3.6A- The challenge of secularism Flashcards
(16 cards)
Freud’s ideas of God as an illusion
-Freud rejected the view that religious feelings and experiences come from God, and instead claimed that they come from within the individual’s own mind.
-says that religion is infantile and a ‘mass delusion’.
-thought religion is a product of wish fulfilment. People experience vulnerability as children, and those who remian infantile in adult life invent a God as a kind of imaginary friend because they feel unable to cope with life on their own.
-Freud related religious belief to his ideas about the Oedipus complex. He argues that boys know it is wrong to kill their fathers, so they over-compensate by inventing a cosmic-father-figure God to worship.
-believed that religious believers invent the idea that there are absolute morals and a purpose to life and a goal at the end, because they wish that life could be like that. They transfer these wishes into beliefs.
-Religious believers invent a God who seems stern but is forgiving as well as an afterlife, to compensate for the injusticies of real life.
-Religion represses human desires such as sexual violence, murder, and theft.
-Religious beliefs and teachings gain authoirty because they are passed down through generations.
-Freud thought that religion is fundamentally unhealthy and that it discourages people from having normal, healthy adult reactions to the world, and from taking on responsibility for their own actions and their consequences. It also represses people and causes conflicts.
Possible strengths of Freud’s views on God
-Freud could be right that religion has a particular appeal for vulnerable and lonely people.
-A non-supernatural explanation of religious feelings and experiences could be viewed as more plausible than a supernatural one.
-There is evidence to support Freud’s idea that people depict God as a kind of super-human. For example, feminists argue that men have given God male characteristics (Mary Daly and Rosemary Radford Ruether).
Possible weaknesses of Freud’s views on God
-Many religious people have been particularly strong and courageous in standing up for their beliefs in the face of danger (Mother Theresa).
-The demands of leading a Christian life are difficult rather than comfortable (Bonhoeffer’s ‘costly grace’).
-Religious beliefs might be said to be more uniform than would be expected if different individuals made them up.
Dawkin’s critique of religion
-Prefers scientific explanations
-believes belief in God is damaging for society and for intellectual progress.
-argues that human life is meaningful without reference to religious ideas. People do not need the idea of God in order to find meaning in their lives.
-He argues that religion is responisble for divison, war and conflict in society, both in the modern world and throughout history.
-He argues that religious belief discourages scientific enquiry by allowing a lazy mindset that says “it’s a divine mystery” rather than looking for answers.
-He claims that religions are repressive, and singles out religious dress codes as an example of the repression of women.
-Dawkins is particularly concerned about the indoctrination of children into religion, citing examples of where babies are initiated into religious faiths before they can understand what is happening, and also giving examples of abuse of children by Christian priests and nuns. Dawkins considers bringing up children to be religious as a form of psychological abuse. He says that children have a right not to have their minds confused by other people’s nonsense.
Possible strengths of Dawkin’s critique of religion
-Some Christians do see science and religion as oppoistes and oppose the teaching of evolution in schools, which could lend support to Dawkin’s views.
-Dawkins is right to say that some acts of war and terrorism have been the result of disagreements over religious beliefs.
-There is evidence to support his view that religion can be repressive for some groups; many feminists would agree with the claim that religion can be repressive for women.
Possible weaknesses of Dawkin’s critique of religion
-Dawkins could be criticised for taking isolated, extreme examples and using them to draw general conclusions.
-He glossed over the many positive contributions religion has made to socieities, such as the founding of schools, the campaigning for civil rights, the work for the poor and the pressure for social change.
-He does not take into account of the many scientists who have also held religious beleifs and have been motivated by thier faith to continue their scientific exploration.
-It could be argued that keeping children aeway from learning truths about God is abusive.
Jo Marchant (NOT NEEDED)
-Suggests that there is compelling evidence that religious practices, such as meditation, social gatherings, and belief in a loving God, bring about measurable benefits for religious believers.
-She argues that belief in God and hope for life after death can help people overcome loneliness and fears, allowing people to live happier and longer lives.
Marchant (NOT NEEDED)
-suggests that there is compelling evidence that religious practices, such as meditation, social gathering and belief in a loving God, bring about measurable benefits for religious believers.
-argues that belief in God and hope for an afterlife can help people overcome loneliness and fears, allowing people to live happier and longer lives.
Christianity and public life
-Some secular traditions see a seperation between the Church and the State as essential. A good example is France, as there are no state-funded religious schhols, and religious influence is not allowed.
