A Headline in a recent newspaper in the UK said, "Faith can ease pain". Apparently some scientists did an experiment, using Catholics and Athiests, who were asked to look at a picture of the Virgin Mary whilst being "tortured" with electric shocks.

The surprise for the scientists was that the Catholics were able to deal with the pain far better than those who were not Catholics!

They do admit in the final paragraph that it may be possible for athiests to look on an image of great imprtance to them and cope with the pain like the Catholics did!

Even before I read that last paragraph I had come to the conclusion that this is not just about faith, but something else which we tend to place under the header of faith, or belief.

Actually, it comes down to what you are focusing your attention on at the time of the pain. If you are looking at something that has great meaning, and even good memories for you, then by focusing on the good thoughts you distract the body's sense mechanisms and reduce the pain level considerably!

The brain can only do ONE THING AT A TIME! Just as a computer can only do one thing at any given moment, it nevertheless can appear as if it is doing more than one thing, but the activities which the brain authorises are subject to a time delay and the mind can be assessing a different matter whilst the arm, leg, heart, other bodily parts, are carrying out the activity.

It is also possible to "shift" the "consciousness" to another part of the brain. I know because I did it in the past (much harder now to do this unfortunately). I remember several years ago I had to have an injection into my heel, without any anaesthetic and I was warned the injection would hurt but it was important that the area was left as it was so that the precise point in which the large needle would be placed was exactly where it should be. To numb it first could result in the injection missing the "spot" where the pain arose! Being warned, and having read somewhere beforehand that it was possible to "shift the consciousness" of the mind, I found it necessary to try and do this for the pain was excrutiating!!! And I did do it. The pain had reached a point where I was about to pass out and instead I purposefully moved my conscious self inside my head to the right. I could tell I was slightly out of normal position, but the pain levelled out and became easier to deal with. Because of this I kept my foot totally still, and the injection was successfully administered, and the result very soon after felt miraculous as the severe pain I had felt when putting weight on my foot had disappeared.

How often do stage magicians distract your attention at a crucial moment so you don't see the sleight of hand they are about to perform? How often do politicians try to make something that we know is bad seem to be less worse, often by mentioning a totally different subject? How often to advertisers try to convince us that the product they make is the best thing in the world and just what we should have, even when it is nothing more than a load of rubbish?

By allowing ourselves to have our minds distracted, and moving our mind's attention onto something else, we can deal with things that would normally be too painful to bear. This is the main purpose of religious belief. By believing in something that can't be proved, but only accepted even if it is false, can in a way help us to get through those difficult times that would otherwise be even more painful. This at least gives some valid positive purpose for what many, including me, term to be a false belief, certainly within the orthodox religions. But it is the reason why I accept that for many people this religious belief is what helps them survive, and whilst I won't use these forms, I am happy for others to do so. In the end, it helps all of either directly or indirectly to have a passable life.

What are your views?