Perspective and Orientation are Vital for Understanding:
Being able to look at an object from different angles is often critical in truly fully understanding some questions or issues. The modern rational-scientific orientation can easily bias views and hinder any true understanding of early human spiritual and religious beliefs. I was in a metaphysical discussion with a free thinking individual. We were talking about consciousness and dark matter. In response to one of my statements she said that what we were talking about is "life" - and "Life is the disease and consciousness is the symptom!" In that the final outcome of life is, in fact death, in that sense Life could metaphorically be viewed as a disease and so it would stand to reason that consciousness, then, is, truly a symptom. It is a different way of looking at things and in my experience that view as she presented it is unique as well.
With that rather mind-bending perspective in mind, I would propose a different perspective of early spiritual and religious beliefs as well. One asset that I do have, is that I have had a number of spiritual-psychic experiences, one of which, being a once-in-a-lifetime experience, was very detailed, notarized, precognitive warning (group, fabricating bombs, New York, "22 were assembled", money, woman, Weathermen manifesto, death) as well as being a profound spiritual experience as well. In grieving, the death of a loved one can be a “world shattering experience.” My once-in-a-lifetime very profound spiritual experience in 1981 was one o those "world shattering" experiences.
The days and weeks immediately following the experience were some of my darkest days. From experience, I can tell you the human brain ordinarily has to “do something” with each and every experience “categorize” the experience or somehow otherwise deal with the experience in some way. After a period of intense doubts and questioning for a month or two, I finally realized that the experience was far beyond the cause and effect of the standard physic's model of reality. I realized that the spiritual-psychic experience is far beyond my comprehension, and that as long as I lived I would never be able to fully comprehend what the Ultimate Physical Reality or the Absolute Truth actually is.
Where I found this beneficial is in helping me to step in the shoes of ancient or early humans and be able to understand their point of view. Many view the myths and spiritual beliefs as no more than superfluous superstitious nonsense - a product of befuddled minds, as it were. rom personal experience I realize that the human mind absolutely has to do something with experiences. One reason that Thunder Gods were prominent in many - or most early and ancient religions is because thunderstorms are striking and vibrant experiences - that the brain absolutely Has to organize, categorize or file in some way. That is, since the ancient peoples, in the beginning, had no natural knowledge, and so making the cognitive processes useless, the early humans - of course - used their imagination to grasp and understand the world
A second insight into how spiritual and religious beliefs operate can gained from ancient Greek History and their colonization of Sicily. When the Greeks colonized Sicily, although in Greek myths prior to that no myths of Hercules reflected any events or stories in Sicily, after Greeks emigrated to Sicily, myths about Hercules adventures taking place in Sicily emerged. That helps reveal that one aspect of spiritual and religious beliefs was to engage the world and make the world "theirs." That is the myths and narratives were the means by which the early humans engaged the world - making the unknowns - the chaos - something they could deal with through imaginative processes.
As Dr. Toula Gordillo, a psychologist with a Jungian bias, observed, "Yes we have to live in 'the real world' (which I think is more a perception than a reality anyway), but the unseen world, the world of energy and dark matter and all manner of things we don't yet fully comprehend, is what makes the world exciting. Not knowing the unknowable ... now there's the magic!" Max Ernst, the famous Surrealist artist observed: “Creativity is that marvelous capacity to grasp mutually distinct realities and draw a spark from their juxtaposition.”
However, In today's world, "we" engage the world in exactly the same way, except we engage the world with theories and philosophies - theories and philosophies on;y having become more sophisticated, though often not really all that more realistic in some cases. However, in a sense, "we" are more impoverished than early humans because the Materialist Doctrine of Mainstream Psychology, as the psychiatrist McGilChrist states, with its "rigid adherence" to physiological quantification which limits results, and its norms of No spirituality, No Social Consciousness, and No Meaning has cheated humanity of its mots precious possession - the "mystery" of life and the universe.
The Underlying Emotional Drives of Spiritual and Religious Beliefs
Dr. Eric Klinger, Ph.D., a prominent social psychologist whose research has focused on emotions, emphasizes that emotions, though “intertwined with cognitive processes,” play a pivotal role in numerous different functions of the human mind including directing attention, motivation, meaning creation, judgment, planning-goal striving and memory functions. Furthermore emotion “codetermines people’s inner experience and their construals of the world around them.” (Quest p.34) William James in 1902 in his classic work, The Variety of Religious Experience, also argued that spiritual experiences create a “sense of reality.” Finally, a characteristic vital for understanding spiritual beliefs - which all scholars agree have the very prominent characteristic of highly emotional content, Eric Klinger states unequivocally that a “primary function of several emotions is to direct attention to concern-related stimuli. (p.42) Both William James and Carl Jung echo Dr. Klinger’s statement that emotions direct attention.
That simple statement, “primary function of several emotions is to direct attention to concern-related stimuli. (p.42), disguises a very important aspect of emotions - which is that "in directing attention" emotions are actually creating "purpose" - and, in a sense, destiny. Of course, in the human mind and brain nothing is simple, and all MRI studies show different regions of the brain working together in tandem - so cognitive processes are integrated with emotions - often depending it seems on the situation - and situations appears to trigger the brain to activate specific regions of the brain.
