Posted by Elizabeth on November 13, 1999, at 15:56:08
In reply to Re: Depression, Evolution..., posted by CC on November 13, 1999, at 0:50:55
> Another thing worth mentioning is that I think to some extent Cults or otherwise oddball religious groups sometimes prey on people who are vulnerable because of their depression or other mental illness.
CC,
This really hit home for me. I went to MIT as an undergrad. I am not sure if there are any statistics on this, but I have a feeling that MIT probably has one of the highest suicide rates of undergrads at American universities. Anyway, since I was a frosh (1992), there have been quite a few suicides, and a number of times, it turned out that the deceased had been involved with Scientology (which recruits rather vigorously around here).
> As far as eternal bliss getting to be monotonous, there could be worse things, like being stuck in an eternal traffic jam.
You're right, that's worse. (Maybe that's what hell is like? )
> Isn't the stress of work and toil at least part of what causes us to die younger than we would without all these wonderful problems to solve?
Some people seem to be at higher risk for "breaking" (developing cardiovascular problems and so forth, not to mention good ol' depression) under stress. It's a bit of a paradox: if there weren't problems to be solved, we would have no particular reason to exist, yet the problems often cause us to die earlier.
> Do you have faith in man's ability to figure his way out of the myriads of problems that now face us without the help
> of a compassionate God?I have trouble accepting any claim that is based on mysticism, which is exactly what you mean by "faith." Hypotheses should be testable.
poster:Elizabeth
thread:14368
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991108/msgs/15153.html