The Position of the West on the Question of Religion
Nothing profound to report:
Again, Jung locks onto the forces of collectivization--from within and without--on individuals. His idea and support of "religion" looks more and more like the promotion of humanism.
I'm anxious to read his sections on self-knowledge and understanding.
Again, Jung locks onto the forces of collectivization--from within and without--on individuals. His idea and support of "religion" looks more and more like the promotion of humanism.
I'm anxious to read his sections on self-knowledge and understanding.
posted by AJV at 6:30 PM
1 Comments:
“You can lead a horse to water, but faith is another matter.”
C. Robinson, The Black Crowes
is belief. It is with belief that we start any system of thought. In this case, human is based on the Christian faith as it has evolved over the past 2000 years. Secular humanism argues for these ideals—of what a human and society should be—with reason alone and thus replaces faith with reason. That does not change the fact that the origin of them—the origin of everything—is belief. As we move away from faith towards reason we lose sight of belief. This is a movement from being in relations with something to formalizing it and having knowledge of it: a move from understanding to knowledge. It is a shift from religion to creed—a situation in which habit takes over from active participation. We lose conviction as we rely on the habit of reason and follow the creed it makes evident. We move further from the start of the circle, in a larger radius that tries to deny that it started as a circle and has to continue to be one. We lose sight of the fact that it is a circle at all. We especially lose sight of the start of the circle, the foundation, which
OK, I’ll write normally now…
His ideas on religion do have a lot in common with humanism. But then again many would argue that humanism got its ideas from Christianity-- Habermas, Vattimo, and even Derrida to name a few. The big point, I think, is that it is faith and not reason that Jung is after. You need something to believe in not just the conclusion of a logical argument.
The idea that Humanism is rationalized Christianity (which means it has been secularized and given logical foundations in light of the rise of political and scientific ideas in Europe) is, I think, part of what Jung it fighting. For him the religious idea has an essential place in the human psyche and needs to be respected. This is of course pretty much the opposite of Freud.
I feel as if Jung is saying this: Since all systems of thinking are based on metaphysical assumption and since religion is the most transparent and flexible in doing this religion is the best way to ground yourself. Not only that but the human psyche needs the mystical and irrational aspects of religion to keep from getting overpowered and paralyzed by bare facts and logic. Religion takes us out of a mechanical system and gives agency and importance back to the individual. This is something that humanism doesn’t do—and to tell the truth most forms of organized religion do a poor job of it these days.
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