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Imaginary dialogue paper

Pastoral Counseling-Reformed Theological Seminary Virtual
Mikhael Lindra 3/27/2012

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Imaginary dialogue between Christian Counselor & Subjectivist Professional Counselor

Subjectivist Professional Counselor (SPC)

: Have you figured how many people become

neurotic because they are repressed by the norm and the standard of religion? In my final thought, I say that religion is the cause of unnecessary war, infliction, tyranny and all evil in this world. Christian Counselor (CC): Without being judgmentally and dogmatically, I will not argue against your thought without being first, asking your ground of your opinion. SPC: As Ludwig Feurbach once said, God is created according to mans image and likeness. Therefore, this image of God or in my own terms the superego is the source of mental illness. Having said that, I do believe that the biggest fraud in the human history is the invention of religion, which gives a false hope to the majority of people who ever walked in this earth. CC: Yes, I do agree with you that the reality of spirituality is the most profound and far-reaching implication for our lives. To add the point to it, I will quote C. S. Lewis, Heres is a door behind which, according to some people, the secret of the universe is waiting for you. Either that is true or it is not. If it is not, then what the door really conceals is simply the greatest fraud. SPC: Absolutely. As you already know, that I am a psychoanalysis therapist and I am standing on what the forefather of Psychoanalysis opinion toward religion. Freud once said, The very idea of an idealized superman in the sky is so patently infantile and so foreign to reality, thatit is 1

painful to think that the great majority of mortals will never rise above this view of life. The objection of those holding the spiritual view is that faith is of divine origin and was given us a revelation by a spirit which the human spirit cannot comprehend. It is a clear case of begging the question. The actual question raised is whether there is a divine spirit and a revelation by it, and the matter is certainly not decided by saying this question cannot be asked. CC: I agree on the impact of the spiritual reality on human life but not on the objectivity of that reality. Despite the profound effect of that reality, it does not determine whether divine revelation exists or not and it does not explain the causality of the universe. SPC: There is no such a thing as divine being who created this universe. Why is that so hard to believe that the universe exists by itself? It is just there, by chance and not by design. CC: Is that so? What about with an analogy that a dictionary does not exist by an explosion of a printing press, does it? SPC: if there is such a thing as a being who created this universe, does that being create such a thing as evil as well? Human nature has an awareness of our mortality that causes pain and our pervasive fear is a separation from those who we loved. How can such a loving and kind being do such evil to his creation? Do you see that this tension brings neurotic to the people? The only suggestion is that we follow Freuds advice to grow up and face the harsh reality that we are alone in this universe. CC: Given the assumption that there is no such a thing as a divine being, who created the universe and the moral law. Thus, there is no distinction between good and evil as well in this 2

universe. If we persist with the assumption, then we need to come up with different argument about the moral law. Otherwise, what is the ground of good and evil according that assumption? Granted the proposition that there is no good and evil in this world. Then all the sufferings, miseries and loss are no more than just the dust in the wind. Because what is the significance of the signifier for the evil experience if it does not give any meaning for our suffering? On the other hand, if we are adopting the idea that there is such a thing as a divine being who created this universe, then we can have the ground for the moral law, thus the distinction between good and evil. Especially, if we believe that the creator is the good and loving kindness, and then all of our sufferings and miseries will bring the meaning because of our perseverance to believe in him in the hard times to believe in his existence. The tension between believing in the existence of the good and loving kindness creator with the reality of evil does not devoid one or another. On the contrary, it gives deeper meaning and understanding of them both. In a sense, that our belief in the good and loving kindness creator intended something good toward our evil experience. So, the conclusion that religion brings neurotic and psychosis is true if the religion is not based on the divine revelation but only the reflection of human mind and idea. But, the divine-revealed-religion will give the transcendent meaning and understanding of our existence and our sufferings. SPC: On the epistemology level, I can understand what are you saying is valid. Nonetheless, most of the time, my method can help many people to find relief from their neurotic. CC: Our debate is not on the practical level, whether or not a method might be work or not. But on the validity of your worldview toward your practice. 3