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Religion Is a Mind-Virus

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Version 0.5
Copyright © 2007-2009 by Zack Smith.
All rights reserved.

Religion is a virus that invades a host -- the human mind. Like any virus, it takes over the host and uses that host for its sordid purposes, namely reproduction of the virus itself, the infection of other hosts, and competition with other organisms, such as other mind-viruses. This page has the purpose of describing some of the ways in which religion controls its host-victim, the human mind, but this is not yet a complete list.

*Meaning*
Religion convinces its host-victims that only religion is a source of "meaning" or a meaningful life in the world, but it discourages its host-victims from interacting with non-religious people to learn how they're living. The religion mind-virus thus tries to tie all experiences to itself, and induces the illogical belief that life and experiences that are disconnected from the religion have no meaning or importance. This allows it to exert much greater control over the host-victim because it ensures loyalty.
*Isolation*
Religion discourages its host-victims from interacting with people who have different ideas, especially with people who are non-religious. Therefore the virus is granted maximal control without interference from people who might think infection with that virus or with all mind-viruses requires action to disinfect the host.
*Illogic*
The religion mind-virus discourages logical thinking, because such thinking might show the contradictions and inconsistencies of the religion itself.
*Blindness*
The religion mind-virus induces a kind of blindness to obvious benefits of science and engineering. Thus, the virus will lead people to exploit technology without allowing them to recognize that every piece of high technology is a result of scientific advances and scientific thinking. This seems like hypocrisy but really it is caused by the thinking mechanism of the host being disrupted.
*Bigotry*
The religion mind-virus manages its particular group of host-victims by inducing in them bigoted views against those of different groups. This has the purpose of assuring host-victims that it is not worth the trouble to stray from the pack because outsiders are inferior, and forming new loyalties or even friendships undermines the mind-virus's control on the host. The /reason/ for not connecting with others is established as being that the others being inferior, and you are superior. A mind-virus may even promote supremacist views e.g. "we are the chosen ones".
*Infection of the young*
Religion would disappear within a few generations if children were not brainwashed by it. Luckily for religion, children are programmed to believe whatever adults tell them is true. Children can even take nonsense threats about hellfire and eternal damnation as being literally true, as well as miracles.

But for the survival of the mind-virus called religion, it is vital that young people be infected. This can be by their parents or by local infectors (priests, pastors, imams, rabbis, etc.) before they develop a natural immunity to mind-viruses in the form of cognitive ability and critical thinking.

Indeed the actions of the local infector is similar to that of Typhoid Mary or any other person who has sought to infect many people with a disease. The purpose of the infector, conscious or not, is to spread the infection among those most vulnerable to it, namely the very young and the old.

However in the process, the mental torment imposed on children can fairly be called child abuse. The virus is injected into their brain but the infectors seek to keep the child from resisting it, using various kind of conditioning that can amount to torture.

*Bravado*
The mind-virus causes the host-victim to declare an attitude to anyone who might threaten their loyalty to their religion-infection that they can't be changed from their course as an infected (religious) person. Despite the irrationality of this, the host-victim is really exposing his or her own inner imbalance and vulnerability. "You'll never change me" actually means "I have given up my free will to the mind-virus and am adrift under its influence".
*Breeding*
Some religious mind-viruses cause the infected host (human) to desire to reproduce more humans and to ensure that those new humans (children) become infected. The Catholic religion is known for this as is the Muslim mind-virus. But so is the rightwing Israeli Jew mind-virus.
*Genetic code*
A religion possesses two genetic codes:
  1. The written DNA that changes very little over time since it is contained in "sacred" books.
  2. The spoken DNA which evolves rapidly to tackle the cultures and predicaments of new host-victims and which forms new strains that permit infected sub-groups to break into self-quarantining sects.

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