Many religious folk 1 believe in the existence of demons and angels, say. Seems harmless, right?

Well I have seen with my own eyes the psychological damage thrust upon someone because of his belief in the existence of demons. He went to bed at night in fear. When riding his bicycle, he would be fearful to look behind him because he was told that demons might be following. He would pray fervently to Jesus every day for Jesus to keep him safe from the cohort of invisible demons who were tugging at his body and soul, incessantly, in order that he may become possessed, infected, or engulfed in some demonic miasma.

Thankfully, he would later come to realise that, well, demons don't exist. That they were made-up ideas taught him by the Bible and by his more spiritual religious superiors.

Today, I can confirm that he lives a much happier and free-er life, free of the psychological turmoil from such beliefs. You see, was not demons, per se, which wreaked such havoc. Instead, it was his belief in them. That person was me, many years ago. Today I am belief free.

Our religious beliefs inform our mental state, at least in part. And our mental state informs both our sense of well-being and our actions. So my relgious beliefs matter, and so do yours.

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1. 1 I declare this to be my own work, entirely. In particular, no AI was used in any research, analysis, synthesis, writing, nor typesetting of this work. In short, AI was not recruited at any time in this work. Errors and inaccuracies are therefore proudly my own.

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