Choose from the list of topics - Essay Example

Just because a behavior is unusual to some, does not make it unusual to others. For example, Catholics can choose to attend their religious services once a week, not at all or every day, depending on the neighborhood in which they leave. While it might seem unusual to some to want to go to church every day, are they hurting anyone? As a Muslim, I am required by my faith to pray five times a day. May I choose to pray more? Of course I may, but if I were to pull out my prayer mat and pray more than five times a day, I may be seen as unusual.

That does not, however, mean that I need to be treated for a religious disorder, because I am not harming myself. I can also pray more than five times a day while conducting my daily life without much interruption. Since unusual religious behavior is a rather broad term, I have used rather broad examples above. However, there are religious behaviors that are not only unusual, but harmful to a person physically and mentally. In some religions, there is a consumption of alcohol. If a person felt that by drinking the alcohol that was served until it was gone, they would become closer to their God, then this is a behavior that would not only be considered unusual but also harmful.

Alcohol poisoning, drunkenness, and other factors must be taken in play. Another example to consider is a person who feels that they cannot and should not leave their house of worship, for any reason. A person that feels that only within those walls were they safe from death, fear, destruction, sickness, or any other factors. This, clearly, is not only unusual harmful mentally but also impedes living of their daily life, and therefore, the root cause of this behavior must be treated psychologically so that this person may resume their daily life.

Temptation is, by its very nature, all around us. Every day we face temptation in varying degrees. Evil is all around us, and tries to tempt us into making the wrong decision; by being strong, we avoid the evil actions. We cannot, however, avoid the evil or blasphemous thoughts, from wishing the person that just cut off our car on the freeway would crash to glancing twice at the person that looks just a little bit better-looking than our significant other. Normal religious behavior is to accept the guilt for these actions and ask for forgiveness, after which we are forgiven and can go on about our daily lives until the next temptation pops up in our face.

A person that feels that they must pray for forgiveness, even out in public, for the transgressions that have occurred should not be considered unusual, as they are simply practicing their faith and quietly asking for forgiveness. However, if a person was praying constantly, excessively, refusing to stop and wracked with guilt over the slightest transgression, that would be both harmful to them as well as prohibit them from living their daily life. They should then be treated for a religious disorder.

Along those same lines, if a person felt that they were doomed to hell, becoming depressed and despondent because of what they saw as the many numerous transgressions that they had committed, they should be treated for a religious disorder. They have become a danger to themselves, sinking into deep depression and unable to live their daily lives as they are constantly dwelling on these so-called transgressions and what they see as a need for forgiveness. Persons in this state