The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture by Darrel Ray
Authors: Darrel Ray
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the Bible was clear that she was committing a sin against god by denying her husband.
Through years of soul searching, Sara finally made the decision to take her children and leave her husband. Years of church teaching had taught her to fear and mistrust the courts and the government, so she used none of the resources available to women in her situation. She saved up money, rented a place far from her husband and stole away one night with her children.
After only a few weeks, her husband and a group of elders from the church appeared at her doorstep and took the children. She appealed to her husband to let her keep her children, but she was informed that the church had conducted a trial and that she was now disfellowshipped from the church. No one could have contact with her, including her own children. Their father would have sole custody and would not allow any contact with her.
Sara went into a deep depression. Not trusting the courts, she made no legal claims for her children. And having been taught that psychologists were evil, she refused to talk with anyone who could help her with her depression.
Not until she met her partner was she able to begin climbing out of her depression and take some positive action for her life and children. She enrolled in college, went to court to get partial custody and began living with her partner. Her partner was supportive and understanding, but her deep programming made it all but impossible for Sara to see any options for herself or her children. It took several years before she was able to begin seeing alternative ways of thinking and behaving.
Her life is still difficult, especially with her children. The court order for visitation rights and custody is undermined and thwarted at every turn by church elders who tell her children they will be disfellowshipped if they talk to their mother. Only one child talks with her, secretly calling late at night after everyone is in bed. If Sara calls, no one answers or whoever answers the phone immediately hangs up.
Religion-Friendly Environment
Religions seek to create an environment that makes it easy to propagate. In most cases, religious propagation is closely tied to biological propagation. As the family goes, so goes the virus. The virus must make sure that it is passed on to the next generation. For this reason, it creates an environment where it can ensure the young will be infected as efficiently as possible.
The Family
First, the religion must try to ensure that the family consists only of virally infected parents. All major religions place some sanctions on marriage outside the faith. Hindus do not marry Muslims, Muslims are not allowed to marry Christians, and so forth. The sanction can be so strong as to invoke the death penalty if violated. In recent years, the news mediahave been full of examples of Islamic girls being killed by their families for merely wanting to marry a non-Muslim. Marriage between related sects may also be prohibited. Catholics are discouraged from marrying Protestants. Shii’a Muslims are discouraged from marrying Sunni. The Druze disown anyone who marries outside the religion. Mormons do all they can to ensure people marry within the faith.
----
5 James Dobson, War on America (Prometheus Books, 1997).
In “mixed marriages,” a demand is often made with respect to raising the children. For example, the Catholic Church insists on children being raised as Catholic in a Protestant-Catholic union. Couples may be refused a Catholic wedding or sacraments if they fail to make this commitment.
The Children
Second, the religion must ensure that the young are properly infected. This is a time-consuming and resource-intense requirement. For this reason the religion focuses on keeping the family unit intact so it can concentrate resources on infecting the next generation. Many mechanisms are brought to bear on this task, such as:
• Parental guilt, “Am I doing enough to teach my children about
Through years of soul searching, Sara finally made the decision to take her children and leave her husband. Years of church teaching had taught her to fear and mistrust the courts and the government, so she used none of the resources available to women in her situation. She saved up money, rented a place far from her husband and stole away one night with her children.
After only a few weeks, her husband and a group of elders from the church appeared at her doorstep and took the children. She appealed to her husband to let her keep her children, but she was informed that the church had conducted a trial and that she was now disfellowshipped from the church. No one could have contact with her, including her own children. Their father would have sole custody and would not allow any contact with her.
Sara went into a deep depression. Not trusting the courts, she made no legal claims for her children. And having been taught that psychologists were evil, she refused to talk with anyone who could help her with her depression.
Not until she met her partner was she able to begin climbing out of her depression and take some positive action for her life and children. She enrolled in college, went to court to get partial custody and began living with her partner. Her partner was supportive and understanding, but her deep programming made it all but impossible for Sara to see any options for herself or her children. It took several years before she was able to begin seeing alternative ways of thinking and behaving.
Her life is still difficult, especially with her children. The court order for visitation rights and custody is undermined and thwarted at every turn by church elders who tell her children they will be disfellowshipped if they talk to their mother. Only one child talks with her, secretly calling late at night after everyone is in bed. If Sara calls, no one answers or whoever answers the phone immediately hangs up.
Religion-Friendly Environment
Religions seek to create an environment that makes it easy to propagate. In most cases, religious propagation is closely tied to biological propagation. As the family goes, so goes the virus. The virus must make sure that it is passed on to the next generation. For this reason, it creates an environment where it can ensure the young will be infected as efficiently as possible.
The Family
First, the religion must try to ensure that the family consists only of virally infected parents. All major religions place some sanctions on marriage outside the faith. Hindus do not marry Muslims, Muslims are not allowed to marry Christians, and so forth. The sanction can be so strong as to invoke the death penalty if violated. In recent years, the news mediahave been full of examples of Islamic girls being killed by their families for merely wanting to marry a non-Muslim. Marriage between related sects may also be prohibited. Catholics are discouraged from marrying Protestants. Shii’a Muslims are discouraged from marrying Sunni. The Druze disown anyone who marries outside the religion. Mormons do all they can to ensure people marry within the faith.
----
5 James Dobson, War on America (Prometheus Books, 1997).
In “mixed marriages,” a demand is often made with respect to raising the children. For example, the Catholic Church insists on children being raised as Catholic in a Protestant-Catholic union. Couples may be refused a Catholic wedding or sacraments if they fail to make this commitment.
The Children
Second, the religion must ensure that the young are properly infected. This is a time-consuming and resource-intense requirement. For this reason the religion focuses on keeping the family unit intact so it can concentrate resources on infecting the next generation. Many mechanisms are brought to bear on this task, such as:
• Parental guilt, “Am I doing enough to teach my children about
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