Challenges To Religious Beliefs

Question 1

Who created “religion as a product of the human mind”?

Answer 1

-Freud

Question 2

What is the “ID”?

Answer 2

• the primitive and impulsive part

Question 3

What is the “Superego”?

Answer 3

-Moral part of personality which includes conscience

Question 4

What is the “Ego”?

Answer 4

• the decision making part of the psych
• reconciles the id and superego

Question 5

What was Freud’s view on religion?

Answer 5

• he compared religious behaviour with obsessional neurosis (repetitive compulsive behaviours)
• if repetitive behaviour isn’t fulfilled, they feel unease e.g the rosary, mass, confession etc

Question 6

Religion as a universal obsessional neurosis

Answer 6

• Freud sees religious rituals as ON e.g. like no sex before marriage. If they’ve committed this sin, then they develop guilt which leads to prayer for forgiveness - becomes a compulsion.
  -lack of purpose can be displaced into prayer - becomes a compulsion
• religious people are part of a universal neurosis, they share the compulsion and replace their guilt of sexual repression

Question 7

Where does obsessional neurosis come from?

Answer 7

• repressed instinctual impulses

Question 8

Support for Freud: wolf man

Answer 8

• the wolf man suffered from depression and went to therapy
• Freud focussed on a dream the wolf man had as a child
• the wolf man saw 6 or 7 wolves and by being scared of being eaten, he woke up
• Freud interpreted this as a repressed trauma of the wolf man witnessing his parents having sex
• therefore making it easier to treat the depression having identified the the repressed trauma

Question 9

Support for Freud: Little hans

Answer 9

• ## Han’s has a phobia of being bitten by a horse and has tried to avoid horse