> Subject: RE: religious coping
> From: "Rod Hetzel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> > The most painful case I had in this regard was a=20
> > man who had strong Catholic religious beliefs-who
> > believed deeply that homosexual urges and behavior=20
> > were sinful and yet who experienced uncontrollable=20
> > homosexual desires. His choices were to drink=20
> > himself into sever alcoholism or kill himself if
> > he didn't alter his worldview. Do you try to=20
> > alter the world view or watch him die slowly or=20
> > more quickly-perhaps taking someone else with him?=20
The thing to challenge hear is the limited choices. Why was there no choice to dialog
about the problem? Why was there no choice to challenge (dessent) on the "sinfulness"
of the urges? Most priest I talk to say the urges themselves are not sinful but the
acts that they produce. So then various
courses of action could have been explored. Also levels of sin should have been
discussed. Obviously, according to Catholic tradition, killing himself would have
been a far worse sin than say masturbation or even homosexual contact. Drunkness is
also a sin. Certainly the cognitive dissonace is
there and that should have been explored. Are there ways to lessen or simply live
with the dissonance (I know that many Catholics do this in the area of birth control).
> ...
> I have my own personal beliefs about the truthfulness of a Christian
> worldview, but it is not my role to force that on clients who decide not
> to embrace a similar worldview.
This is the biggest problem. To even try to assume that there is an objective "truth"
about a religious belief is as ludicrous as determining the "truth" of a political
belief. Religion is often based upon revelation and tradition. It's not a matter of
"truth". What you do have is your own beliefs
either counter or supportive but no more closer to "the truth".
Instead, what we should be doing with those whose religious beliefs are different form
our own is explore what that means to them and how they integrate their beliefs into
their own lives. It doesn't matter if we think those beilefs are vlid or not. What
is of most importance is what the
client/patient believes and how it affects his/her behavior and coping with life.
But that is just MY opinion...or is it? (it's certainly not necessarily THE TRUTH)
--
Herb Coleman
IT Manager, Rio Grande Campus
Adjunct Psychology Professor
Austin Community College
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
512-223-3076
******************************************
* "I wish none of this had happened." *
* *
* "So do all who live to see such times. *
* But that is not for them to decide. *
* All we have to decide is what to do *
* with the time that is given to us. *
* There are other forces at work in this *
* world,..., besides the will of evil." *
******************************************
A conversation between Frodo and Gandalf
from the motion picture
"The Fellowship of the Ring"
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