The Case for Delusion

As we all (should) know, delusion is clearly defined as:
"an idiosyncratic belief or impression maintained despite being contradicted by reality or rational argument, Typically as a symptom of mental disorder. "

"An idiosyncratic belief" is where many Christian "scholars" take their cue in attempting to poo poo the conclusion that belief in God is idiosyncratic. Their reasoning is that because belief in God is universally accepted, such a belief cannot be described as idiosyncratic.

Indeed, the current DSM-IV definition of delusion exempts religious doctrine from pathology altogether by seeming to infer the same sort of reasoning, namely that the sheer numbers of those who have faith "normalise" religious belief.

But, Surely this is where Christians shoot themselves in the foot.
 * About thirty-one percent of the world's population is said to be Christian.
 * At last count, There are about 30, 000 Christian denominations.
 * Each of those denominations claims it is the one and only "true" religion.
 * For such a fundamental difference to be declared by the proponents of each denomination we are entitled to declare each to be a unique belief.

Therefore, If we take each belief in isolation, we are left with an average of about twenty-three thousand (remember that we are not arguing which is "the" correct "one and only" group) subscribers to each. Hardly enough to be called "normal" in terms of numbers, is it?

And let's not lose sight of the fact that of those who claim or are claimed to be religious, very few actually believe there is a supernatural master.
It is those few who we could therefore say have an idiosyncratic belief and are therefore deluded.