At the conclusion of Elaine Pagels’ lecture on the Book of Revelation, the first question someone asked her was why does religion persist? Pagels answered: “I think because this is about emotion. This isn’t conceptual. People who talk about it as if it matters whether you believe in God or not, have got [...]
Tags:attachment·Elaine Pagels·emotions·fear·Future of An Illusion·Revelation·Robert Fuller·separation anxiety·Sigmund Freud·Spirituality in the Flesh
Anyone studying religion will sooner or later read Sigmund Freud’s classic, The Future of an Illusion (1927). I was engaged in my fifth reading today and came across this passage:
Thus I must contradict you when you go on to argue that men are completely unable to do without the consolation of the religious illusion, that [...]
Tags:atheism·fear·helplessness·lack of telos·loss of parents·loss of protection·meaninglessness·neurosis·religious delusion·religious illusion·replacement with god·secular·secularization·separation anxiety·Sigmund Freud·The Future of an Illusion
As most social and critical theorists know, Karl Marx asserted that the “criticism of religion is the premise of all criticism” (Critique of Hegel, 1843). This is a startling foundational statement coming from Marx, who also thought that the criticism of religion was complete — a key accomplishment which enabled him to proceed with his [...]
Tags:Christopher Craig Brittain·critical theory·criticism·Critique of Hegel·Essence of Christianity·evolutionary history·Frankfurt School·Friedrich Nietzsche·God is Dead·God is Not Dead·historical materialism·human constructions·Karl Marx·Lectures on the Essence of Religion·Ludwig Feuerbach·Marxism·Max Horkheimer·Max Horkheimer on Religion·metaphysical truths·mystification·Sigmund Freud·social theory·supernaturalism
“Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the [...]
Tags:afterlife beliefs·Alexa Tullett·angst·anxiety·burials·Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right·distress·Do Hominid Burials Indicate a Belief in Spirits or Souls·effect of religiosity·Epiphenom·error reactions·fear·Future of An Illusion·grave goods·Homo neanderthalensis·Homo sapiens·Karl Marx·life after death·Michael Inzlicht·mortuary practices·Neanderthals·opiate·opium·proto-religion·received wisdom·Reflecting on God·Rhawn Joseph·Sigmund Freud·theism·Transmitter to God
Over at the New Humanist, Tom Rees has posted a nice article asking “Who Needs God?” and “Why is religion on the rise in so many countries?” The frame for Rees’ commentary is modernization theory, which claimed that as countries developed and became more “modern,” religion would decline and people would become more secular.
As Rees [...]
Tags:American religiosity·cognitive science of religion·Karl Giberson·modernization·Rodney Stark·secularization·Sigmund Freud·Tom Rees
Though not the first to note that emotions and religion are inextricably linked, Sigmund Freud forcefully argued that religious belief is grounded in emotional or affective dysfunction. The Future of an Illusion remains a classic work in this vein. Freud’s ideas, unfortunately, carry with them a normative (and non-empirical) taint which makes them less persuasive [...]
Tags:emotions·Robert Fuller·Sigmund Freud·Spirituality in the Flesh
