September-2002

Clio’s Psyche Understanding the "Why" of Culture, Current Events, History, and Society Volume 9, Number 2 September 2002 Psychology of Religious Experience Special Issue Celibacy Symposium Islam: Imitation of Judaism? The Psychological Damage of Psychoanalytic Food for Forced Celibacy Thought Nancy Hartevelt Kobrin Anthony T. Massimini Hennepin-Regions Psychiatry Training Program When the Roman persecution of Christians and Private Practice, St. Paul ended in the fourth century, some Christian men began looking for a new way to “take up their When Moses received the Law at Sinai, for cross” and live the harsh life they had experienced believers, divine will was made manifest in human under the Roman death threat. They went out into discourse. (Nancy Hartevelt Kobrin, Moses on the the desert and adopted an ascetic regimen of life. Margin, 2 vols., PhD thesis, 1984) It was the most In time, women did the same thing. As others fol- important moment for Judaism's identity. Like a lowed, monasteries and convents were founded, ladder song, with a new round being added with and the gift of celibacy became established in the each verse, Christianity accepted the Mosaic Law Christian church. Celibacy is a gift given to a few but sought to climb above Judaism by adding the Christians whereby they can live psychologically (Continued on page 65) (Continued on page 101) Psychological Light on the Religious Landscape A Biographer and His Subject: Michael E. Nielsen Ralph Colp and Georgia Southern University Charles Darwin When 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate Paul H. Elovitz group committed suicide because of their religious The Psychohistory Forum and Ramapo College beliefs, many people asked themselves, “Why?” How could apparently intelligent people be con- Ralph Colp, Jr., was born October 12, vinced that in order to reach the next level of exis- 1924, in New York City. He received his MD from tence, they must euphemistically “shed their Columbia in 1948 and was an active surgeon for earthly vehicles” so that they could then travel on a five years before becoming a Diplomate, American spaceship hidden behind a comet? Similar ques- Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (Psychiatry) in tions arise when we learn of significant changes in 1965. As Attending Psychiatrist at Columbia Uni- people’s religious life, as when actress Jane versity Health Services from 1960-1993, Dr. Colp Fonda’s search for significance led her to adopt performed diagnostic evaluation and psychother- evangelical Christianity or when former Black apy with graduate students as well as workshops on identity formation. He also supervised the psy- Turn to the next page for (Continued on page 114) IN THIS ISSUE Page 62 Clio’s Psyche September 2002 IN THIS ISSUE Psychology of Religious Experience Drawing on God: Psychotherapy and Images of God .............................................................95 Islam: Imitation of Judaism? Calvin Mercer Psychoanalytic Food for Thought..................................61 Nancy Hartevelt Kobrin Bin Laden’s Hopes and Fears: Dreams of the Future...................................................97 Psychological Light on the Religious Landscape ..........61 James Gollnick Michael E. Nielsen When Millennialism Fails: Cruelty to Slaves at Religious Behavior and the Oedipus Complex..............69 Providence Plantation..................................................99 Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi Norman Simms The Psycho-Theological Work of W.W. Meissner........71 Gender Differences in Negotiating the C. Kevin Gillespie Discipline of the Quakers .......................................... 100 Luther and Freud on God...............................................73 Neva Jean Specht Carol Jeunnette Celibacy Symposium John Wesley and the Emergence of Methodism............75 Kenneth A. Rasmussen The Psychological Damage of Forced Celibacy..........61 Anthony T. Massimini Reverse Conversion: From Mormon Devotion to Depth Inquiry of Joseph Smith......................................78 Father Joseph Bosetti: Pioneer Priest in the Rockies. 103 Robert D. Anderson Dan Dervin Look Before You Leap, and Afterwards, Too: Something Beautiful for God .................................... 106 On Kierkegaard and Abraham.......................................81 Daniel C. O’Connell C. Fred Alford 1001 Celibate Nights ................................................. 107 On the Resiliency of Religion........................................83 Christopher T. Burris Joe E. Barnhart Infinite Denial: Religious Celibacy and William James, Carl Jung, and the Beginnings of Priestly Repression.................................................... 