When Religion Becomes Very Dangerous

Author: Salixes

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#1
Salixes
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In August 2009 Mark Saylor, 45, his wife Cleofe, 45, their daughter Mahala, 13 and brother-in-law Chris Lastrella, 38 all perished in a horrific car crash on a San Diego freeway.

The circumstances surrounding the accident are bizarre to say the least however what happened a moment immediately preceding the deaths of this family is disturbing to say the least.

Mark, the driver, phoned 911 whilst driving along the freeway asking what he could do since the accelerator pedal had jammed fully down under the floor mat, the car just kept accelerating, applying the brakes had little effect and he was quickly running out of road and time to rectify the situation.

The entire family were devout Christians and actively involved in their local church's activities.
Realising that nothing would work to get out of his predicament and that "his time was near" Saylor uttered his final words to his family (they were actually recorded by the emergency services whilst his phone was connected): "Hold on and pray".

The family fell victim to what turned out to be a faulty floor mat that caused the accelerator pedal to jam. The car's manufacturer, Toyota ended up paying massively for the fault.
Interestingly, there were incidences of the same problem happening to quite a number of other drivers. In each of those cases however, the drivers had the presence of mind to solve the problem....simply pull the mat up or at worst, place the transmission selector in neutral.

Yet, what was the solution Saylor came up with?....."Hold on and pray".



#2
Dynasty
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@Salixes
You need studies which shows that Christianity is harmful
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@Dynasty
I have undertaken such studies and cited a prime example.

Have you studied the subject?
At all?
#4
Dynasty
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@Salixes
Provide those studies. And, how come meta-studies show that religiosity tends to positive social outcomes?
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@Dynasty
how come meta-studies show that religiosity tends to positive social outcomes?
Because the "meta studies" that you read are biased and/or you read only edited pieces of studies.

* Teaching followers that myths and fabrications are true, tempered through guilt and fear,
* Instilling doom and gloom.
* Harboring phobias and bigotry and in fact inciting hatred towards minority groups.
* Encouraging followers to mix only with people of their own faith.
* Promoting elitism.
* Dividing families.
* Psychologically and physically abusing children.
* Fostering delusion and other psychological conditions.

Positive social outcomes, are they?
#6
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@Salixes
Sure I have.
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@Salixes
11 threads in one day is dangerous too. Eleven! After a previous day of 10 threads!

I'll say your compulsion to post is dangerous to your health.
#8
ronjs
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@Salixes
People sometimes panic in these situations and may not think of the obvious solutions, but this has nothing to do with Christianity. We all have a time to die, this may have been that families time. The reason for their death at this time may not be self-evident but virtually all deaths tend to have a major impact on at least some of the survivors.

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Salixes
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@ronjs
People sometimes panic in these situations and may not think of the obvious solutions, but this has nothing to do with Christianity.
Nothing to do with Christianity eh?
You are talking generically here.

The specific case I quoted does have something to do with Christianity.
 * The driver and all occupants of the car were devout Christians.
 * Many other drivers with the exact same panic situation managed to resolve the problem.
 * The driver's last words were "Hold on and pray".

And a fat lot of good that course of action did.
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@Salixes
And likely many other Christians have managed to solve the problem too, so by your standards Christianity was a factor in them surviving in a panic situation.

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@ronjs
And likely many other Christians have managed to solve the problem too, so by your standards Christianity was a factor in them surviving in a panic situation.
That's right, but once again, I am not talking generically or generally.
I am talking about this one specific case.

The reason why I am highlighting this one case is that the unique circumstances raise the issue of the fact that religious followers have a tendency to judge situations at face value rather than through logic and reason.

For example, Saylor (and his fellow passengers) thought, "The accelerator is stuck and the car won't stop. What do we do? Let's phone 911."

A (typically) logical and critical-thinking atheist would say, "The accelerator is stuck. Let's work out what we need to do to stop the car and save our lives." Logic would tell him that by shifting the transmission selector into N the engine would immediately disengage and he would have effective braking.
He certainly would not give up at any point and declare defeat.

However, Saylor did just that and furthermore declared the last option be to pray.
#12
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@Salixes
So you must have studied many cases of Christians reacting this way to conclude what religious followers have a tendency to do. Also, was the 911 
responder unable to solve this problem.