DOCSLIB.ORG

Running Head: RELIGION, PSYCHOLOGY, and SUFFERING

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Running Head: RELIGION, PSYCHOLOGY, and SUFFERING i Running head: RELIGION, PSYCHOLOGY, AND SUFFERING Dealing with Suffering: A Comparison of Religious and Psychological Perspectives By Emily Pimpinella B.A., Alfred University, 2005 M.S., Antioch University New England, 2008 DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Psychology in the Department of Clinical Psychology of Antioch University New England, 2011 Keene, New Hampshire RELIGION AND SUFFERING ii DISSERTATION COMMITTEE PAGE The undersigned have examined the dissertation entitled: DEALING WITH SUFFERING: A COMPARISON OF RELIGIOUS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES presented on March 10, 2011 by Emily Pimpinella Candidate for the degree of Doctor of Psychology and hereby certify that it is accepted*. Dissertation Committee Chairperson: Victor Pantesco, EdD Dissertation Committee members: Barbara Belcher ‐Timme, PsyD David Junno, PsyD Accepted by the Department of Clinical Psychology Chairperson Kathi A. Borden, PhD on 3/10/11 * Signatures are on file with the Registrar’s Office at Antioch University New England. RELIGION AND SUFFERING iii Table of Contents Abstract.........................................................................................................................................1 Rationale and Background.......................................................................................................2 Definition of Terms..................................................................................................................4 Religion...............................................................................................................................4 Suffering .............................................................................................................................4 Goals ........................................................................................................................................5 Method ..........................................................................................................................................7 Paradigm ..................................................................................................................................7 Epistemology ......................................................................................................................7 Social constructionism.............................................................................................................8 Exploration of the Material......................................................................................................11 Religion and Psychology ..............................................................................................................12 Religion and the General Population .......................................................................................12 Motivation for following a religion ....................................................................................13 The deficiency view.......................................................................................................14 The social perspective....................................................................................................15 The fulfillment perspective............................................................................................15 Religion and Health .................................................................................................................17 Treatment of Religion in the Field of Psychology...................................................................22 Religion and substance abuse treatment .............................................................................23 Mindfulness and psychology ..............................................................................................25 Multicultural Counseling Competencies (MCC)................................................................27 Psychologists’ beliefs..........................................................................................................28 Psychological Theories’ Responses to Religion......................................................................29 Psychodynamic Theory.......................................................................................................30 Brief history ...................................................................................................................30 Religion in psychodynamic theory ................................................................................30 Existential Theory...............................................................................................................36 Brief history ...................................................................................................................36 Religion in existential theory.........................................................................................36 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) ................................................................................41 Brief history ...................................................................................................................41 Religion and CBT ..........................................................................................................41 Summary: Religion in the Field of Psychology.......................................................................45 Suffering .......................................................................................................................................45 Religion and Suffering..............................................................................................................46 Christianity....................................................................................................................................48 Prevalence of Christianity........................................................................................................48 Brief overview of Christianity ............................................................................................48 Jesus ...............................................................................................................................48 Teachings of Christianity...............................................................................................50 Sects of Christianity.......................................................................................................51 Suffering in Christianity ..........................................................................................................52 The suffering of God......................................................................................................52 RELIGION AND SUFFERING iv The suffering of humans ................................................................................................55 The Saints.......................................................................................................................60 Solutions to Suffering .........................................................................................................63 Faith in God, God’s love, and Jesus ..............................................................................63 Suffering with God ........................................................................................................64 Immersing oneself in