Coming to you from the first Presbyterian Church in Fort Smith, Arkansas, it's got answers, even though we may not understand, I'll talk

anyway, we have problems. He won't solve them, but I'll talk and talking talking to the blue in the face.

Science, faith, and life.

Ask Science Mike.

Welcome to Ask Science Mike, the weekly podcast where I answer your questions about science, faith, and life.

The questions are unscreened, the answers unrehearsed, and as always always utterly free of any expertise. I've got several

events coming up in case you'd like to see me on the road I'll be at

Northwest Nazarene University, the Hawkins Road Festival in Sarasota doing an ass science Mike live in Chapel Hill

the Iris 2017 conference in Athens, Georgia, the Blue Conference in Fairfax

Virginia and the Christ in Creation Conference with Biologos in Houston, Texas in February

and March.

If you'd like to get more information about where you can see me, just go to ask Science

Mike.com and click on events, but for now we've got a show to do so let's get it started.

Why do you think when people go into psychosis or they have schizophrenia they get

hyper religiosity or they have the devil's Jesus syndrome?

Yeah on your name Donna? Thank you Donna. I just want the internet to know who you are in case I want to find you. So, um, just kidding. So yeah, what is with the association of hyper-religiousity and certain types of mental illness?

That's a fact that is often used by atheists to talk about the folly of religion, right?

Many atheists describe religious faith as a socially acceptable form of psychosis.

Because if anyone else said they heard voices or talked to someone who no one else can

see, you would commit them to a mental institution.

But if they say that they are religious, then they're just normal upstanding members of society.

Now to start, since that's so often an assumption in conversation today

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