Quote:
Originally Posted by Shap
Hey Mitch!
I remember Beth telling me she had a psychology class that was devoted to the belief of religion and examining those who do and those who don't believe in it. And from a psychological standpoint those who believe in some sort of God benefit more than those who don't. The belief in the possibility of their being a greater force is more powerful psychologically than not believing in anything.
I always think of Holyfield. I don't think he was necessarily the best fighter when he was champ but he always seemed to believe that God was behind him and he seemed almost blinded by that belief.
Also, when I lived in the Bahamas I saw first hand how important it is to society to have religion. It was the first time I witnessed why it is necessary to have poor people believe in a higher power. Religion gives extremely poor people a reason to be good people. The people we saw were so poor they lived in tents and had absolutely nothing and yet spent their days working on million dollar homes doing shit work with no food and just a jug of water in the blazing Bahamas heat. I strongly believe religion is what kept those people from stealing as much as they could from their clients. Jail isn't enough of a deterrent when you have absolutely nothing.
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I have a friend who is very religious. So religious in fact I was with him and his wife once and we went through a fast food drive through on our way to the movies. He was driving and he closed his eyes and bowed his head to give thanks for the food while driving down he road. He said not to worry, God will protect us.
Here is the interesting thing. They are always struggling for money and it is their own fault. They are always moving. Every 3-4 years they are off to a new city because God is calling them there. So he can never get established in his job and start making a decent living.
I have my own theories about these moves and think that it has more to do with his wife wanting to control him than God calling them somewhere, but hitting on your point he is always upbeat and sure something great is going to happen just around the corner.
His belief comes from what he calls a miracle. He got a few concussions as a kid and it gave him narcolepsy and some other kind of disorder. He had been on medication for it for a long time. One weekend his wife was out of town visiting her family and he realized he was out of medication and couldn't get more. He was told without it would have seizures and other issues. His wife told him to pray and ask God to heal him. He made it through the weekend without any problems and has never taken the medication again.
Personally, I think it is because it has been 20 years since his last head injury and over the years he has healed, but he thinks it is a miracle so now he is uber-devout.