THE BIG QUESTIONS

Please leave any further thoughts or comments about religious experiences:  psychedelic, near-death, healing, possession, etc.

First, here are the links to the great video interviews Steve did:

www.bowesforalloccasions.com/part_a.mov
www.bowesforalloccasions.com/part_b.mov
www.bowesforalloccasions.com/part_c.mov
www.bowesforalloccasions.com/part_d.mov

Next, please your thoughts about any issues related to children and religion in the readings or films.

Do you think it’s possible to say that some forms of religion are psychologically more healthy for children than others?  Evangelical theology includes the kind of apocalyptic ideas that Capps linked to corporal punishment.   What sort of disciplinary philosophy do you think the parents in Jesus Camp practice?

Capps also argues that certain religious ideas are abusive to children.   He thinks that the Virgin Birth of Mary is a dangerous doctrine for children, since it makes Jesus childhood unlike any ordinary child and hides the possibility of Mary’s own troubled childhood.  What did you make of all that?

Please leave your thoughts about Jung’s theory of religion and its relationship to the psyche.

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?

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

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 any comments or questions about Freudian psychoanalysis here.

Feel free to comment on any aspect of these week’s readings.   Since there are many people with Catholic backgrounds in the class, I’d like to ask whether you see any difference between sitings of Bigfoot and sitings of the Virgin Mary, or are these both examples of the same psychological phenomenon?

Please leave comments and/or questions about general issues related to psychology of religion.