Religion as Munchausen Syndrome
Munchausen syndrome is a mental disorder in which you pretend to be ill in order to gain attention and sympathy. Munchausen syndrome is named for Baron von Munchausen (1720–1797), an officer in the German army famous for spinning outrageous yarns about his wartime exploits.
The difference between religion and snake oil is that snake oil promises to cure a real disease while religion promises to cure an imaginary one.
RR
Munchausen syndrome is called a factitious disorder, meaning it has no basis in fact. The dis-eases of brand-name religions are the same. Sticking with our Original Sin example: Billions of people alive today suffer from Original Sin stemming from Eve and Adam’s eating the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. But to suffer from Original Sin, you must first believe that this story is history, and that through Adam sin entered the world (Romans 5:12), and that because of Adam we are all “slaves to sin” until “set free” by Jesus Christ (Romans 6:20, 22). But what if the Garden of Eden story is just that—a story rather than a diagnosis of a dis-ease?
Without mistaking story for history, the dis-ease of Original Sin disappears, and with it the need for Jesus to die as ransom for our sins (1 Timothy 2:6).