> From: "Roderick D. Hetzel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Re: Vivid teaching moment: Benevolent schizophrenia?
>
> Hi everyone:
>
> I've appreciated the posts on vivid teaching moments, but wanted to share
> my thoughts about the last post.
>
> How come whenever people start talking about faith, they tend to describe
> it in terms of some sort of psychological mechanism that wards of anxiety,
> ambiguity, or fear. Take the comment about the research of Taylor and
> Fisk. Is their line of research suggesting that people who believe in a
> higher power are distorting the world in such a way that is pleasing or
> less threatening to them?
>
SNIP
>
> In other words, is a faith in a higher power always the result of trying
> to protect us from some sort of anxiety? Or could it be that instead of
> running away from anxiety or fear, we are actually running towards meaning
> and purpose. Or as Maslow might say, we strive to obtain
> self-actualization. Or, even better, as C.S. Lewis states, we are all
> created with a "God-shaped vaccuum" that we are motivated to fill.
>
> In my clinical experience, some people do use religion or faith to ward
> off anxiety and fear. But do all people use this same psychological
> process, or could it be that some develop faith for less "defensive" and
> perhaps more proactive reasons?
In previous discussions on this list, I've noted the important distinction
between "intrinsic" and "extrinsic" religiousness. In Allport and Ross' original
research on these two concepts, and subsequent research, you will find that
extrinsics tend to use religion, intrinsics live it.
People who score high on extrinsic religiousness tend to be immature,
prejudiced, intolerant, controlling, selfish, and fear death.
So, you'll find that, based on research, extrinsics are much more likely than
intrinsics to approach religion from a fear-based perspective. And this is
usually a very shallow, superficial religiosity, that tends to destruct quite
easily.
************************************************************************
Jim Guinee, Ph.D.
Director of Training & Adjunct Professor
President, Arkansas College Counselor Association
University of Central Arkansas Counseling Center
313 Bernard Hall Conway, AR 72035 USA
(501) 450-3138 (office) (501) 450-3248 (fax)
"Why is it when we talk to God we're praying,
but when he talks to us we're schizophrenic?"
-Lily Tomlin
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