| Psychology Of Religion
Psychology of religion involves the gathering and classification
of data (usually wide ranging) and the building of the explanations
of the psychological processes underlying the religious experiences
and beliefs.
Psychoanalytical studies
Sigmund Freud - Oedipus Complex, Illusion
Sigmund FreudSigmund Freud (1856-1939) gave explanations of the
genesis of religion in various of his writings. In Totem and Taboo
he applied the idea of the Oedipus complex (involving unresolved
sexual feelings of, forexample, a son toward his mother and hostility
toward his father) and postulated its emergence in the primordial
stage of human development.
In Moses and Monotheism Freud reconstructed biblical history in
accord with his general theory, but biblical scholars and historians
would not accept his account since it was in opposition to the point
of view of the accepted criteria of historical evidence. His ideas
were also developed in The Future of an Illusion. When Freud spoke
of religion as an illusion, he maintained that it is a fantasy structure
from which a man must be set free if he is to grow to maturity;
and in his treatment of the unconscious he moved toward atheism.
Freud's view of the idea of God as being a version of the father
image and his thesis that religious belief is at bottom infantile
and neurotic do not depend upon the speculative accounts of prehistory
and biblical history with which Freud dressed up his version of
the origin and nature of religion. Authoritarian religion, according
to Freud, is dysfunctional and alienates man from himself.
Carl Jung - Universal Archetypes
The Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung (1875-1961) adopted a very different
posture, one that was more sympathetic to religion and more concerned
with a positive appreciation of religious symbolism. Jung considered
the question of the existence of God to be unanswerable by the psychologist
and adopted a kind of agnosticism.
Jung postulated, in addition to the personal unconscious (roughly
as in Freud), the collective unconscious, which is the repository
of human experience and which contains “archetypes”
(i.e., basic images that are universal in that they recur in independent
cultures). The irruption of these images from the unconscious into
the realm of consciousness he viewed as the basis of religious experience
and often of artistic creativity. Some of Jung's writings have been
devoted to elucidating some of the archetypal symbols, and include
his work in comparative mythology.
Jung had a very broad view of what it means to be empirical. Suppose,
for example, that I hear a voice from deity but that you do not,
even though we are sitting next to each other. If only one person
experiences something, for Jung it is an empirical observation.
For most contemporary scientists, however, it would not be considered
an empirical observation. Because of this, there has been regrettably
little research in the psychology of religion from a Jungian perspective.
Erich Fromm - Desire, Need for Stable Frame
The American scholar Erich Fromm (1900-1980) modified Freudian
theory and produced a more complex account of the functions of religion.
Part of the modification is viewing the Oedipus complex as based
not so much on sexuality as on a “much more profound desire”,
namely, the childish desire to remain attached to protecting figures.
The right religion, in Fromm's estimation, can, in principle, foster
an individual's highest potentialities, but religion in practice
tends to relapse into being neurotic.
According to Erich Fromm humans have a need for a stable frame
of reference. Religion apparently fills this need. In effect, humans
crave answers to questions that no other source of knowledge has
an answer to, which only religion may seem to answer. However, a
sense of free will must be given in order for religion to appear
healthy. An authoritarian notion of religion appears detrimental
.
Other studies
William James : Personal religious experience, Pragmatism
A U.S. psychologist and philosopher, William James (1842-1910)
served as president of American Psychological Association, and wrote
one of the first psychology textbooks. In the psychology of religion,
James's influence endures. His Varieties of Religious Experience
is considered to be the classic work in the field, and is worth
reading by anyone who is interested in psychology and religion.
Indeed, references to James's ideas are common at professional conferences.
James distinguished between institutional religion and personal
religion. Institutional religion refers to the religious group or
organization, and plays an important part in a society's culture.
Personal religion, in which the individual has a mystical experience,
can be experienced regardless of the culture. James was most interested
in understanding personal religious experience.
If personal religious experiences were what James preferred, dogmatism
was something that he disliked. Dogmatic thought, whether religious
or scientific, was anathema to James. The importance of James to
the psychology of religion -and to psychology more generally- is
difficult to overstate. He discussed many essential issues that
remain of vital concern today.