the religious community .............................................................65 Conquering sin...............................................................................................................65 The eternal reward of heaven and the kingdom of God.................................................67 Summary.............................................................................................................................68 Islam..............................................................................................................................................69 Prevalence of Islam..................................................................................................................69 Brief overview of the central ideas in Islam .......................................................................70 Muhammad ....................................................................................................................70 Overview of beliefs........................................................................................................71 Branches of Islam ..........................................................................................................71 Suffering in Islam ...............................................................................................................71 Jihad ...............................................................................................................................72 Martyrdom stories accepted in all branches of Islam ....................................................74 Martyrdom for Sunnis....................................................................................................75 Martyrdom in Shiism .....................................................................................................75 Sufi martyrs....................................................................................................................78 Suffering in Sufism beyond martyrdom ........................................................................78
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Building Resilience & Confronting Risk In
    BUILDING RESILIENCE & CONFRONTING RISK IN THE COVID-19 ERA A PARENTS & CAREGIVERS GUIDE TO ONLINE RADICALIZATION POLARIZATION AND EXTREMISM RESEARCH AND INNOVATION LAB (PERIL) PERIL brings the resources and expertise of the university sector to bear CONTENTS on the problem of growing youth polarization and extremist radicalization, through scalable research, intervention, and public education ideas to PARENT & CAREGIVER GUIDE 3 reduce rising polarization and hate. WHAT IS ONLINE RADICALIZATION? WHY SHOULD YOU CARE? 4 SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER NEW RISKS IN THE COVID-19 ERA 5 The SPLC seeks to be a catalyst for racial justice in the South and RECOGNIZING WARNING SIGNS 6 beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white UNDERSTANDING THE DRIVERS 7 supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the ENGAGE AND EMPOWER 9 human rights of all people. RESPONDING TO HATE 11 HOW TO GET HELP 12 APPENDIX: STAYING ALERT TO SITES, PLATFORMS AND APPS FREQUENTLY EXPLOITED BY EXTREMISTS 17 ENDNOTES 19 CREDITS 20 ILLUSTRATIONS BY CLAUDIA WHITAKER PARENT & CAREGIVER GUIDE Who is this guide for? We wrote this guide with a wide Whether you live with a young person, or work virtually range of caregivers in mind. with youth, radicalization to extremism is something we all should be concerned about. Extremists looking Caregivers living with children and young adults. This to recruit and convert children are predatory. Like all includes parents, grandparents, foster parents, extended forms of child exploitation, extremist recruitment drives families, and residential counselors who are the a wedge between young people and the adults they would guardians and caregivers of children and youth living typically trust.
    [Show full text]
  • Piercing the Religious Veil of the So-Called Cults Joey Peter Moore
    Pepperdine Law Review Volume 7 | Issue 3 Article 6 4-15-1980 Piercing the Religious Veil of the So-Called Cults Joey Peter Moore Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/plr Part of the First Amendment Commons, and the Religion Law Commons Recommended Citation Joey Peter Moore Piercing the Religious Veil of the So-Called Cults , 7 Pepp. L. Rev. 3 (1980) Available at: http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/plr/vol7/iss3/6 This Comment is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Law at Pepperdine Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pepperdine Law Review by an authorized administrator of Pepperdine Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Piercing the Religious Veil of the So-Called Cults Since the horror of Jonestown, religious cults have been a frequent sub- ject of somewhat speculative debate. Federal and state governments, and private groups alike have undertaken exhaustive studies of these "cults" in order to monitor and sometimes regulate their activities, and to publicize their often questionable tenets and practices. The author offers a compre- hensive overview of these studies, concentrating on such areas as recruit- ment, indoctrination, deprogramming, fund raising, and tax exemption and evasion. Additionally, the author summarizes related news events and profiles to illustrate these observations,and to provide the stimulusfor further thought and analysis as to the impact these occurrences may have on the future of religion and religiousfreedom. I. INTRODUCTION An analysis of public opinion would likely reveal that the exist- ence of religious cults' is a relatively new phenomenon, but his- torians, social scientists and students of religion alike are quick to point out that such groups, though cyclical in nature, have simi- 2 larly prospered and have encountered adversity for centuries.
    [Show full text]
  • False Imprisonment, Religious Cults, and the Destruction of Volitional Capacity
    Valparaiso University Law Review Volume 25 Number 3 Spring 1991 pp.407-454 Spring 1991 He Who Controls the Mind Controls the Body: False Imprisonment, Religious Cults, and the Destruction of Volitional Capacity Laura B. Brown Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/vulr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Laura B. Brown, He Who Controls the Mind Controls the Body: False Imprisonment, Religious Cults, and the Destruction of Volitional Capacity, 25 Val. U. L. Rev. 407 (1991). Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/vulr/vol25/iss3/4 This Notes is brought to you for free and open access by the Valparaiso University Law School at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Valparaiso University Law Review by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at [email protected]. Brown: He Who Controls the Mind Controls the Body: False Imprisonment, NOTES HE WHO CONTROLS THE MIND CONTROLS THE BODY: FALSE IMPRISONMENT, RELIGIOUS CULTS, AND THE DESTRUCTION OF VOLITIONAL CAPACITY The pressures and stresses of life in modem society can overwhelm all of us at times. The competing demands on time and financial resources created by marriage, family, and career responsibilities are becoming increasingly difficult to balance. I At one time or another, each of us may secretly wish that our lives were less stressful and demanding. 2 At such times, we might be tempted to abandon pressing responsibilities to explore an alternative lifestyle.3 Yet, few of us would be willing to give up our ability to choose to return to our former lives as part of the bargain.