108 Alcoholics Anonymous .................................................86 Dereck Daschke Matthew T. Evans Psyche’s Mystery: A Reply to Dervin and Two Ordinary Deaths ....................................................88 Massimini on Celibacy.............................................. 109 Daniel C. O’Connell Joseph J. Guido The Problem of Evil in the Analytic Process.................89 Celibacy and the Child Sexual Abuse Crisis ............. 110 Joanne Marie Greer Thomas G. Plante Omnipotence, Religion, and 9/11 Terrorism .................91 Celibacy, Marriage, and Generativity........................ 112 Jorge W. F. Amaro Kathy Overturf Two Forms of Transference and Implications...............92 A Biographer and His Subject: James William Anderson Ralph Colp and Charles Darwin..................................61 Paul H. Elovitz The Medical Ministry of a Secular Priest-in-Training..............................................94 Call for Papers, December 2002: Geoffrey T. Hutchinson “Psychology of the Arab-Israeli Conflict” ................ 124 Panther activist Eldridge Cleaver stated, “[I] want Several important themes recur throughout someplace to fit in…. I just feel at home in the psychology and religion today, such as the function [Mormon] church.” (Newell Bringhurst, "Eldridge of religion in an individual’s self-concept and the Cleaver’s Passage Through Mormonism," Journal role of women in religion. By identifying with a of Mormon History, 28:1, 2002, p. 90) Clearly, religious group, one gains a sense of belonging and religion can have a tremendous impact on people, “place” in the world. Surveys comparing rates of resulting in great extremes in behavior and iden- church membership and attendance in the U.S. tity. Its influence on culture shapes our surround- with those of other countries find higher rates in ings and it is a focal point for individuals’ psycho- the U.S. Concomitantly, belief in God or a univer- logical hopes, dreams, and fears. sal spirit is markedly higher in the U.S. (96 per- September 2002 Clio’s Psyche Page 63 cent) than in other countries (for example, 70 per- in religious groups, they are more likely to be in- cent in Canada and 61 percent in Great Britain). volved in religious activity. Changing social mo- (George Gallup, Jr., and D. Michael Lindsay, Sur- res highlight the conservative and patriarchal na- veying the Religious Landscape, 1999, p. 122) At ture of many religious organizations. Illustrative least one factor in this pattern is the vibrant examples come from the two largest religious de- “religious marketplace” in which religious affilia- nominations in the U.S. For instance, despite clear tion is, at some level, a choice that becomes part of statements from Rome that the Catholic Church's one’s identity. It announces one’s aims and alle- position on women's ordination is not open for de- giances, and even one’s effort to deal with mortal- bate, two-thirds of U.S. Roman Catholics favor it. ity. As with other aspects of identity, the individ- Similarly, when the 1998 Southern Baptist Con- ual finds comfort, a sense of belonging, and a so- vention adopted a statement on gender roles, The cial support network through the religious group. New York Times carried the front-page headline: There is variation in this pattern, of course, “Southern Baptists Declare Wife Should ‘Submit’ among men and women. For years, sociologists to Her Husband.” and psychologists have recognized an apparent Yet, women are more likely than men to contradiction in comparisons of men and women’s state that religion is very or fairly important; be religiousness: even though women are traditionally members of a church or synagogue; believe that less likely than men to have positions of leadership religion can answer most of today’s problems; and believe that religion’s influence in society is in- creasing. (Gallup, Religious Landscape, pp. 10&11, Clio’s Psyche 13, 20) Why this pattern? One factor is that women are gaining leadership positions in many religions, Vol. 9 No. 2 September 2002 not only serving in pastoral roles in progressive ISSN 1080-2622 Christianity and Judaism but also heading significant service or missionary committees in some Published Quarterly by The Psychohistory Forum 627 Dakota Trail, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417 more conservative Christian denominations. By Telephone: (201) 891-7486 breaking the social and psychological strictures e-mail: pelovitz@aol.com limiting their involvement in institutions, women Editor: Paul H. Elovitz, PhD are able to realize their hopes and achieve a meas- Associate Editor: Bob Lentz ure of power over their world. Indeed, American religious history is incomplete without recognizing Editorial Board the contributions of women such as Mary Baker C. Fred Alford, PhD University of Maryland • David Beisel, PhD RCC-SUNY • Rudolph Binion, PhD Eddy (Christian Science) and

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