William James hypothesis of pragmatism stems from the efficacy
of religion. If an individual believes in and performs religious
activities, and those actions happen to work, then that practice
appears the proper choice for the individual. However, if the processes
of religion have little efficacy, then there is no rationality for
continuing the practice.
Alfred Adler : Feeling of Inferiority, Perfection
An Austrian psychiatrist who parted ways with Freud, Alfred Adler
(1870-1937) emphasized the role of goals and motivation in his Individual
Psychology. One of Adler's most famous ideas is that we try to compensate
for inferiorities that we perceive in ourselves. A lack of power
often lies at the root of feelings of inferiority. One way that
religion enters into this picture is through our beliefs in God,
which are characteristic of our tendency to strive for perfection
and superiority. For example, in many religions God is considered
to be perfect and omnipotent, and commands people likewise to be
perfect. If we too achieve perfection, we become one with God. By
identifying with God in this way, we compensate for our imperfections
and feelings of inferiority.
Our ideas about God are important indicators of how we view the
world. According to Adler these ideas have changed over time, as
our vision of the world -and our place in it- has changed. Consider
this example that Adler offers: the traditional belief that people
were placed deliberately on earth as God's ultimate creation, is
being replaced with the idea that people have evolved by natural
selection. This coincides with a view of God not as a real being,
but as an abstract representation of nature's forces. In this way,
our view of God has changed from one that was concrete and specific
to one that is more general. From Adler's vantage point, this is
a relatively ineffective perception of God because it is so general
that it fails to convey a strong sense of direction and purpose.
An important thing for Adler is that God (or the idea of God) motivates
people to act, and that those actions do have real consequences
for ourselves and for others. Our view of God is important because
it embodies our goals and directs our social interactions.
Compared to science, another social movement, religion is more
advanced because it motivates people more effectively. According
to Adler, only when science begins to capture the same religious
fervor, and promotes the welfare of all segments of society, will
the two be more equal in people's eyes.
Ludwig Feuerbach : Imagination, Wishes, Fear of Death
Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach (1804-1872), in his work The Essence of
Christianity (1841) set up a strong criticism of Christian religion.
The "omnipotence of feeling" in human nature leads to
a variety of religious faith : the faith in providence, which is
a form of confidence in the infinite value of one's own existence;
faith in miracle, the confidence that the gods are unfettered by
natural necessity and can realize one's wishes in an instant; and
faith in immortality, the certainty that the gods will not permit
the individual to perish.
Imagination (Phantasie) is the original organ of religion. The
imagination, unlike abstract thought, produces images that have
the power to stir the feelings and emotions. Human beings are sensuous
creatures who require sensuous images as vehicles for their hopes
and dreams. Feuerbach explained the difference between polytheism
and monotheism as a result of the imagination being fascinated by
the multiplicity of beings, in the former case, and by the coherence
and unity of the world, in the latter case. The Christian imagination,
however, closes its eyes to nature, separates the personified essence
of nature entirely from sense perception and transforms what was
originally nature into an abstract unified metaphysical being. Feuerbach
attributed the psychological hold of Christianity on humans to lie
in its assurance of personal recognition by the Divine and the hope
of immortality.
As a conscious being bent on its own fulfillment, the person has
purposes, needs, and desires, the shadowside of which is the awareness
that these may be frustrated. Hence, all wishes are accompanied
by anxiety and fear, a pervading sense of the nothingness that clings
to all human activity. With the wish that this nothingness be removed,
the conception of the gods arises.
The gods represent the unity of willing (Wollen) and being able
to succeed (Können). A god is simply a being in which this
distinction has been annulled. "Where there are no wishes there
are no gods".
For Feuerbach, the supernatural deities arise from our fears and
desires people have of fearsome aspects of nature. For example,
lightning, fire, flood, and other catastrophes appear attributed
to the effective intranquality between humans and a their higher
deity, or perhaps between a conflict between higher deities.
Gordon Allport : Mature Religion and Immature Religion
His classic book, The Individual and His Religion, Gordon Allport
(1897-1967) illustrates how people may use religion in different
ways. He makes a distinction between Mature religion and Immature
religion. Mature religious sentiment is how Allport characterized
the person whose approach to religion is dynamic, open-minded, and
able to maintain links between inconsistencies. In contrast, Immature
religion is self-serving and generally represents the negative stereotypes
that people have about religion. More recently, this distinction
has been encapsulated in the terms "intrinsic religion",
referring to a genuine heart-felt devout faith, and "extrinsic
religion", referring to a more utilitarian use of religion
as a means to an end, such as church attendance to gain social status.