-People in the Uk disagree about the placr of religion in public life. There have been lgeal disputes over the wearing of religious symbols at work and the extent to which people’s religious beliefs should be protected.
-In Britain the situation is different from the majority of European countries. In England the Church of England is the national church and the King is ‘Supreme Governor’.
Twenty-six bishops of the Church of England automatically sit in the House of Lords as ‘Lords Spiritual’ and at significant state events the Church presides.
Citizens, regardless of their faith, may make use of their Church of England parish church for baptisms, marriage and funerals. While some regard this as outdated, others consider this to be the way in which the state provides a spiritual service to all, much like the National Health Service (NHS).
Education and schools
-Many schools in the UK have Christian foundations, often because they date back to times when the only free education was provided charitably by the Church. There are also ‘faith schools’ for the children of other religious traditions in the UK.
-Church schools usually have state funding as well as sponsorship from the Church. When schools have Church funding, they are expected to have a ‘Christian ethos’ with an emphasis on Christian moral principles and assemblies of Christian worship. Preference might be given in the admissons policy to children of families who go to church, and teachers might be recruited on the understanding that they are sympathetic to the Christian character of the school. Larger Church schools might employ a chaplain to act as a counsellor and to conduct acts of worship.
British Humanist Association’s reasons against ‘faith schools’
-a diversity of faith and belief is better for children educationally
-school time should be for lessons, not worship and prayer
-seperating children into faith groups encourages divison, intolerance and conflict
-faith schools give unfair privileges to children because of the religion of their families
-children should not be recruited into a religion whilst they are at school.
Dawkins arguments against religious fundamentalism in schools
-religious fundamentalism is anti-scientific and harmful to young minds.
-religious fundamentalism replaces scientific, evidence-based enquiry with superstition.
-religious schools teach children that unquestioning faith is a virtue, whereas they schould be educated to believe that questioning and open-mindness are good.
Arguments in favour of faith schools
-Churches originally built schools for the poor and own a lot of the land they are built in, so the schools cannot just be ‘taken away’ from the Church.
-replacing faith schools with secular schools can be seen as indoctrinating children into atheism.
-critics of Richard Dawkins suggest that his arguments are directed at a fundamentalist and extreme kind of religion which is not prevalent in Church schools in the UK.
-there is no evidence to suggest that childrene ducated at faith schools are less tolerant or open-minded or unscientific tham children educated at secular schools.
-a plural, diverse society should have plural, diverse schools to reflect the many different groups in society.
-Parents have the right to want their children to be educated in a way that reflects the family’s morality and beliefs.
Religion, government, and State
-The ruling British monarch is also the Head of the Church of England and Defender of the Faith.
-There are also Anglican bishops in the House of Lords, serving as part of the process of the UK government. There are also religious leaders of other faiths, but the Church of England has the most seats in the House of Lords (26).
-In the UK, religious places of Christian worship are licensed to legalise marriages.
-The UK largely has a culture of ‘inclusive secularity’, where people’s religious beleifs are respected up to a point. Medical staff, for example, may opt out of participating in some medical procedures if pariticpation would compromise their religious principles. Religious dress is allowed in public if it does not impact someone’s ability to do their job or compromise security. People are allowed to make speeches in public about their religious views.
-When political leaders have firm religious beleifs, this can cause controversy, for example if an MP’s personal religious beliefs could influence a bot on abortion, people might object and say that the MP shoukld be representing the constituency and not allow religious beliefs to determine the vote.
-Rowan Williams (NOT NEEDED) says programmatic secularism assumes religious beleif in public is offensive and assumed religious people want to drown out opposing views and procedural secularism allows public voices from all kinds of beliefs and none, without privileging any of the voices, ensuring a balanced discussion.
Secularisation as a theory
-Sociologists of the mid to late 20th Century argued that the world was becoming less and less religious. This position was supported by evidence such as the decline in church attendance and the growing number of people who registered as having no religion on surveys such as the UK census.
-It was assumed that there would be a decline in religion until it simply disappeared. Reasons given to explain this included the rise of science, globalisation and increased diversity in society.
-The secularisation theory has since been discarded. due to one of the key thinkers retracting his conclusions.
-Modernity has had effects on religion. Fewer people attend church in Western Europe but other religions have a strong presence. In the rest of the world, religion is as strong as ever. Many people discribe themselves as ‘spiritual’ without wishing to associate closely with a particular religious group.
