Guest wester Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Freud identifies 3 dissatisfactions that lead people to religion: 1. Protection from the terrors of nature by giving a father in the sky that will take care of us. 2. Helps us to understand the vicissitudes of fate. 3. Compensation and comfort in a heaven for the privations forced upon us by the civilization in which we are forced to live in order to protect ourselves from nature. We believe in the father in the sky not because he is there but because we want him to be there so badly. All of this make religion, in Freud's view, a neurosis. These fears are unconscious and come out in terms of neurotic behavior such as obsessive compulsive or ritualistic behavior. Religion is a group neurosis. Religion is to the large social unit what a neurosis is to the individual. A safety valve for expression of fears that as a society we cannot admit that we have. Religion's projected reality is invested as a factual reality. It is a dysfunctional coping mechanism, bad from start to finish. The Solution is to admit these fears and face them. Just say clearly that you don't like or are uncomfortable with norms and laws of civilization. Realize it and say it. Say clearly that the vicissitudes and power of Nature are beyond your control and make you afraid. Jung wasn't so hard on religion and thought there could be some good aspects to mental health through religious practice. This was a major cause of the split between Freud and Jung. Many people have critiqued Freud's theory here as analogy and not science. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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