Faith: How it all came apart

[TEG]

Denial is a defense mechanism, and some people need it.  Czar Nicholas’ mother could not believe that he and his family had been murdered by the bolsheviks, and went to her grave believing that they were alive somewhere; it kind of fills you with pity.  I think some people just plain cannot accept unfiltered reality:  that there is no inherent meaning to life, there is no absolute truth, your life is not in anyone’s hands, my son is gone forever and someday I will be too . . . .

[LostinParis]

I don’t think religion is a mental illness although Freud did, and I like this quote of his:

 

“Religion is a system of wishful illusions together with a disavowal of reality, such as we find nowhere else but in a state of blissful hallucinatory confusion.”

[Myrkhoos]

            About defence mechanisms. We might not me aware, because that is what they do,, BUT we all NEED defence mechanisms. Defence mechanisms are just healthy stuff. They can get extreme, but look, in a state of danger, our psyche denies contact with what is overwhelming. This happens to most of the people in dangerous situations. Something gets shut off so you can act quickly and prevent disintegration. The thing is, afterwards, you need to be able to process that, in a relative state of safety. Not the best analogy, but most would not survive massive surgery without anesthesia. So anesthesia, properly used, seems good, when good is thought of as appropiate to the means and purpose.

             And about unfiltered reality. I mean it is obvious to anyone that we as humans ALWAYS get filtered reality. As in our biology filters matter. We can perceive a certain amount of light/sound, etc. Holding to a position of reality is only LIKE this can become as dogmatic as any religion.