    [Show full text]
  • A Conceptual Discussion and Literature Review
    Radicalisation, De-Radicalisation, Counter-Radicalisation: A Conceptual Discussion and Literature Review Dr. Alex P. Schmid ICCT Research Paper March 2013 Based on an in-depth literature review, ICCT Visiting Research Fellow Dr. Alex P. Schmid explores the terms ‘radicalisation’, ‘de-radicalisation’ and ‘counter-radicalisation’ and the discourses surrounding them. Much of the literature on radicalisation focuses on Islamist extremism and jihadist terrorism. This is also reflected in this Research Paper which explores the relationship between radicalisation, extremism and terrorism. Historically, ‘radicalism’ – contrary to ‘extremism’ – does not necessarily have negative connotations, nor is it a synonym for terrorism. Schmid argues that both extremism and radicalism can only be properly assessed in relation to what is mainstream political thought in a given period. The paper further explores what we know well and what we know less well about radicalisation. It proposes to explore radicalisation not only on the micro-level of ‘vulnerable individuals’ but also on the meso-level of the ‘radical milieu’ and the macro-level of ‘radicalising public opinion and political parties’. The author re- conceptualises radicalisation as a process that can occur on both sides of conflict dyads and challenges several widespread assumptions. The final section examines various counter-radicalisation and de- radicalisation programmes. It concludes with a series of policy recommendations. About the Author Dr. Alex P. Schmid is a Visiting Research Fellow at ICCT – The Hague and Director of the Terrorism Research Initiative (TRI), an international network of scholars who seek to enhance human security through collaborative research. He was co-editor of the journal Terrorism and Political Violence and is currently editor-in-chief of Perspectives on Terrorism, the online journal of TRI.
    [Show full text]
  • Religious Cult Members and Deprogramming Attempts, Peterson V. Sorlienand Alexander V. Unification Church of America Nancy Grim
    The University of Akron IdeaExchange@UAkron Akron Law Review Akron Law Journals July 2015 Religious Cult Members and Deprogramming Attempts, Peterson v. Sorlienand Alexander v. Unification Church of America Nancy Grim Please take a moment to share how this work helps you through this survey. Your feedback will be important as we plan further development of our repository. Follow this and additional works at: https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/akronlawreview Part of the Religion Law Commons Recommended Citation Grim, Nancy (1982) "Religious Cult Members and Deprogramming Attempts, Peterson v. Sorlienand Alexander v. Unification Church of America," Akron Law Review: Vol. 15 : Iss. 1 , Article 11. Available at: https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/akronlawreview/vol15/iss1/11 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Akron Law Journals at IdeaExchange@UAkron, the institutional repository of The nivU ersity of Akron in Akron, Ohio, USA. It has been accepted for inclusion in Akron Law Review by an authorized administrator of IdeaExchange@UAkron. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Grim: Peterson v. Sorlien and Alexander v. Unification Church of America TORT LIABILITY Religious Cult Members and Deprogramming Attempts Peterson v. Sorlien, 299 N.W.2d 123 (Minn. 1980) & Alexander v. Unification Church of America, 634 F.2d 673 (2d Cir. 1980) O NE RECENT development in American culture has been the emergence of "new religions" or "cults." In opposition, a distinct anti-cult move- ment has emerged composed primarily of concerned relatives of religious devotees and led by mental health professionals and lawyers. They contend that fraudulent misrepresentations induce individuals to associate with cults and that "mind control" techniques compel them to stay.
    [Show full text]
  • Breaking Through with a Loved One Hooked On
    Countering the Effects of Fear-Based Media: A HearYourselfThink Guide OUR MISSION: ABOUT THIS GUIDE: The HearYourselfThink Project is a 501c3 non-profit, grassroots Right-wing media uses fear to hook its audience and build organization working to provide the insights, tools, and allegiance to their ideological worldview. It also normalizes the strategies needed to counter the toxic and divisive influence of bullying style of high-profile pundits like Bill O’Reilly and Rush right-wing media in our relationships, politics, and culture. Limbaugh, sending the message that it’s not only okay to shout down and intimidate those who disagree with you, but a sign of HearYourselfThink is the brainchild of Erin and Dave Ninehouser, the righteousness of your position and strength of your a husband-and-wife team dedicated to helping undo the damage convictions. The effect of these dynamics isn’t confined to caused by manipulative media sources that misinform and “politics” -- it infects, and can sometimes destroy once-strong inflame Americans and to bend the cultural-curve back toward friendships and weaken the ties between family members. reason, critical thinking, and “a more perfect union” as opposed to ever-more polarized citizens. Rebuilding those ties and re-establishing those valuable relationships is part of the deprogramming process, and a Erin and Dave have combined their years of grassroots necessary first step to having a long-term conversation about organizing experience (talking with tens of thousands of voters media manipulation and the dangers of political polarization. and seeing firsthand how the “The Fox Effect” poisons the That’s why this guide addresses family dynamics and provides national discourse with fear, misinformation, and conspiracy) ideas to help you put together a plan to begin repairing and research on how the brain’s processing of strong emotion relationships that have suffered under the strain of divisive right- like fear and anger affects higher thinking, to develop a wing media.
