Religion vs. Therapy

Last updated on: May 18, 2013 at 3:22 pm by John Halstead

Religion vs. Therapy 2013-05-18T15:22:13-05:00 John Halstead

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Over at Patheos, in a post entitled, “another false divide”, deity-centric hard polytheist Aine makes a case that worship of the gods should benefit the worshiper as much as the worshipee. Believe it or not, this is something of a radical statement to make in the polytheistic community. Aine’s post is in response to the belief, common among hard polytheists, that religion is about serving the gods, not self-improvement. Aine writes:

“But I am so sick, and so tired, and just all together done with this idea that you’re a bad religious person if you are actually concerned with your own well-being and how the gods and spirits can help you in that way.”

Aine acknowledges that this attitude is in response to “the grabby-hands behavior a lot of religious folk, like myself, have seen, where the gods are considered tools to be utilized and just archetypes to play around with in your mind.” But, for Aine, the pendulum has now swung too far in the other direction. Aine writes: “I think the sentiment that the gods aren’t pretty tools is useful, for those of us who are trying to find other like-minded folk, but I also think the ‘religion isn’t therapy’ has become damaging.”

For Aine, devotion to his gods is about a reciprocal relationship, and devotion to the gods and personal healing are not mutually exclusive:

“My religion has helped me more than I can ever say, and so have the gods and spirits. I return to them as much as I can, in exchange for what they have given me. But I would not have the courage to reach out if I was convinced that serving the gods meant just offering them and approaching them as a perfect being, or one that was not aching for them and their healing, and my religion would be much weaker.“

And, as Aine explains, working on oneself is part of a healthy relationship: “I could not serve the gods if I were not involved in mirror work, pulling myself apart and stitching myself together again, breaking my perceptions and forming new ones.”

While Aine and I differ about the nature of the gods existing as persons “outside” of us, and I take exception to Aine’s juxtaposition of the words “just” and “archetypes”, I nevertheless really enjoyed this post. It exposes the common ground which exists between those following deity-centric and Self-centric paths.

I have difficulty understanding the kind of self-denying other-directed forms of worship that hard polytheism represents, and I have a kind of gut reaction revulsion whenever I see it. The words of Mercutio from Romeo and Juliet come to my mind unbidden: “O calm, dishonourable vile submission!” But I know that’s my ego raging against the “dying of the light” (Dylan Thomas). In my calmer moments, though, I admit that there is something appealing about a kind of spiritual surrender to a divine “other”. As Aldous Huxley explains in The Devils of Loudun:

“Introspection, observation and the records of human behavior in the past and at the present time, make it very clear that an urge to self-transcendence is almost as widespread and, at times, quite as powerful as the urge to self-assertion. Men desire to intensify their consciousness of being what they have come to regard as ‘them selves,’ but they also desire — and desire, very often, with irresistible violence — the consciousness of being someone else. In a word, they long to get out of themselves, to pass beyond the limits of that tiny island universe, within which every individual finds himself confined.”

I think it possible to interact with the gods as “other”, even surrender to those gods, without necessarily believing that they are “outside” of us. This act of surrender is something that I want to explore in future posts.

Previous Post

May 5, 2013

Longing and Grace in Lev Grossman's The Magician King

Next Post

May 19, 2013 Am I an animist?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Ritual Scripts Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Christian denomination is known for the "Book of Common Prayer"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Lutheran Baptist Presbyterian Anglican