The importance of emotions in motivations and directing attention – and thus directing the actions and behaviors of people is often bypassed or overlooked. I would argue that to understand spiritual beliefs one needs to understand the underlying motivations of spiritual beliefs – which is often overlooked due to the fascination with the supernatural. That is, the spiritual beliefs in animal spirts were the motivation and drive for people, during the hunter-gatherer stage to focus and direct their attention on comprehending the animals – their habits, their predispositions, weaknesses and strengths, etc.
Orientation and Approach
Even the briefest overview of religious and spiritual beliefs reveal that spiritual and religious beliefs were (and still are in many places) an extremely powerful force in human history and culture that shaped to a very a large degree, as Durkheim points out, society, its norms, laws, morality, spiritual-social values and ideals. Religious beliefs do have a darkside, especially when religious ideologies revert to religions as expressions of group ideologies which frequently over-ride the spiritual teachings such as compassion, righteousness, justice, truth, an so forth. That being said, history does reveal that religious and spiritual beliefs have made a very vital and substantial positive, productive, and creative contribution to human culture and human consciousness. On top of that one must distinguish between spiritual beliefs and religious beliefs. For instance, every major religion has social ideals of compassion, justice and righteousness, etc.
This essay reworks ideas and concepts into a comprehensive theory of religious and spiritual beliefs in light of recent research about the Need for Meaning, the Need to Belong, the Need for Ideologies and Structure, as well as some new research on Spirituality. I should highlight the fact that an article in the Handbook of Psychology of Religion and Spirituality states that "Even a quick perusal of the psychological literature in general and research in the psychology of religion in particular demonstrates the need for comprehensive theories. Empirical studies abound, but they are widely scattered, poorly integrated, and more often than not lacking an overarching theoretical framework (see Spence, 1994).
The Synthesis-Consensus Of Frankl, Jung, James, and Durkheim
First, let me reiterate the idea that spiritual and religious beliefs played a pivotal role in shaping societies and social structure. Of course there is the example of the spiritual beliefs in animal spirits shaping totemic societies. As I will show there appears to factor played a role in Ancient Greek Religion, and Ancient Sumerian religion and furthermore thereby a synergetic relationship between religious and spiritual beliefs and social forces and society. The bottom line is that human history reveals strong evidence that spiritual and religious belies created meaning and guidance for society and social structures. With that strong historical foundation, the theories of Carl Jung, Viktor Frankl, and William James' psychological theories about spiritual processes creating meaning is on very solid ground.
During my research of spirituality in psychology, it became increasingly clear that the the most accurate assessments and best analyses of spiritual and religious beliefs were done by Viktor Frankl, Carl Jung, William James, (as well as Emile Durkheim). It would appear more than chance that all three of those psychologists had experienced their own personal transcendental spiritual experiences. It seem rather self-evident that having had a personal transcendental spiritual experience, would, without doubt, been a tremendous asset in their ability to understand and grasp the significance of the different characteristics and aspects of religious and spiritual beliefs. So, it is not that surprising that there is, when closely examined, a crucial synthesis-consensus that "spirit" [spiritual processes] create meaning-guidance, and a sense of reality.
Psychology of Religion in Perspective
For purposes of perspective, it would be important to keep in mind the fact that psychology, of course, focuses on the individual and the person. Jungian psychology, Frankl's psychology, as well as Maslow's psychology clearly focus on the individual or person. All these psychologies approach religious beliefs through the eyes of the individual, who most likely and by all appearances seem to have a drive or desire to understand and grasp The Meaning of Life, and perhaps ultimately for enlightenment. Jung stated straightforwardly that he believed that the function of religions were to serve and - theoretically - enlighten an individual - as did apparently Maslow. However, when you stand back and view religion from a distance, there are a large number of things going on, and the individual, in perspective to the group society and social structure would seem a rather small part of a much larger whole.
For instance, religions are groups, and necessarily must structure group-related relationships as well as individual interpersonal relationships such as marriage. Furthermore there is a hierarchy and social structure, as well as group-related rituals, not to mention, as Durkheim pointed out clear distinctions between the sacred and the profane. On top of that there are a plethora of religious, spiritual, and sacred symbols, something echoed in central concept of the anthropologist Clifford Geertz's famous definition of religion - that religions are a "system of symbols." The prominent social psychologist, Roy Baumeister, emphasized that, in truth, The Meaning of Life is not at all a Monolithic Truth, but a conglomeration of often conflicting, competing, or alternately cooperating meanings and motivations. Similarly, any objective review of the functions of religion reveal that there are numerous functions that religion performs.
Brief Illustration - Ingroup-outgroup syndrome triggered by group-related instinctual emotions
Religions have strengths and weaknesses. The powerful - and frequently overpowering emotions driven by group related instincts are responsible clearly for many atrocities and in contemporary times for generating anti-gay and racist ideologies as elicited by Christian leaders who support Trump. A recent study by Pew research showed that the number of Republicans who support the idea that small business can exclude minorities - from blacks, gays, Muslims and including Jews has doubled since 2015. Being, for better or worse, a role model, Trump's hate speech and racist rhetoric has incited hate and racist violence. In 2017 and 2018, hate crimes went up by 17% each years and there was a severe spike in right wing terrorist killing sprees in both 2017 and 2018. However group related instincts are also a downside o political organizations, - i.e. Hitler, Stalin, and almost countless others. neuroscience MRI studies show that different situation trigger different brain regions into activity, and with 360 distinct regions of the brain, the regions of the brain involved in compassion or justice would be quite different than the regions of the brain involved in the group-related ideological ingroup-outgroup syndrome.
