# Religious Ecstasy **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 3, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926 "2014-06-03T14:19:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/1 "2014-06-03T14:19:44Z")
When I am up late at night sometimes I watch Televangelists. What I find particularly telling is the people in the audience. They seem like they are high on dope or ecstasy. Seriously, these people are stone cold sober but they look like they are drunk or high. The power of the mind to create such a narcotic effect from just the imagination is a bit… impressive. What I like to do is substitute “George” for every reference of Jesus/God. In this case, George, is the Big Red Hamster with magical powers. To see people go into rapture over such references to George really puts it all in perspective. There is just as much evidence for George as there is for Jesus. I’m serious, such a narcotic effect from an idea planted in the minds of believers. And they are stone cold sober. It is kind of daunting… ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/2 "2014-06-03T14:22:12Z")
A pit thread insulting the religious? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4Ru8DMW-grY/maxresdefault.jpg "Bold Strategy Cotton") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ru8DMW-grY) ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/3 "2014-06-03T14:30:14Z")
Say it! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/4 "2014-06-03T14:59:44Z")
A friend is currently dealing with her mother , who is bipolar and refusing medical intervention. The woman is spouting all kinds of religious craziness to anyone who will listen. The funny thing is that without knowing the woman is mentally ill, she could pass as someone who is very religious. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/5 "2014-06-03T15:04:17Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > A friend is currently dealing with her mother , who is bipolar and refusing medical intervention. The woman is spouting all kinds of religious craziness to anyone who will listen. The funny thing is that without knowing the woman is mentally ill, she could pass as someone who is very religious. well, having been in a manic stare before and having taken lots of drugs as well at times, this is why i find it so bewildering “normal” people can get so high on religion and be completely sober. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/6 "2014-06-03T15:22:47Z")
That is one thing I remember from the 90s: television commercials advertising Christian rock music CDs, always showing scenes of the teenage audience members looking like they are going through the most major life shattering emotional roller coaster because someone is singing about Jesus and playing an electric guitar. It made me a little bit sad that my music never brought out such cathartic responses in me. Then the commercial ends and I didn’t care anymore. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/7 "2014-06-03T15:31:30Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > Say it! Blabbabagabba yerreth tsimpai yerevakh pakarr no mi zahn! ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/8 "2014-06-03T16:25:29Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > Say it! Don’t spray it! Why, yes, I DO feel like being 12 years old today. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/9 "2014-06-03T18:15:13Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > To see people go into rapture over such references to George really puts it all in perspective. To be fair, some of them were screaming for John, Paul, or Ringo. ---
**Author:** ![buckgully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@buckgully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buckgully)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/10 "2014-06-03T18:58:51Z")
John or Paul, possibly. Nobody ever screamed for Ringo. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/11 "2014-06-03T20:33:34Z")
If religion wasn’t a gold mine, there wouldn’t be so many of these charlatans in the business. Nothing sells like God; you’ve never seen a car salesman get customers worked into such a frenzy. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/12 "2014-06-03T20:59:16Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > If religion wasn’t a gold mine, there wouldn’t be so many of these charlatans in the business. Nothing sells like God; you’ve never seen a car salesman get customers worked into such a frenzy. /\ this ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/13 "2014-06-03T21:13:29Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > If religion wasn’t a gold mine, there wouldn’t be so many of these charlatans in the business. Nothing sells like God; you’ve never seen a car salesman get customers worked into such a frenzy. That is dead on target, my friend. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/14 "2014-06-03T21:19:19Z")
Football riots, election fever, my car is better than your car… It’s a human thing. We get all het up over minor things. Say, do you unroll the toilet paper over the roll, or underneath the roll? ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/15 "2014-06-03T21:35:13Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Football riots, election fever, my car is better than your car… > > It’s a human thing. We get all het up over minor things. > > Say, do you unroll the toilet paper over the roll, or underneath the roll? football riots is the only example i can think of that approaches religious ecstasy. even extreme patriotism is usually more cerebral than emotional. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/16 "2014-06-04T05:13:40Z")
When it comes to “ecstasy”, I think you are talking about pathos and not logos. Logos is the realm of “believers”. Pathos is… something else. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/17 "2014-06-04T13:45:40Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > football riots is the only example i can think of that approaches religious ecstasy. even extreme patriotism is usually more cerebral than emotional. Clearly, you’ve never put the toilet paper roll on the wrong way around at my house. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/18 "2014-06-04T17:52:42Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Say, do you unroll the toilet paper over the roll, or underneath the roll? Why is this still an issue?! Didn’t we anathematize and suppress the Underrollist Heresy 20 years ago?! ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/19 "2014-06-04T18:51:59Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > If religion wasn’t a gold mine, there wouldn’t be so many of these charlatans in the business. I caught some of Joel Osteen the other day and that guy is downright methodical about preaching to the choir. Nobody is going to listen to a guy who tells them everyting they’re doing is wrong and sinful. But they will listen to a guy who tells them everyone else is being wrong and sinful. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926/20 "2014-06-04T20:02:09Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Nobody is going to listen to a guy who tells them everyting they’re doing is wrong and sinful. Ain’t that how Christianity got its start? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-ecstasy/689926.md?page=2)