THE BIG QUESTIONS

Please leave thoughts about The Matrix here.   If you post your tentative thesis or outline, I will give you my reaction/advice about it.

How does Peck’s treatment of religion compare with the other authors we have read?   On what points would he agree or disagree with Freud and Fromm?    What is your reaction to his interpretation of the Adam and Eve story?    In some ways Peck’s understanding of the unconscious in similar to Freud’s and Fromm’s but in some ways it is very different.   What do you think of it?   Finally, the idea of grace is not something you expect to hear from a psychologist.  What does Peck’s view of grace add to his analysis of religion?

Please post your thesis about LTC and three main points you will make to support your thesis.

Leave your reactions and thoughts about Erich Fromm’s book on Psychoanalysis and Religion here

Please leave your comments about issues involved in film presentations of Jesus, particularly the Last Temptation of Christ.   Which depictions of Jesus conform the most to your own image of Jesus?   Which depictions of Jesus are most effective or appealing on other levels?   What would you focus on if you were a film director making a film about Jesus?   Are there dangers of offending people depending on how Jesus is presented?   Should a director even worry about offending people?

OK, I talked a lot today to lay out a Freudian interpretation of the underlying Oedipal issues in the Adam and Eve story as well as in the basic images and ideas in Christianity related to Jesus and Mary, oh yes, and God.

Now it’s your turn.  Please share your reaction to all of this.   Does it make you think about these stories in a new light?   Is there any validity to this kind of approach in your opinion?   At the very least, you all should be a lot more aware of the various ways that father - son issues are expressed in these stories.

If you are totally unpersuaded, that’s fine, too.  But please explain what part of this interpretation doesn’t make sense to you.   Are you will to admit the possibility of unconscious themes in religious stories?   Does it make you uncomfortable to talk about sexuality and aggression in relationship to Adam, Eve, Jesus, and Mary?  Is there another way to intepret the psychological meaning of these stories?

Please leave your reactions to Chocolat here