Brief Overview of Religion and Spirituality
From a 'distance,' the 'History of Humanity' clearly shows unmistakably and self-evidently that religions, religious beliefs, and spiritual beliefs have been not only been prominent, and have quite clearly played a pivotal role in shaping human societies and cultures. In fact, at times in human history in some societies, religions and religious beliefs have completely dominated society and culture. Emile Durkheim, a founding father of sociology, argued that religious and spiritual beliefs created the norms, laws, morality, even societies themselves. Furthermore, human history clearly demonstrates that the religious-social ideals such as compassion, justice, truth, righteousness, as well as charity were created by religious and spiritual beliefs specifically within the realm of a religious structure. In ever major religion of the world, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, as well as Buddhism, All of these social-spiritual ideals were - and are still - very influential and pivotal principles and doctrines which are vital to structuring relationships, and individual's beliefs and ideals, and social structure, as well.
From even a precursory over-view of the History of Humanity, it would seem an inescapable conclusion that a powerful and fundamental drive of human beings must exist that must be either connected to - or associated with - unconscious spiritual processes in the human mind. From the History of Humanity it would seem rather self-evident that there is a primary drive dedicated to to creating social structure, "Reality and Truth." Perhaps more salient, would be the rather obvious and evident characteristic that this "drive" would doubtless have a built in bias not only to survive, but also to evolve and develop, as well. I n my research, I have not run across any psychologist who has emphasized or focused on a powerful drive which would be intimately connected with spiritual processes and religious beliefs. Furthermore, I did check with an award winning author and retired philosophy-psychology professor who also specifically taught psychology of religion courses. He said that he hadn't heard of one either.
'Psychology of Religion' failed to follow scientific method as defined by Aristotle 2,000 years ago: 1. gather the facts 2. categorize 3. analyze 4. draw conclusions.
b) As Durkheim pointed out religions clearly played a role in creating norms, laws, morality, as well as social structure in general. That would be especially true of spiritual-social ideals such as compassion, truth, justice, equality, charity, and so on. Compassion is clearly a vital principle and doctrine of every major religion - including Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam - and thus must be connected or associated with spiritual processes.
Missing the category of idealism-spirituality is another major flaw in the 'Psychology of Religion.' In fact, I would mention the 'psychology of Religion' books I reviewed did not properly address the issue of the "Teachings of Religion." In one 'comprehensive' 'Psychology of Religion' book, there were actually more references to Freud than compassion. None of the books had a single reference to "Truth" - which is another pivotal concept and principle in every major religion. In general, In my view, "mainstream psychology" which has a distinct "Materialist Bias," only too often distorts religious and spiritual beliefs, tending to portray - or suggest - that religious and spiritual beliefs are based on or tainted by "superstitious" views.
“please keep the religious drivel to religious channels, this is science and science by its very nature only deals with the material - what can be observed and measured. It serves no practical use of time to hypothesize whether giant cosmic parrots travelling from higher dimensions are responsible for anything because unless one flies into our view there is no way to prove it.”
As the Nobel prize winning physicist Brain Josephson argues, many scientists (as well as many "Christian leaders, in my view) over-emphasize and obsess at times over the issue of ''Transcendental Spirit, or a "Supernatural Being."
In my view, "Spirit" and spirituality should be associated with or connected to "meaning creation" as Frankl, Jung, James, and Durkheim argue and connected with "ideals, idealism, Truth, and Reality much more than Transcendental Spirit or spirituality. While religions and religious beliefs have their dark side, spirituality and spiritual processes - which appears very complex and intricately interconnected - have proved themselves time and again to be very productive, fruitful, and creative.
Unconscious Processes & Spiritual Processes: Carl Jung, Bargh, and Kihlstrom
It is important to understand that a major issue regarding spirituality is that spiritual processes appear to have a prominent characteristic of being largely "unconscious" in nature. Besides recent research done by the psychologists Bargh and Kihlstrom, which demonstrate that there is a strong unconscious bias when it comes to perception, motivation, and processing, Carl Jung stated that "spirit" [spiritual processes] is an autonomous unconscious process. I should mention briefly that there is a synthesis-consensus of Jung, Frankl, William James, and Emile Durkheim that "spirit" or spiritual processes create meaning or "sense of reality." The religious scholar, Fraser Watts observes that in one study, of the people who positively reported experiences, 24% were atheists. That is something I can personally testify to. My 'major' very detailed, precognitive and transcendental spiritual-psychic experiences occurred back on October 18 1981, when I was an avowed atheist. That jibes with genetic research which has demonstrated that some traits of religiosity are inherited. Without question, after tens of thousands of years of spiritual and religious beliefs, the human unconscious, as Jung argues would be replete with spiritual processes archetypes, scripts, or narratives.
