Religions, replicating is their expertise They're infectious, people are the vectors Spreading contagious information Integrating it into their mental matrix A child gets indoctrinated Skepticism hasn't developed yet to inoculate it And the parents believe in a deity Or several deities, yeah, demons and angel seem As real the postman, they believe in them faithfully Even if other people see them as make believe The details tend to be ridiculous Extra credit for those who really stick with it Virus of the mind, if that's what religion is The effects of it are predicted to be negative A burden, a waste, a regrettable detriment No evolutionary benefit It's just a delusion The feelin' I get is incredible no one tell me it isn't amazing You're suffering confusion Are you really thinkin' that you're gonna take it away from me by explaining? It's just a delusion The feelin' I get is incredible no one tell me it isn't amazing You're suffering from Are you really thinkin' that you're gonna take it away from me by explaining? Religions, some people think they're viruses Why else would someone commit suicide for it? Are you tryin' to get a ticket to the paradise party With a kamikaze jihadi bomb on your body? Well a ticket to oblivion is all it's really givin' you Are you infected with a liver fluke? It's lookin' like toxoplasmosis A parasite that infects cats and rodents And the rodent's brain gets some rewiring So they're suddenly attracted to the felines, shwing! Good for the parasite, bad for the host Spread it like the holy ghost A virus of the mind, if that's what religion is The effects of it are predicted to be negative A burden, a waste, a regrettable detriment No evolutionary benefit It's just a delusion The feelin' I get is incredible no one tell me it isn't amazing You're suffering confusion Are you really thinkin' that you're gonna take it away from me by explaining? It's just a delusion The feelin' I get is incredible no one tell me it isn't amazing You're suffering from Are you really thinkin' that you're gonna take it away from me by explaining? Religion, is it good for us or bad for us? Costs and benefits, get the ledger and add them up If it's like a virus, the carriers are vexed With nothin' but negative deleterious effects Or maybe it hitchhikes instead of hijacks us Benign like the mites that live in your eyelashes Or it could be beneficial like commensal Bacteria, makin' digestion less difficult If it's mostly bad for people most of the time Well then it's gotta be a virus of the mind But if you find evolutionary benefits Sufficient to offset the negatives Well then it fails in a test of evidence And virus of the mind theory isn't the best fit You wanna measure evolutionary benefits? Just count the surviving grandkids It's just a delusion Virus of the mind You're suffering confusion It can't be right It's just a delusion Have you seen religious people? You're suffering from Look at their family size! It's just a delusion Virus of the mind You're suffering confusion Virus of the mind It's just a delusion Virus of the mind You're suffering from