These dimensions of religion were measured on the Religious Orientation
Scale of Allport and Ross (1967). A third form of religious orientation,called
quest, has been described by Daniel Batson (b. 1943). This refers
to treatment of religion as an open-ended search (Batson, Schoenrade
& Ventis, 1993).
Erik H. Erikson : Influence on Personality developement
Erik Erikson (1902-1994) is best known for his theory of psychological
development, which has its roots in the psychoanalytic importance
of identity in personality. His biographies of Gandhi and Luther
reveal Erikson's positive view of religion. He considered religions
to be important influences in successful personality development
because they are the primary way that cultures promote the virtues
associated with each stage of life. Religious rituals facilitate
this development. Erikson's theory has not benefited from systematic
empirical study, but it remains an influential and well-regarded
theory in the psychological study of religion.
Rudolf Otto : Non-rational Experience
Rudolf Otto (1869-1936) was a german protestant theologian and
scholar of comparative religion. Otto's most famous work, The Idea
of the Holy (published first in 1917 as Das Heilige) defines the
concept of the holy as that which is numinous. Otto explained the
numinous as a "non-rational, non-sensory experience or feeling
whose primary and immediate object is outside the self". It
is a mystery (Latin: mysterium tremendum) that is both fascinating
(fascinans) and terrifying at the same time; A mystery that causes
trembling and fascination, attempting to explain that inexpressible
and perhaps supernatural emotional reaction of wonder drawing us
to seemingly ordinary and/or religious experiences of grace. This
sense of emotional wonder appears evident at the root of all religious
experiences. Through this emotional wonder, we suspend our rational
mind for non-rational possibilites.
It also sets a paradigm for the study of religion that focuses
on the need to realize the religious as a non-reducible, original
category in its own right. This paradigm was under much attack between
approximately 1950 and 1990 but has made a strong comeback since
then.
Psychometric Approaches to Religion
Since the 1960s, psychologists have knitted psychology of religion
and psychometrics, using questionnaires to measure different dimensions
of religiosity. One of the most famous examples is the Religious
Orientation Scale of Allport and Ross (1967), which measures how
respondents stand on intrinsic and extrinsic religion as described
by Allport). More recent questionnaires include the Religious Life
Inventory of Batson, Schoenrade and Ventis (1993), and the Age-Universal
I-E Scale of Gorsuch and Venable (1983). The former assesses where
people stand on three distinct forms of religious orientation -
religion-as-means, religion-as-end and religion as quest. Since
1970, various questionnaires have been developed to assess religious
experiences, including Hood's (1975) M-Scale and the Francis-Louden
Mystical Orientation Scale (Francis & Louden, 2000). Hood's
M-Scale is relevant to mysticism. A more recent psychometric approach
than that proposed by Allport and Ross (1967) has come from Vicky
Genia (Genia, 1997). Genia has developed the Spiritual Experience
Index (S.E.I.), on which people are assessed on two orthogonal dimensions
- spiritual support, referring to gaining solace from religion,
and spiritual openness, referring to openness to different spiritual
traditions. She has argued that the most mature forms of spirituality
are those high in both spiritual support and spiritual openness.
She proposes that people go through stages to reach this peak of
spiritual maturity, making her work relevant to Developmental approaches
to religion.A comprehensive list of questionnaires used in psychometric
approaches to the study of religion is given in Hill and Hood (1999).
Hill and Pargament (2003) have answered many of the criticisms that
may be levelled against psychometric approaches to the study of
religion, in an article which considers the problems inherent in
attempts to distinguish religion and spirituality.
Developmental Approaches to Religion
Attempts have been made to apply stage models, such as that of
Jean Piaget, to how children develop ideas about God and about religion
in general. Stage models tracing spiritual development across the
life-span include that of James Fowler, and a recent contributor
here has been Vicky Genia (see information given under Psychometric
Approaches to Religion).