Complexity of the Human Brain: numerous separate and distinct regions
Neuroscience has identified 360 distinct regions of the brain, and it seems clear that different situations trigger different regions into action, with regions always working in tandem with other regions. So, the regions of the brain involved in compassion or empathy (most likely the anterior cingulate as Tania Singer showed) will without question be entirely different from the group related instincts directly and obviously connected with religions as "groups" and ideologies." Time after time people tell me spirituality and spiritual processes are bad because religions, especially in today's world, are being ignorant with Evangelical, as well as some Catholic, Anglican, and Episcopalian leaders literally not only supporting a racist, but advocating in that way racism as well.
Since Trump has taken office, as a role model, his hate speech and racist rhetoric has incited right wing White Supremacists into action. hate crimes are up 17% in both 2017 and 2018, and in 2017 and 2018 there has been a dramatic surge of right wing terrorism and killing sprees. I should not several Christian leaders have spoken out against this. The bottom line is that, for all practical purposes, spiritual processes are completely separate and distinct from group related instincts which are notoriously violent and destructive.
Studies show that roughly 25% of the younger generation are alienated by these acts which clearly violate Christ's commandment to "Love," but the Evangelical, Catholic, Anglican, and Episcopalian leaders who support Trump, in my opinion, are literally "possessed" for all practical purposes, and unable to reason (they just don;'t care how many people they offend) . As St. Gregory of Nyssa, an early Christian mystic recognized by the Catholic, Episcopalian, and Anglican churches, stated, "ideas" - not to mention ideologies - can be very dangerous and destructive since effectively they erect "false idols" that people end of worshiping instead of God and True Faith. Again, I should emphasize that the brain regions involved in racism are separate and distinct from the different regions of the brain involved in spirituality.
Quick Comparison to Other Theories of Religion
Many of the various theories of religion can be very myopic and one-dimensional. As the prominent social psychologist, Roy Baumeister observed about meaning, there is no one monolithic "Meaning of Life" but a conglomeration of various and diverse different meanings - such as family, friend, spouse, world, God, religion, and so on. Similarly, religions and religious beliefs would without question serve a variety of purposes and functions. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, who is well known, for instance has "self attainment at the top of an artificial and contrived structure. Both and Jung believe that religions are created for the individual and the purpose of religions is to serve the individual. I can see no historical evidence for that. Emile Durkheim, being a sociologist of course argued that religions were the product of group dynamics. In fact it would seem readily apparent that one "function" of religions is actually to form groups and give them "cohesion." The only evidence to support Maslow's theory is that studies show that satisfying spiritual needs does lead to happiness. How does this math with Christ's teachings about love, or religion's focus on righteousness, truth, rituals, belongingness, relationships, duties, obligations and so on. There is no evidence that either Freud's or Maslow's theories have any merit. In contrast there are tons of historical evidence to support Durkheim's argument.
Spiritual Beliefs and Religion as Creating Meaning
The Complexity of Religious Beliefs and the Multiplicity of Functions
Without question, religion, religious beliefs and spiritual beliefs are very complex, and even a precursory overview reflect the expression and involvement of a variety of drives, needs, emotions and hopes. As such, religion most likely performs a variety of different functions for human beings and human society. Volumes and volumes of books have been written about religious beliefs and without question, religious and spiritual beliefs are quite complex involving numerous parts and pieces. In psychological, philosophical, and religious literature there are a myriad number of theories about why people believe in God: fear of death; wishful thinking; animism, naturalism, fear of the unknown; explanation of the world and its origins; belief in the supernatural; social functionalism (morality; social cohesion); explanation of suffering; anthropomorphism; comfort; coping; as well as superstition. None of these theories directly answer the question completely. Each may represent a piece of the puzzle, but none seem to capture the essence of religious beliefs. As the prominent social psychologist Roy Baumeister pointed out "Meaning" as such is actually a conglomeration and collection of various diverse meanings somehow interconnected into a functioning 'whole' or unit.
The author and scholar Stefan Schindler briefly sketches the broad outlines of religion: "TheRoot of the word religion is "ligio", meaning "to connect" (as a ligament connects bone to muscle). Res-ligio = "the linking thing." [is] usually [what I start with] started with that when teaching Philosophy of Religion..... Religion, by linking humans to a larger Meaning-Matrix, provides a sense of being at home in the universe, thereby overcoming feelings of alienation (and encounters with what Camus calls The Absurd). There are two approaches to this. Two interpretations of religion's function. The atheistic approach is to see it as wishful thinking. (Nietzsche, Freud, Sartre, Bertrand Russell, etc.) The spiritual approach (a la Plato, Jesus, Buddha, etc.) is to see Authentic religion as a Recollection of our connection to something divine. One of the definitions of Dharma (it has multiple meanings) is connection, link, yoke (which is, of course, the root meaning of the word Yoga)."
