the origin of religion

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True they don't rule each other out but the question was phrased in terms of psychopathy and not just delusion. Retrospective diagnosis is a matter of speculation at best. You would have to look at what their behaviour showed about anti-social tendencies to decide what brand of 'lunatic' they were. Yes you could have a very effective sociopath at work but it's very unlikely that he could contain his destructive urges over a lifetime. There's also the matter of context: back in the day it wasn't particularly outlandish to claim that God had spoken to you or some such, there were loads of people doing it. Nowadays it's a different matter but then there were prophets and cults all over the place, it's just that some of them broke out and reached a wider crowd and others didn't. Jesus wasn't a 'Christian', he was a Jew and never claimed to be starting a new religion, Christianity came afterwards. Consciousness and society have moved on, just because someone sounds like what we would today call delusional doesn't mean that they were necessarily psychotic back then. If someone is genuinely psychotic it is almost always extremely debilitating in terms of their overall life and impacts severely on things such as communication and organisational abilities. Psychotics are generally very chaotic and would find it very difficult to lead people for long.

There's also the whole thing of bicameralism. This is the theory that the two halves of the brain at one time would talk to each other, quite literally, or to be more accurate, the right-brain would talk to the left-brain and that this was perfectly normal. Modern-day voice-hearers still experience the remnants of this faculty that we all used to have so none of this is as simple as deciding who was a 'lunatic' and who wasn't. This is one explanation for the whole concept of God and for example why the ancient Greeks thought their Gods were pretty much like people similar to themselves - they could hear the Gods talking to them every day.

^^^ Wouldn't being a sociopath/psyhopath make it easier for people to deceive and command others? Mohammed managed to convince people to join him, and he went on successful military campaigns, conquering all of Arabia during his lifetime. What Jesus did was a suicide mission (starting a heresy during the Roman occupation), so if he was not the son of God he must have been extremely reckless.
There are plenty of historical leaders that are smart enough to be leaders but are extremely cruel or do really silly things. For example, the Nazis were pretty delusional about the Jews and the whole WW1 "backstab legend". They were conspiracy theorists, and were still able to form a super powerful empire for a short while.

Religion has gotten in the way of God.

In the old old days, Universal Truth.

Seeking truth was a respected job.

Religion became the problem long ago when giving the first fruits of all things was considered mandatory.

Abraham rebelled and gave a ram instead of his son, and nothing happened.

The storm god brother of Baal continued to dispense rain upon the just and unjust.

Sacrifice was tested, a bold act, and found to have no effect. Seeking Truth.

The Last Prophet said many things. Protect the poor, the rights of women and children, give 3% of your income to those in need. That was in the 700s, the next system was in the 1880s in Germany, then 1933 in America.

Protecting the rights of the weak, spending money to make them stronger, leads to a better world, the one you live in. Not doing it made for a worse world, theft, murder, injustice. Seeking truth, Islam followed the Truth of Allah.

The Last Prophet said to seek knowledge, gather it, organize it, make it understandable, and teach it to the people.

Universities and Science came from his words. We created nothing, it was all there before we looked, and known to Allah.

Accept there is more to this world than you know, could know, yet this knowledge is given generation after generation to those who seek the wisdom of Allah.

There is a source of knowledge far above the world, it is given freely to those who submit, and pay attention.

The community is all the same, all equal before Allah.

Almost a quarter of Earth follows this path, from Africa to the far East. It is true in many language and culture.

None can know Allah, but all can see the gifts. Allah is worshipped by following the words of The Last Prophet, and supporting your community.

The prayer leader is elected by the community, someone they admire, who has earned respect. No one is higher.

Make no image, change not one word, keep the path given you.

The origin of religion is in the social agreement of a community.

The validity of a religion is if it serves all members of the community.

^^^ Doesn't matter what the community believes, the true validation of a religion is whether it is true or not, not whether the people like it. Currently the religions all contradict each other, so we know that most of them are false religions.

This is sometimes true.

There are exceptions. L. R. Hubbard started Scientology to make money. He and his buddies who started it with him are successful. (Elron is no longer among the living, but while he was breathing he made his wad)

ruveyn

When I made the post I was thinking along the lines of the idea that Mohammed predicted what would be happening now today. He set it all in motion deliberately and consciously to forecast the end of mankind in a very cruel sadistic calculated manner. Now, looking back I realize this I kind of ridiculous. I mean from all accounts he was just not a very not a nice guy but and probably not very intelligen, but people in those ages were very backwards, so it's perhaps understandable if we use a different lens to investigate the man.

But is modern society actually so much better and if so why so? Maybe we divulge our violent impulses through stupid little troll posts rather than outright murder. What makes Western society so much better than Islam? Is US just a bully? Is Islam the wounded child?

I'm just thinking outside the box here. Why is it that all these people are so angry. How did this come to be? I think it is laziness to dismiss them as simply evil. I also think it is laziness to blame Islam, since most Muslims are peaceful.

What makes a terrorist? I suppose this is the heart of the question.

As for all other religions, well, my primary intention was to focus on Islam. However, no matter how you slice it, Jesus was a little bit narcissistic. I'm not a huge religious scholar or anything but just common sense wise, I mean you've got to be pretty full of yourself to not feel the need to feel the desire to stab yourself in the heart every time you think a bad thought. Nobody is perfect, not even Jesus.

I think Mohammed was probably quite intelligent, he managed to collect a whole bunch of capable followers that continued his legacy, he laid the foundations for the empires that came after (the different Caliphates, Abbassid, Fatamid etc), and he started pretty much with nothing, just his ability to convince people to follow him and follow Islam. If he was of below average intelligence people would probably have figured that out quickly.
As for the morals, I don't think you can really judge a medieval person by anything other than medieval standards.
Charlemagne executed lots of Saxons after they surrendered, and possibly had his brother poisoned so he inherited his realms. And he is now a founding father of five countries.

Brilliant AND TRUTH.