What is the difference between religion and psychosis?

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What is the difference between a psychotic person with delusions of grandeur and a religious person with great visions?

Why do people say I am delusional while the islamic extremists in the middle east are just called "angry religious people"?

And if there is no difference between religion and delusions, then why does many countries support both churches which spreads the delusional ideas while the same countries at the same time pay huge amounts of money into psychiatry?

If you had psychosis you would not need to ask.
It's not like you choose which delusion to believe.
Since my psychosis were drug induced, it seems to me you are saying that religion is a drug, the opiate of the masses.
Obviously, there are some people who have pyschosis without using drugs and i doubt they choose to be that way.
Whether people choose to be religious, i dont know.

I can't think of much difference, except that religion is believed by many people and may have a basis in fact while delusions are usually unique to the person.

There is no difference except that religion is more socially accepted.

Everyone is delusional about something its just a question of to what degree and religous people are the norm so I don't think it's fair to call them psychotic since that would suggest an unusual level of delusion.

This is asinine coming from people who have their own competing ideas about morality and the reasoning behind it.

I happen to believe that a very small fraction of so-called religious experiences are genuine.

With that said, I would repeat what Phssthpok said: everyone is delusional about something--its just a question of to what degree.

We humans obviously have something within us that makes us vulnerable to fooling ourselves in this manner. I believe that "spiritual" delusions or hallucinations differ greatly from psychotic episodes. While it may be difficult to pinpoint and articulate the precise difference between the two experiences, true psychotic episodes can usually be identified by an accompanying pattern of clearly bizarre behavior. Whereas people generally incorporate false "spiritual" experiences into their lives in a less frantically neurotic fashion.

Yes everyone has their delusions, I'm delusional.

What do you call people that suicide bomb themselves along with numerous other people and believe by doing this they will have an eternity of unlimited sex with 72 virgins in heaven?

Oh they are just plain delusional too. Just like everyone else. No big deal.

Why would I want 72 virgins anyway?
What a waste of time.
I'd rather have unlimited history lectures and cats to play with.

because it's fun breaking them in?

72 is just greedy though.
72 women would get on my nerves.
1 of them would do.
And lots of cats and museums.
That would be a better heaven.

I would say that religon is a delusion so therefore I am delusional because I happen to buy into one of those delusions. However I would say it isn't necessarily good nor bad. Like all things it only depends on how a person handles these apparant delusions. Like me for example, I use my delusions as a sign of hope and faith to help through hard times for myself and to act good towards others while a terrorist uses them as an excuse to kill people they don't like.

I see what you're saying, but if I thought that the basis of my faith was a delusion... I'd quit.

The deal is I can't quit because of what I have experienced. Don't want to sound like a nutjob but I have have heared and seen paranormal goings on first hand. I hear whispers when I am alone at my dad's place speaking in Cree despite the fact that I can't speak that language. Oddly whenever I ask them to stop they do. I also have heared many footsteps at my aunt's place and don't tell me that it was just the house settling because they had too much of a rhythm to them. Were they simple house settling noises it would be one or two at random intervals but these ones occured almost constantly through the night. I know this is pretty strange and will probably be seen as stupid by some but after bearing witness to all that I have to be a part of religon because I have experienced evidence of life after death first hand. I can't help but think I would be a hypocrate if I were to pretend that they never happened.

I just think it's important to take into consideration the fact that people the world over claim to experience paranormal or spiritual events, many of which contradict each other. While all of them could conceivably be real in the sense of yes, the person really had some kind of sensory experience of unknown origin (whether it was from within or without)... they cannot all be real in terms of truth. I think then, that it is not a good idea to adopt a set of beliefs (or lack thereof) based on personal feelings, callings, and visions.