    [Show full text]
  • Researching New Religious Movements
    Researching New Religious Movements ‘The most important “first” that this book achieves is its bold questioning of the whole intellectual apparatus of the sociology of religion as it has been applied to the understanding of the new religious movements. I am confident that Elisabeth Arweck’s study will quickly become required reading in the sociology of new religious movements.’ Professor David Martin, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, London School of Economics, University of London ‘Powerful and original . it succeeds triumphantly in being at the same time an important, high-quality academic study and a book for our times.’ Professor David Marsland, Professorial Research Fellow in Sociology, University of Buckingham New religious movements such as Scientology, Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Unification Church (Moonies) are now well established in mainstream cul- tural consciousness. However, responses to these ‘cult’ groups still tend to be overwhelmingly negative, characterized by the furious reactions that they evoke from majority interests. Modern societies need to learn how to respond to such movements and how to interpret their benefits and dangers. Researching New Religious Movements provides a fresh look at the history and development of ‘anti-cult’ groups and the response of main- stream churches to these new movements. In this unique reception study, Elisabeth Arweck traces the path of scholarship of new religious move- ments, exploring the development of research in this growing field. She con- siders academic and media interventions on both sides, with special emphasis on the problems of objectivity inherent in terminologies of ‘sects’, ‘cults’, and ‘brainwashing’. Ideal for students and researchers, this much- needed book takes the debate over new religious movements to a more sophisticated level.
    [Show full text]
  • Salvation As Violence: Anti-Trafficking and the Rehabilitation of Rescued Filipino Women Into Moral Subjects
    Journal of International Women's Studies Volume 22 Issue 2 The Post Pandemic University, Possibilities, Practices and Pedagogies: And New Writings in Feminist and Women’s Article 8 Studies—Winning and Short-listed Entries from the 2020 Feminist Studies Association’s (FSA) Annual Student Essay Competition March 2021 Salvation as violence: anti-trafficking and theehabilitation r of rescued Filipino women into moral subjects Sharmila Parmanand London School of Economics Follow this and additional works at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws Part of the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Parmanand, Sharmila (2021). Salvation as violence: anti-trafficking and theehabilitation r of rescued Filipino women into moral subjects. Journal of International Women's Studies, 22(2), 78-91. Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol22/iss2/8 This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. This journal and its contents may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. ©2021 Journal of International Women’s Studies. Salvation as violence: anti-trafficking and the rehabilitation of rescued Filipino women into moral subjects By Sharmila Parmanand1 Abstract Philippine anti-trafficking and women’s rights legislation constructs sex work as victimhood. This understanding of prostitution positions interventions such as raids, rescue operations, and rehabilitation programs as core strategies for “protecting” and “empowering” all sex workers, regardless of their individual circumstances. Rehabilitation in this context refers to a range of psychosocial, medical, education, legal, protective custody, and economic services that help those designated as victims recover and reintegrate into society.
    [Show full text]
  • Cults, Deprogrammers, and the Necessity Defense
    Michigan Law Review Volume 80 Issue 2 1981 Cults, Deprogrammers, and the Necessity Defense Michigan Law Review Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Family Law Commons, Law and Psychology Commons, and the Religion Law Commons Recommended Citation Michigan Law Review, Cults, Deprogrammers, and the Necessity Defense, 80 MICH. L. REV. 271 (1981). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol80/iss2/5 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Michigan Law Review at University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Michigan Law Review by an authorized editor of University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NOTES Cults, Deprogrammers, and the Necessity Defense As membership in religious "cults"1 has increased dramatically during the last decade,2 public concern for the welfare of cult mem­ bers, who are largely young adults,3 has also risen apace.4 As a re­ sult, many parents have taken drastic action to protect their children from these groups. Some parents have gained temporary legal con­ trol over their children, 5 but attempts to work within the legal system I. In Peterson v. Sorlien, 299 N.W.2d 123, 126 (Minn. 1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 1031 (1981), the Minnesota Supreme Court stated: "The word 'cult' is not used pejoratively but in its dictionary sense to describe an unorthodox system of belief characterized by '[g]reat or excessive devotion to some person, idea, or thing.'" (citing WEBSTER'S NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE UNABRIDGED 552 (1976)).