Re-Summarization of My Approach
So, the approaches vary quite a bit. My approach is different in that my 'theory' outlines four basic drives within which different functions and sub-drives can be included and subsumed: The Need for Meaning; the Need to Belong; the Need for Structure-Ideology; the Spiritual Drive. In the following section I list many of the proposed purposes or functions which I argue can be included underneath the umbrella of the "Need for Meaning Drive
Fear of Death
Fear of death is a significant influence in human consciousness, and it has been noted by many scholars and scientists that the human being is unique in the animal world because of human awareness of death. Both the sociobiologist E.O. Wilson, as well as Carl Jung and other scientists all advance the awareness and fear of death as a major influence in the supernatural. Early human societies placed significant objects in the graves of humans buried as far back as 100,000 years ago. Grave goods are seen as a significant indication of a conscious awareness of death. Carl Jung emphasizes that early human beings doubtless realized that "life," although intangible and imperceptible, 'disappeared at death, when people stopped breathing - and thus connected "life" with the supernatural (for humans, back then, most likely 'everything' was probably supernatural since at the time there was no concept of "natural." Almost all languages, from Semitic ancient Hebrew, Arabic, Latin, Greek, and so on, do have the linguistic root for "spirit" in the word "breath."
Fear of the Unknown
David Hume and several other modern scholars, such as Roy Baumeister, connect the beliefs in the supernatural with fear of the unknown and anxiety. David Hume (1711 to 1776), in his work, The Natural History of Religion, made very astute observations relevant to the condition of ancient humans:
"We are placed in this world, as in a great theatre, where the true springs and causes of every event are entirely concealed from us; nor have we either sufficient wisdom to foresee, or power to prevent those ills, with which we are continually threatened. We hang in perpetual suspense between life and death, health and sickness, plenty and want, which are distributed amongst the human species by secret and unknown causes whose operation is oft unexpected, and always unaccountable. These unknown causes, then, become the constant object of our hope and fear; and while the passions are kept in perpetual alarm by an anxious expectation of the events, the imagination is equally employed in forming ideas of those powers, on which we have so entire a dependence."
Hume argues that the unknown and largely unpredictable characteristic of forces that directly affect our lives and well-being is a major influence that induces people to adopt and accept religious beliefs and specifically beliefs in the supernatural. The modern prominent social psychologist Roy Baumeister makes a similar argument when he argues that people have a need for control. He emphasizes that some studies demonstrate that even the "illusion" of control can reduce anxiety and increase resistance to pain. So, I would say only partly tongue in cheek, it would seem the bottom line having some illusions may not be such a bad thing after all??
Innate Anthropomorphic-Animism Software in the Human brain
It is second nature for people to think in terms of human traits and characteristics, not only others, but also intangible concepts in terms of human intentions and human goals. The ancient Greek philosopher, Xenophanes (c.570–c.475 BC),was the first 'scholar' to make the observation that anthropomorphism was a very powerful factor in envisioning gods and goddesses. A bit sarcastically, Xenophanes observed that "But if cattle and horses and lions had hands or could paint with their hands and create works such as men do, horses like horses and cattle like cattle also would depict the gods' shapes and make their bodies of such a sort as the form they themselves have.St Augustine (c.354-c.430 AD)made essentially the same observation hundreds of years later that people have the weakness of envisioning God in terms of a (human) being since it is difficult for them to imagine anything outside their own 'humanness.' St. Augustine, like St. Gregory of Nyssa believed that God is beyond words and beyond comprehension. David Hume the famous philosopher (1711 – 1776) stated the same exact thought that human beings can only ordinarily think and envision things except in human terms and a human frame of reference.
Jean Piaget (1896 to 1980), a famous Swiss developmental psychologist, who did extensive studies of children and their tendencies for animism and anthropomorphism. Children, when they are very young appear to have fewer distinctions between self and world, as well as between self and others. They seem to have an innate tendency to perceive beings, objects, and things as being alive and as living entities or beings. In one study he tried to discover how children thought of life. In his research children were asked questions as to if one thing or another were alive. He found that young children, when very young, had a view of life as being universal. Perhaps this is because their primary self-awareness was that of being alive – so they might ‘assume’ all other things have this “aliveness” as well.
Modern psychologists now recognize that, in the human mind, there is without question a definite process in the human brain which has the capability to attribute mental states and project unto others their perceptions of others’ beliefs, intents, desires, emotions, knowledge, and motivations (which can be quite different from one’s own current views) to others.This process is termed “Theory of mind” (neuroscientists tend to describe it as the “default mode network” in terms of brain processes) It is understood that the “Theory of mind” [process is very important for people to grasp and cope with the human social interactions in day to day living. The Theory of mind and is pivotal in analyzing and judging others’ behaviors, and inferring others' intentions, motivations, and actions. It is a well-known fact that autistics, who are known to have a deficit in their minds' 'theory of mind' functions tend not to believe in 'God,' most likely due to the deficit in 'theory of mind' functions.
The bottom line is that the human mind has a definite capacity to envision others and things in terms of a person or entity and attributes intentions and intentional consciousness to them. In Faces in the Clouds, anthropologist Stewart Guthrie advocates anthropomorphism as a major influence in religious beliefs. Guthrie uses a few stories from firefighters fighting forest fires who at times would speak of fires as being alive with minds of their own. From my view, in that particular circumstance employing animism software to envision and imagine the possibilities of forest fires which are know to be erratic and unpredictable would seem very practical in those circumstances.
