How Social Religious Intoxication works on the mind

 

You’re at a bar.  You have one drink, maybe two, maybe three.  You are willing yourself to consume more alcohol to produce the necessary effect of being intoxicated.  If you do this every night than its called alcohol abuse, and you have an addiction.  The same can be said with any chemical that leads to a certain intoxication or euphoria. 

 

Religion works the same way.

 

This idea came to me while watching Kenneth Copeland (http://www.kcm.org/) one night on TV and I noticed that he was acting like he was drunk on stage.  His speech was slurred.  He didn’t make proper eye contact with anyone for longer than 2 seconds.  He was also making weird gestures with his body, hands, and his facial expressions were crazy and erratic. 

 

Then I began to think of other well known preachers such as:

 

1.http://www.fartingpreacher.org/

2.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Haggard

3.http://www.rodparsley.com/

4.http://www.jhm.org/ME2/Default.asp (John Hagee)

5.http://www.patrobertson.com/

6.http://www.livingwaters.com/ , http://www.wayofthemaster.com/ (Ray Comfort)

7.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah_Wright

8.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Pfleger

9.http://www.falwell.com/

10.                 http://www.billygraham.org/

11.                 http://www.jimbakkershow.com/

 

What do they all have in common?

 

They act like they’re drunk…albeit different types of drunks.

 

Different Types of Social Religious Drunkards

 

A.                        The ANGRY Religious Drunk

 

 

Everyone has met this type of drunk at bars or at parties.  They drink too much make a scene, start a fight, or smash things. 

 

Prime examples of this are Jerry Falwell, Rod Parsley, and John Hagee.

B.                        The HAPPY GOOFY Religious drunk

 

Yes we all know who you are.  You can’t stop laughing after having too much to drink.  You become the bar/party clown as you do things just to make an ass out of yourself to keep people laughing. 

 

Prime examples of this are Kenneth Copeland and the Farting Preacher.

C.                       The LOUD Religious Drunk

 

 

You need to shut the fuck up when you’re out at a bar or party and have too much to drink.  You make everyone else uncomfortable, and there’s a reason you end up alone in the bathroom, or purposely sent to the wrong direction or given the wrong bar name.

 

Prime Examples of this are Jeremiah Wright and Father Pfleger.

D.                      The CRAZY Mother Fucka Douche Bag Religious Drunk

 

 

Nobody likes you.  You’re a jackass for drinking.  Go Fuck yourself.

 

Prime examples of this are Ted Haggard, and Ray Comfort

E.The CREEPY OLD CRAZY EYED Religious Drunk

 

 

No we don’t want to hear your stories that you try to regale us with and even if we did we can’t understand a fucking word out of your mouth b/c it sounds like you’re chewing or you have a bag full of marbles in there.  Please if you’re going to drink too much make sure a your dog named Earl is around to listen to your bullshit.

 

Prime Examples of this are Pat Robertson, Billy Graham, and James Baker.

 

Everybody gets drunk

 

 

Sure enough even if you give a group of college kids non-alcoholic beer and lie to them they will still act up and if one person in the group acts like they’re hammered then everyone will.

 

Such is the effect of religious indoctrination which leads to intoxication. 

 

Here we have the time honored tradition of planting someone amongst the religious crowd gathered to hear the preacher, and if one person acts drunk (speaking in tongues, closing eyes and shaking your body, waving your hands around like you’re on fire, singing real loud, or praying so hard that you fart) then everyone around them sees this and thanks to the foundational mob rule/group think/peer pressure sure enough most if not all follow suit.

 

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AMEN!