Freud - psychology of religion

Criticisms of Freud:

. Horde theory is based upon drawings mere speculations and there is no evidence, it has since been discredited . There is no evidence that guilt is passed through generations as 'racial memories' which Freud suggested . Freud failed to explain religions with female deities or ones which worship one single object . He generalised his results based on only 5 case studies . Malinowski pointed out that in the trobiand race there was no evidence of the Oedipus complex so their religion must have stemmed from elsewhere . Rizzuto argued that religion is no more of an illusion than science

Religion as an illision due to :

1) inner psychological conflict due to supressed memories which are sexual in nature 2)conflict between human nature and societys rules 3)wishfulfillment as a reaction to helplessness and a fear or natural forces

Freuds Challenge to religion : religious response

1) religion is a neurosis : religion is positive and of value to many 2) explains away God based on wish fulfilment : religion claims to have evidence for an external God 3) religion will die out and be replaced by science : Freuds theories have flaws (no evidence primal horde ever occurred)

Has Freud explained away God?

Freud seems to explain God away. He believed that he is a creation of the mind triggered by wish fulfilment or neurosis. He reviewed religion as a mental illness which needed to be cured. He believed that with the advancement of science religion would die out. However there are still things which science can't explain and Freud's theory has not disproved the existence of God. Even if man had created God out of fear and guilt this would not prove that he doesn't exist.

2) Conflict between nature and civilisation

~The Oedipus complex explains that at a young age, during a males sexual development, he has feelings for his mother, when he sees his fathers relationship with her he feels an ambivalence, he is jealous and wants to kill him but also respects him. This ambivalence stems due to the fact that society does not allow for murder or incest. ~Freud backs this theory up using evidence noted by Charles Darwin. He recognised that primitive man lived in hordes like apes. Within these hordes was an alpha male who stole the attention of all the females, the other men were isolated. These men felt ambivalence towards the alpha as they wanted to kill him but also respected him. After killing and eating him they felt guilt so made a totem of him which they worshipped and made an annual sacrifice to remember him ~this reflects religion as according to Freud, religious believers feel ambivalence towards God, they love him but feel guilty as they do not want to sin, so they make God their idol and feast on bread and wine during communion. So religion is an illusion exacted by the mind to come to terms with ambivalent emotions suffered during sexual development

3) Reaction to helplessness and fear of natural forces

*people feel helpless due to external forces such as natural disasters and death, by praying they feel god will control nature and reward them in the afterlife *they also feel helpless due to the internal forces of their human instincts which go against civilisation such as murder, incest and cannibalism. If they mask their internal feelings of internal helpless aggression then God promises to reward them in the afterlife >in childhood our father protects us from feeling of helplessness however in adulthood God gives us a supreme protection from internal and external forces So Freud concluded that believing in a father like God who protects us from the evils of nature as well as human instincts and who will compensate our suffering in the afterlife is nothing more than wishful thinking, an illusion.

1)inner psychological conflict

-unpleasant memories which are invariably sexual in nature aretrapped in the unconscious mind -events that have long since been forgotten -surfaces through obsessive behaviours, rituals or hysterical behaviours -rituals such as obsessive hand washing -there is a feeling of guilt if these rituals are not carried out This links to religion because, their ritual behaviour of prayer and attending church leaves the feeling guilty if they don't go, the hysterical behaviour can also be witnessed in the Toronto blessing So, religion is a form of neurosis

Freuds conclusion on religious value

Without religion there would be anarchy. It would be needlessly cruel to deprive people of it, it does provide great service to society. However it is not beneficial because many religious believers use it justify social immoralities.