Jung's Collective Unconscious-Archetypes:
Jung's concept of the Collective Unconscious and archetypes would be in a category of its own. Jung argued that evolution endowed the mind of man, and specifically the Collective Unconscious with spiritual and religious traits and abilities, and built-in structure that informed and shaped religion and religious beliefs. Jung stated, (Vol 8 [342]) "The collective unconscious contains the whole spiritual heritage of mankind’s evolution, born anew in the brain structure of every individual. His conscious mind is an ephemeral phenomenon that accomplishes all provisional adaptations and orientations, for which reason one can best compare its function to orientation in space. The unconscious, on the other hand, is the source of the instinctual forces of the psyche and of the forms or categories that regulate them, namely the archetypes. All the most powerful ideas in history go back to archetypes. This is particularly true of religious ideas, but the central concepts of science, philosophy, and ethics are no exception to this rule. In their present form they are variants of archetypal ideas, created by consciously applying and adapting these ideas to reality. For it is the function of consciousness not only to recognize and assimilate the external world through the gateway of the senses, but to translate into visible reality the world within us."
The Meaning Umbrella & The Meaning Matrix
I started this essay with the concept of "meaning" and the "Need for Meaning" because many of the other reasons and functions of religion and religious beliefs, and most all of these other reasons and factors, could easily fall under the Meaning Umbrella. That is people get meaning from God as a product of their fear of the unknown, or fear of death and so on. There are doubtless hundreds of other factors from needing hope, to getting meaning from other worldly sources when the suffering in the world environment is paramount, to needing transcendence , and so forth.
Of course, Jung's idea of the Collective Unconscious in which the "spiritual heritage of mankind’s evolution" is embedded would need to fall under the multiple categories of The Need for Meaning, The Need to Belong, the Need for Ideology, as well as including The Spiritual Drive. An unstated assumption but incredibly important characteristic of human consciousness in Jung's Collective Unconscious concept is that the evident reality that inherent in human nature there is a very strong Spiritual Drive. As the physicist Josephson points out many social scientists and scientists obsess over the 'supernatural' aspect of religion and ignore such worldly yet very important ideas such as the reality of a Spiritual Drive. Even a precursory glance at human history reveals an incredibly evident spiritual and religious drive in society and culture!
Re-Statement: The Four Primary Drives: the Need for Meaning, the Need to Belong, the Need for Ideology, and the Spiritual Drive
My argument is that religious beliefs are primarily created
and generated by four very basic and fundamental “Needs” or “Drives.” From a rather
practical and pragmatic approach, in general, religions could be said to
involve meaning or purpose, others and relationships, as well as structures and
principles for both meaning, relationships, and group coherence and integrity.
A general understanding of religious beliefs would seem relevant and
significant in understanding spirituality and spiritual processes which are
separate from some of the processes involved in group-related ideological
processes - yet still associated.
Need for Meaning : “The meaning of life is to give life a meaning!” – is a quintessential illustration the of the iconic psychoanalyst, Viktor Frankl’s, theory of the human mind! (p. 22 Will) Many of History’s ‘Great Thinkers’ mirror that very idea and sentiment. From Aristotle, to Carl Jung, Viktor Frankl, Clifford Geertz, Nietzsche, Roy Baumeister, Paul Wong, as well as most existential and positive psychologists, the human drive and need for meaning as well as the core concept of human beings as "meaning-seeking animals" has been consistently emphasized, often highlighting that meaning is absolutely vital for coping with life. The "Will to Meaning" is Viktor Frankl's central concept of his theory. The pivotal concept of Clifford Geertz's almost universally accepted definition of Religion is Religion as a "System of Symbols!" Symbols, of course, embody "meaning!" As, the prominent psychologist, Paul Wong, observes, “religious and spiritual beliefs and practice are thought to serve as a central component of an individual’s orienting system, which helps the individual understand, appraise, and derive meaning from stressful life events and ultimately helps that individual decide how to react.” (p. xl Quest – my italics) Here is a link to an essay about The Need for Meaning: https://www.spirittruthandmeaning.com/the-need-for-meaning-frankl-jung-geertz-baumeister-and-paul-wo...
