Religion's unrealised lies... stated stories can be believed by many people while a percentage of other people don't easily believe stated stories. Non believers showing and/or expressing their disbelief to those in authority. Self-proclaimed leaders whom are paranoid about losing control, fearful of rebellion, have learnt how to manipulate populations using lies, passing on information down through ruling class generations, writing down how peasant classes can be threatened, how to repress peasant working class using religious “god said to do this, don't do that” lies and images, fears of god given rights powers to rule.

Centuries of observation have written down ideas on how to program children's six days of agricultural worked exhaustion, children's one day a week, Sunday rest day: awareness to images through vaguely explained religious ceremonies; sin forgiving prayers with symbolised hand movement cross signs across priest's chests; imaginative awesome presence of large glorifying church buildings. While peasants live in crowded dirt floor huts.

Turning adult's child-like desires into sins which can be used to impress child emotions of gilt and regret, turning gilt and regret into fear of unforgiven sins, sins that if not forgiven, leads sinners into a fiery pit called hell.

Because whatever conscious thought remains during and after daily hours of exhausting work, boredom is relieved by knee-jerk amygdala emotion prompting hippocampous to believe what is often heard and seen during restful environments to be truth.

Stories can be so foolishly imaginative that any humans capable of thought productive doubt can be detected by priests. Any believer's confession, whom believers are told to be aware of corrupting the soul heretics, keen to find and expose heretics, statements during confession, priests can write down statements for future inquisition questioning.

How people dress and colours of clothing determines the class, social status and power individuals have. Priests, nuns, lawyers and judges wearing black garments.
Queen Elizabeth the first era' Puritans prominent people expressly wear black clothing. Black being to colour of death, constantly reminds people of death is coming.

The Jesus story, created, altered years later to a manipulating sense of leaders, to allow children's intelligence to believe in the short happening event easy to understand, not aware of any threatening meanings, story.

Within the Jesus story, intelligent people could soon realise alternative meanings in the Jesus story, once alternative meanings have been brought to intelligent people's awareness.

Jesus resurrecting Lazarus:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_of_Lazarus

I remember, going back to early 1970s... An ABC Compass program, elderly women guest, said to be an expert in old Judaism religion traditions. The woman suggested that Jewish sects were obsessed about rituals.
My added reading from Encarta 98 on the meaning of the holly spirit. The holly spirit is the belief people have in a religion. Several notable movies have suggested gods power, gods existence depends on believers constant reinforced beliefs.
Religions turn rational explanation messages into Neanderthal peasant class believable magic. A rational message for spirituality is that spirituality is the belief people have in a particular religious sect brand of beliefs. If people chose to believe in another religion or stopped believing all together, people have lost and/or corrupted their spiritual soul.
The women mentioned above, suggested, Jewish sects excommunicating, expelling (healthy still alive) Jews out of their sect, expelling Jews were required to be held in a cave like tomb for a period, I am suggesting four days. Added hints by Christians having non-believing people committing to Christianity are said to be born again Christians. Jesus resurrected still living Lazarus who belonged to no religious sect... Jesus bringing Lazarus into Jesus's own sect.

The reason the Lazarus story is added to the Christian last testament bible Gospel of John, is that Jesus claim to resurrect himself after three days, Jesus believed his complaining to Jerusalem temple priests would only have him expelled from the Jerusalem Temple sect. He believed he would resurrect himself into his own sect. Jesus on the cross, saying “my god, my god, why have you forsaken me”
http://redeeminggod.com/why-have-you-forsaken-me/

My assumption that the reason the Monty Python 1979 movie “The Life Of Brian”, was banned from being shown in many countries, was that Brian who could represent any person and/or many people, Brian was complaining about being on a cross, wondering and/or hoping somehow he would be saved from dying on the cross. Brian ends up singing a song, “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life”.
So the story of Jesus has an alternative humorous meaning, Jesus was delusional about being expelled out of the Jewish temple sect, instead Temple priests handed him over to Roman authorities as a human sacrifice.

The entire Jesus story is conveniently invented to threaten any person who defies established Catholic religion. Any person doing so will be accused of heresy and murdered under ideas that heretic's soul has been corrupted. Burning live heretics resembles the fiery pits of hell. Public burnings of heretics, threatens people whom don't keep up the belief in Catholic ideology. Believing fearful accusations of heresy adult parents, adult parents are going to spend many hours convincing their children “god is real and fires of hell is a very hot place”.

Reasons modern media tell murderous inquisition stories in books and movie documentaries are that stories are still being used to threaten people who complain about ruling class trickery. The Jesus heresy story: Judas kiss of death; rushed through night court using trumped up accusations of heresy are still being used to stop people from exposing establishment are tricking people out of their money and assets; crucifixion cross symbols, five wounds of Jesus, devil ram head fits inside pentagrams, reminds threats to people who were made aware of symbolised meanings.

Democracy and capitalism is merely developed propaganda (jobs and growth) replacement from religious extremism, building temple churches and big houses and/or palaces for living god rulers.

To get children to begin to believe all the lies, children not being forced to do agricultural hard labours, simplifying children's thinking processes. Children are forced to undergo classroom eduction irrelevant to human behavioural learning educational curriculum. Instead of religious doctrine, media provides many irrelevant to real life distractions: murders; sexual abuse; family violence; science magic and political economic propaganda, replacements to an afterlife soul.

All the mental illness society has to put up with, is the price society pays so ruling class establishment can govern without having more than mere words' defiant violent opposition.

Very worth while reading website page below:
http://www.psychforums.com/living-with-mental-illness/topic187100.html#p1938420

steve101.

Hi Craig,

Sorry, I've been trying to decipher Steve's contribution. Nope, still don't get it.

I agree with you that: " .... narrative .... can just as easily be properly evidence-based as otherwise ...."

Yes, indeed, (perhaps not 'just as easily' though), but a narrative with evidence is bound to be very strong, even if many people still don't want to accept it. Solid evidence is hard to deny, or explain away.

As you suggest, " .... all the best stories, even speculative fiction, are based on sound data."

Some may quibble: yes, but what is a 'fact' ? Stephen Fry brought it up last week. But there are such things: King George VI died on February 6, 1952, London time, of lung cancer (I remember they said 'heart trouble'). He once existed; he was a hell of a smoker, i.e. of tobacco; he died. When ? On a certain day, February 6, in a certain year, 1952. His daughter was holidaying in Kenya at the time. Sound like 'facts' to me. Somebody will probably deconstruct all that for us.

Cheers,

Joe