    [Show full text]
  • Article 18 Freedom of Religion and Belief
    ARTICLEFreedom of religion and belief 18 Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission ã Commonwealth of Australia 1998. This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Executive Director, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 1042. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry. Article 18 Freedom of religion and belief. Bibliography ISBN 0 642 26959 9 1. Freedom of religion - Australia. 2. Religion and law - Australia. 3. Religious tolerance - Australia. 4. Civil rights - Australia - Religious aspects. I. Australia. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. 291.17720994 Design and layout by Jodey Wills. Printed by J.S. McMillan Pty Ltd. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission July 1998 The Hon Daryl Williams AM QC MP Attorney-General Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Dear Attorney I present Article 18, the report of the inquiry into freedom of religion and belief in Australia. Yours sincerely Chris Sidoti Human Rights Commissioner Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Level 8 Piccadilly Tower 133 Castlereagh Street Sydney NSW 2000 GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 1042 Abbreviations CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women 1979 CERD International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
    [Show full text]
  • Building Resilience & Confronting Risk
    BUILDING RESILIENCE & CONFRONTING RISK A PARENTS & CAREGIVERS GUIDE TO ONLINE RADICALIZATION POLARIZATION AND EXTREMISM RESEARCH AND INNOVATION LAB (PERIL) PERIL brings the resources and expertise of the university sector to bear on the problem of growing youth polarization and extremist radicalization, through scalable research, intervention, and public education ideas to reduce rising polarization and hate. SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER The SPLC seeks to be a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people. CONTENTS PARENTS & CAREGIVERS GUIDE 3 WHAT IS ONLINE RADICALIZATION? WHY SHOULD YOU CARE? 4 RECOGNIZING WARNING SIGNS 5 UNDERSTANDING THE DRIVERS 6 ENGAGE & EMPOWER 8 RESPONDING TO HATE 10 HOW TO GET HELP 11 APPENDIX: STAYING ALERT TO SITES, PLATFORMS, & APPS FREQUENTLY EXPLOITED BY EXTREMISTS 15 ENDNOTES 16 CREDITS 17 ILLUSTRATIONS BY CLAUDIA WHITAKER Whether you live with a young person, or now work virtually with youth, radicalization to extremism is something we all should be concerned about. Extremists looking to recruit and convert children are predatory. Like all forms of child exploitation, extremist recruitment drives a wedge between young people and the adults they would typically trust. Radicalization is a problem for our entire society, from the innocent people it victimizes to the family bonds it breaks apart. 2 A PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS GUIDE TO ONLINE RADICALIZATION PARENTS & CAREGIVERS GUIDE Who is this guide for? We wrote this guide with a wide range Whether you live with a young person or work with youth of caregivers in mind.
    [Show full text]
  • Churches, Cults and Constitutionality A
    churches, cults and constitutionality a. arnold wettstein Antagonism between established churches and newly emergent re­ ligious groups is not unique to our time. Ways in which religious and judicial authorities may deal with a leader and set of followers who operate outside the approval of the orthodox are disclosed in the New Testament, while historians have described others: expulsions, proscriptions, burnings with or without trial. The opprobrium dispensed upon Mormons, Free­ masons and Roman Catholics in nineteenth century America is remark­ ably parallel to current attitudes toward cults.1 Thus the leadership in our day of Christian clergy, rabbis or "born again" laity against the cults is historically no surprise. They stand in a long tradition of authorities disturbed by word of a new messiah or the itinerant teaching of a strange guru. What is new in the confrontation of cults and churches today is, on the one hand, that we live in a society with a constitutional guarantee of religious liberty and, on the other, that we have only recently become aware of a new technology—psychological manipulation. We talk not about witch hunts and heresy trials but about brainwashing, de-program­ ming and coercive persuasion. The question is whether new techniques render contemporary cults sufficiently different from their predecessors as to warrant special confrontation and if they are, what kind of confrontation can be appropriate in view of our constitutional commitments.2 i The Constitution's First Amendment reads: "Congress shall make no 0026-3079/85/2602-0031 $01.50/0 ^ . law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." We need not review all the Supreme Court decisions which have cited and interpreted these words to remind ourselves of the importance of both phrases.
    [Show full text]