Need to Belong : Human beings have formed groups – and, later, societies – since Homo sapiens emerged on earth. The Need to Belong is deeply rooted in human consciousness. As the prominent social psychologist, Roy Baumeister, observed that “It is apparent that people have a deeply rooted need to have contact with other people.” (p.14 Meanings) Baumeister and Leary forcefully argue: “We [Baumeister and Leary] suggest that belongingness can be almost as compelling a need as food and that human culture is significantly conditioned by the pressure to provide belongingness.” (p 498 need) Baumeister cites medical statistics that show that ‘lonely’ people have a much higher mortality rate, but concludes that “The fact that belongingness predicts happiness more strongly—far more strongly, in America—than any other external circumstances is another sign that the need to belong is exceptionally powerful. Satisfying the need to belong is more crucial and decisive than satisfying any other need.” (p. 109) Baumeister’s Need to Belong is widely accepted in social psychology, and quoted and cited frequently by social psychologists. Here is a link to an essay about the Need to Belong: https://www.spirittruthandmeaning.com/need-to-belong-society-baumeister
Need for Ideology: Religions, as everybody knows are ideologies, the same as political ideologies such as communism or capitalism. In his writing about the politics of emerging countries, Clifford Geertz, an icon of anthropology, argues that religious, ethnic, and nationalistic ideologies are "primordial forces" at work in history and political society. From the dawn of civilization men (and women) have fought and died for their ideological beliefs. In World War I, roughly nine to ten million men fought and died for their country. The emotions involved in ideologies and patriotism are tremendously strong. Inter-group conflicts generate the most savage and brutally violent acts in humanity. Furthermore, history would seem to be sufficient proof that religions are groups and that throughout history, religions-religious beliefs form groups. It would, therefore, seem an inevitable conclusion that "a" function of religious beliefs - ideologies would be to 'form" groups, and it would then follow that one purpose of rituals - which Geertz argued were, in essence and at the core, "arguments" (presumably for that particular religion-God), would necessarily be, in that light 'ritual' submission of the individual to the group. That is, in partaking of the rituals, the individual not only accepts the "authority" of the group, butt also as many rituals include hierarchal dominance, asl engender acceptance of the hierarchy of dominance. There are over a dozen genocides since WWI. Here is a link to an essay about Instincts and group identity: Instincts, Groups, and Genocides - https://www.spirittruthandmeaning.com/post-title80df2bb9
Human beings need order and
structure. Francois Jacob observed that man “cannot bear the void!” Susanne
Langer, the philosopher, echoes Jacob when she said that man “can adapt himself
somehow to anything his imagination can cope with; but he cannot deal with
Chaos.” (p. 287 new key) The social psychologists Michael Hogg and Dominic
Abrams, observe that without processes in the mind that put order and organize
the multitude of stimuli and experiences, "We would be overwhelmed and
paralyzed by overstimulation.” In their book on social Identity they emphasize
that every psychological ‘theory’, in one form or another, ‘assumes’ that the
mind “imposes order” and structure for the processes operating in the mind.
(p.17 soc id).
Clifford Geertz observed that given the unfocused nature of human needs, desires, drives and instincts, without the structure that culture provides, the human being “would be functionally incomplete, not merely a talented ape who had, like some underprivileged child, unfortunately been prevented from realizing his full potentialities, but a kind of formless monster with neither sense of direction nor power of self-control, a chaos of spasmodic impulses and vague emotions.” (p.99 interp)
Separate and Distinct Processes in the Brain:
When it comes to ideologies, there would appear to be, on the face of it, two distinct levels. The first level, which has already been brought up is that ideologies provide a “Meaning Structure” or a “system of symbols” as Geertz points out when it comes to religion. However, ideologies also organize people as well – through roles, status, meaning, and purpose. That is, especially the emotional structure of people are structured by ideologies, and, unfortunately, group-related instincts, such as patriotism connected with nationalist ideologies, are connected or associated with group ideologies. Here is a link to a brief essay about group-related instincts: https://www.spirittruthandmeaning.com/post-title80df2bb9
Neuroscience has Identified 360 distinct and separate regions of the brain. MRI tests performed by neuroscientists have shown that different situations frequently engage different brain processes as well as that those different processes, in general, working in tandem with other separate brain processes. The bottom line is that the spiritual processes involved in creativity and ideals such as compassion will be completely different and separate than the brain regions engaged in "defending" the survival and integrity of a group or ideology, for instance.
Some Brief Rehash of Conclusions :
The Need for Meaning, the Need to Belong, and the Need for Ideology, and Spiritual Drive are without question intimately inter-connected and intertwined. As Roy Baumeister observes, “Meaning itself is acquired socially, from other people and from the culture at large. Nature equips the human being with appetites but not meanings” (p.6 Meanings) - something echoed by many other psychologists who argue that people get meaning primarily from and through other people – significant others, role models, religion, government, educational institution, and so on. That alone, links meaning, and the Need for Meaning, to others, people, and the Need to Belong, which would also be directly connected to structure, organization, and the Need for Ideology.
Lastly, I would briefly would highlight the fact that, while these four basic “needs” cover the bases and sufficiently describe religion and religious beliefs in general, the complexity of the human being would clearly suggest there necessarily exist other significant influences – for instance, the 'Need to Control' and the question of 'Spirit' as a separate category, besides being intimately and directly connected to meaning, as Carl Jung, Viktor Frankl, William James, and Emile Durkheim all agree. That being said, my argument is that the three basic needs - the Need for Meaning, the Need to Belong, and the Need for Ideology - provide a sufficient and necessary cause for the formation of religion and religious beliefs - as Piaget might have said.
Spiritual and Religious Beliefs and Drive
From my research it is readily apparent that the best analyses of spiritual and religious beliefs were done by Viktor Frankl, Carl Jung, William James, (as well as Emile Durkheim). I would appear more than chance that all three of those psychologists had experienced their own personal transcendental spiritual experiences. It would also appear self-evident that having a personal transcendental spiritual experience would without doubt be a huge help in the psychologists' ability to understand and grasp the significance of religious and spiritual beliefs. In fat there is a very critical synthesis-consensus among all four of those social scientists that "spirit" [spiritual processes] create meaning and a sense of reality
.