Religion and coping with Stress
Psychologists of religion have looked at how individuals may use
religion as a resource in coping with stress. A major contributor
here is Kenneth Pargament, whose work shows the influence of attribution
theory.
Evolutionary Psychology of Religion
Evolutionary psychology is based on the presumption that, just
like hearts, lungs, livers, kidneys, and immune systems, cognition
has functional structure that has a genetic basis, and therefore
evolved by natural selection. Like other organs and tissues, this
functional structure should be universally shared amongst humans
and should solve important problems of survival and reproduction.
Evolutionary psychologists seek to understand cognitive processes
by understanding the survival and reproductive functions they might
serve.
Pascal Boyer is one of the leading figures in the cognitive psychology
of religion, a new field of inquiry that is less than fifteen years
old, wich accounts for the psychological processes that underlie
religious thought and practice. In his book Religion Explained,
Boyer's shows that there is no simple explanation for religious
consciousness. Boyer is mainly concerned with explaining the various
psychological processes involved in the acquisition and transmission
of ideas concerning the gods.
Religious persons acquire religious ideas and practices through
social exposure. The child of a Zen Buddhist will not become an
evangelical Christian or a Zulu warrior without the relevant cultural
experience. While mere exposure does not cause a particular religious
outlook - A person may have been raised a Roman Catholic but leave
the church - nevertheless some exposure seems required - this person
will never invent Roman Catholicism out of thin air. Boyer claims
that cognitive science can help us to understand the psychological
mechanisms that account for these manifest correlations and in so
doing enable us to better understand the nature of religious belief
and practice. To the extent that the mechanisms controlling the
acquisitions and transmission of religious concepts rely on human
brains, the mechanisms are open to computational analysis. All thought
is computationally structured, including religious thought. So presumably,
computational approaches can shed light on the nature and scope
of religious cognition.
Boyer moves outside the leading currents in mainstream cognitive
psychology and suggests that we can use evolutionary biology to
unravel the relevant mental architecture. Our brains are, after
all, biological objects and the best naturalistic account of design
in nature is Darwin's theory of evolution. To the extent that mental
architecture exhibits intricate design, it is plausible to think
that the design is the result of evolutionary processes working
over vast periods of time. Like all biological systems, the mind
is optimised to promote survival and reproduction in the evolutionary
environment. On this view, all specialized cognitive functions broadly
serve those reproductive ends.
For Steven Pinker, the universal propensity toward religious belief
is a genuine scientific puzzle. He thinks that adaptationist explanations
for religion don't meet the criteria for adaptations. An alternative
explanation is that religious psychology is a by-product of many
parts of the mind that evolved for other purposes.
Religion and drugs
Karl Marx : Religion as Opium of the people
Karl Marx thinks religion is "the opium of people". He
asserts that "Morals, religion, metaphysics and other forms
of ideology and the forms of consciousness corresponding to them
no longer retain their apparent independence. It is not consciousness
that determines life, but life that determines consciousness".
Marx compared religion to opium (a drug that lessen pain and create
fantasies ) because he saw religion playing the same role in the
life of the people. Through religion, the life of the pain workers
that suffered in a cruel and exploitative world, was eased by the
fantasy of a supernatural world void of all sorrow and oppression.
In this perspective, he sees religion as escapism. This escapism
shifted the gaze upward to an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-enduring
God who occupies a perfect Heaven.
J.H. Leuba : Mystical experience and drugs
The american psychologist J.H. Leuba (1868-1946), in A Psychological
Study of Religion, accounts for mystical experience psychologically
and physiologically, pointing to analogies with certain drug-induced
experiences. Leuba argued forcibly for a naturalistic treatment
of religion, which he considered to be necessary if religious psychology
was to be looked at scientifically. Shamans all over the world and
in different cultures have traditionally used drugs, especially
psychedelics for their religious experiences. In this communities,
the absorption of drugs leads to dreams, visions, through a sensory
perception distorted.
William James accounted also for the mystical experience in a drug-induced
perspective, leading him to make some experiments with nitrous oxide
and even peyote. He concludes that while the revelations of the
mystic hold true, they hold true only for the mystic; for others,
they are certainly ideas to be considered, but can hold no claim
to truth without personal experience of such.