A Synthesis of Viktor Frankl, Carl Jung, Emile Durkheim, and
William James Ideas and Theories
I would like to present an ultra-brief view of the 'functions' of religious beliefs. Paul Wong is an extremely reputable and well-known psychologist and author. When I approached him with a brief summary of my “New Approach,” he was kind enough to observe that “Your approach is new in the sense of a broad-minded integrative approach, breaking down the artificial traditional divide between science and religious, or scientific psychology versus humanistic or psychoanalytic psychology.” He went on to suggest that a title of “A New Integrative Approach" would be appropriate."
I should first note that much of my writing would seem to answer the "call" of many of the youths of the younger generation who, according to the 2018 extensive Barna study of the younger generation’s beliefs about religion and spirituality, ask "What makes religious beliefs and spirituality "relevant?" In a nutshell, the argument that the New Integrative Approach makes is that, as Durkheim emphasized, religious and spiritual beliefs create meaning and Meaning Structures. As Emile Durkheim, a founding father of sociology, stated unequivocally: “Today we understand that law, morality, and scientific thought itself are born from religion, have long been confused with it, and remain imbued with its spirit.” (p62 el) More relevant to this discussion.
observed, religious and spiritual beliefs not only created morality, values and norms, but perhaps more importantly created social ideals, such as Compassion, Truth, Justice, Equality, as well as Morality and Righteousness. These social ideals are pivotal principles and tenets, not only of every major religion, but also became values and norms embedded in society and social structure.
There is a rather remarkable consensus among the psychologists, William James, Carl Jung, and Viktor Frankl that "spirit" and spiritual processes create meaning and a sense of reality. Carl Jung, a psychoanalyst and contemporary of Sigmund Freud, observed that "Spirit gives meaning to his [man's] life" (CW8:643) William James emphasizes in his classic work, originally published in 1902, The Varieties of Religious Experiences that "They [spiritual experiences] determine our vital attitude as decisively as the vital attitude of lovers is determined by the habitual sense,..… (P.47) William James goes on to say that religious experiences and spiritual experiences create and generate a “sense of reality” (p.48) In the anthology, Meaning in Positive and Existential Psychology (2014), edited by Batthyany and Russo-Netzer, Paul Wong, the prominent positive-existential psychologist, observes: “Frankl considers meaning seeking as stemming from one’s spiritual nature.” (p.156) The argument that “Spirit” or spiritual processes create meaning, of course, dovetails into Durkheim's argument that religious and spiritual beliefs create norms and social ideals, and, in fact, society as well.
The consensus that Spiritual Processes [Spirit] create meaning, a sense of reality and, in the end, actually create Reality and Truth, without question would mean that spiritual processes are intimately connected to the Need for Meaning and Meaning Structure. Yet I would suggest that the spiritual processes accentuate the integrative and synthesis function of meaning, and at times bring transcendence into play. Furthermore, especially in context of concepts such as the Holy spirit, it would seem clear that spiritual processes also play a significant role in the connectivity with others and the group and so also connect to the Need to Belong. Both Jung and Frankl believed that the "conscience" plays an important role in the spiritual processes [spirit] and so as such exercise a moderating effect on the processes involved in the Need to Belong and some of the processes involved in ideological directed processes.
Spirit - and the Force - Be With You
From early human societies it is clear that the spiritual processes (Spirit), in creating values, social ideals, norms, and so on, were actually pivotal in the creation of human Reality and Truth. As Buddha so succinctly stated the case for spirit: “Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live
without a spiritual life.” Again, I feel it necessary to restate that Baumeister emphasized that "Meaning" is, in truth, made up of a diverse mix of smaller meanings somehow integrated into a functioning unity. That could not be done without with the intangible integrative (and unmeasurable) metaphysical ideas and concepts so frequently found in spiritual and religious literature. Perhaps the best expression of the idea and reality of "Spirit" in my view was eloquently spoken in this way
by Angel, a good friend and companion in Rumi's sense of the word: “Spirit, to me, is literally everything. Spirit is the universe beyond our very small, limited existence as human in a physical world. This encompasses the view, too, of Spirit being a creative force. It is THE creative force, since it is everything! So, when we as humans, create or connect or dream or heal...we tap into Spirit!” That eloquent and profound statement , is in truth, also, an excellent description of "The Force," an idea taken from the iconic Star Wars' movies.
Content Copyrighted Charles E Peck Jr. Copyright © 2020
References and Footnotes
John Bargh, PhD: http://bargh.socialpsychology.org/
Viktor Frankl:
http://www.viktor-frankl.com/
Dr. Harold Koenig:
https://spiritualityandhealth.duke.edu/index.php/harold-g-koenig-m-d
Dr. Paul Wong:
http://www.drpaulwong.com/
Dr. Paul Wong: https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/paul-wong-biography/
William James: https://www.biography.com/people/william-james-9352726
Dr. Harold Koenig Director, Center for Spirituality,
Theology and Health: https://spiritualityandhealth.duke.edu/index.php/harold-g-koenig-m-d
Dr. Koenig on what spirituality can do for you: https://www.beliefnet.com/wellness/health/2006/05/what-religion-can-do-for-your-health.aspx