Drug-induced religious experiences
The drugs used by religious communities for their hallucinogenic
effects were adopted for explicit and implicit religious functions
and purposes. The drugs were and are reported to enhance religious
experience, through visions and a distortion of the sensory perception
(like in dreams in a state of sleep).
- Cannabis sativa, which grows all over the world except in very
cold climates, is used in religious practices in Indian and African
communities.
- Certain Hallucinogenic Mushrooms are used by cultists among
the Indians in Latin America, especially in the state of Oaxaca
in southern Mexico. The chief species is Psilocybe mexicana ,
of which the active principle is psilocybin and its derivative
psilocin, in their chemical composition and activity not unlike
LSD (D-lysergic acid diethylamide); the latter is synthesized
from the alkaloids (principally ergotamine and ergonovine) that
are constituents of ergot, a growth present in grasses affected
by the disease also called ergot. Amanita muscaria (fly agaric)
is another mushroom having hallucinogenic properties that has
not been thoroughly studied. It may be extremely important, since
it may have been the natural source of the ritual soma drink of
the ancient Hindus and the comparable haoma used by the Zoroastrians.
[[Fly agaric, which is extremely toxic, is said to have, in addition
to its hallucinogenic properties, the ability to increase strength
and endurance; it is said also to be a soporific.
- Peyote used by some indian communities of Mexico. The chief
active principle of peyote is an alkaloid called mescaline. Like
psilocin and psilocybin, mescaline is reputed to produce visions
and other evidences of a mystical nature. Despite claims of missionaries
and some government agents that peyote—from the Nahuatl
word peyotl (“divine messenger”)—is a degenerative
and dangerous drug, there appears to be no evidence of this among
the members of the Native American Church, a North American Indian
cult that uses peyote in its chief religious ceremony. Peyote,
like most other hallucinogenic drugs, is not considered to be
addictive and, far from being a destructive influence, is reputed
by cultists and some observers to promote morality and ethical
behaviour among the Indians who use it ritually.
- Ayahuasca , caapi, or yajé, is produced from the stem
bark of the vines Banisteriopsis caapi and B. inebrians. Indians
who use it claim that its virtues include healing powers and the
power to induce clairvoyance, among others. This drink has been
certified by investigators to produce remarkable effects, often
involving the sensation of flying. The effects are thought to
be attributable to the action of harmine, a very stable indole
(structurally related to LSD) that is the active principle in
the plant.
- Kava drink, prepared from the roots of Piper methysticum, a
species of pepper, and seemingly more of a hypnotic–narcotic
than a hallucinogen, is used both socially and ritually in the
South Pacific, especially in Polynesia.
- Iboga, or ibogaine, a powerful stimulant and hallucinogen derived
from the root of the African shrub Tabernanthe iboga (and, like
psilocybin and harmine, a chemical relative of LSD), is used by
the Bwiti cult in Central Africa.
- Coca, source of cocaine, has had both ritual and social use
chiefly in Peru.
- Datura , one species of which is the jimsonweed, is used by
native peoples in North and South America; the active principle,
however, is highly toxic and dangerous. A drink prepared from
the shrub Mimosa hostilis that is said to produce glorious visions
in warriors before battle, is used ritually in the ajuca ceremony
of the Jurema cult in eastern Brazil.
- Salvia divinorum, a member of the sage family of plants, is
a mild hallucinogen used by Mazatec shamans for "spiritual
journeys" during healing.
The Effects of Meditation
The large variety of meditation techniques share the common goal
of shifting attention away from habitual modes of thinking and
perception, in order to permit experiencing in a different way.
Many religious and spiritual traditions that employ meditation
assert that the world most of us know is an illusion. This illusion
is said to be created by our habitual mode of separating, classifying
and labeling our perceptual experiences. Meditation is empirical
in that it involves direct experience. Though it is also subjective
in that the meditative state can be directly known only by the
experiencer, and may be difficult or impossible to fully describer
in words.
Concentrative meditation can enable to reach an altered state of
consciousness characterized by a loss of sensory awareness of extraneous
stimuli, one-pointed attention to the meditation object to the exclusion
of all other thoughts, and feelings of bliss.
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