The view that God is an illusion and the result of wish fulfillment (OCR A-Level Religious Studies): Revision Notes

The view that God is an illusion and the result of wish fulfilment

Secularism:

• The view is that religion should have no part to play in the running of the state, the affairs of government, and public life.
• Importantly, secularists are not claiming that religious beliefs are wrong, but simply that they should be separated from public matters.
• This view is summed up well by the Blair government famously expressed "We don't do God" even though Blair himself is a practising Christian.

Procedural secularism:

The role of the state is to take into account the interests of all its citizens. This means that it should not give priority or preference to any religion, but, treat all religions equally.

Programmatic secularism:

The role of the state in a plural multi-faith society is to be purely secular. All religious views or practices should be excluded from public institutions such as government, public events, schools, and universities.

Steve Bruce:

describes Christianity in Britain as a pale shadow of its former self. Bruce anticipates that in the coming years, Christian membership in Britain will fall below 10%. The decline in Church membership can already be seen in a dramatic reduction in church attendance, participation in Sunday school, and, the number of people who belong to a church.

Jose Casanova:

Identifies three ways in which people talk about secularisation:

1. The decline of religious belief and practice in society
2. The privatisation of religion – religion is seen as something that should not be seen in public e.g. wearing religious symbols to work
3. The secular separation of the state, economy, and science which are set free from religious institutions is a new norm

Based on Casanova's categorisation, there are some people who would argue that the UK is not secular because religion is not completely private, major events such as Remembrance Day involve religious practices. Additionally, it could also be argued that the UK is not secular because there is a strong government link with Christianity

Linda Woodhead:

highlighted that as the traditional bond between the UK and Christianity seems to be dissolving, spirituality is flourishing. For example, there has been an increase in spiritual practices such as mindfulness. This indicates that perhaps people are moving away from the theology element of religion, but, still engaging with similar well-being beneficial practices.

Auguste Comte:

• Held that civilised societies develop from the theological to the metaphysical (abstract view of the world) and finally to the positive (scientific/rational view of the world).
• • This idea leads him to develop the concept of secular positivism which is the view that scientific reason will eventually take over from reason.
• The view of Comte supports the arguments of liberalism that we live happier, more just lives without the superstition of religion.

Freud and Dawkins:

• Both Freud argues that the scientific method is the only route to truth and that, by extension, religion is an indicator of a less civilised society.
• Similarly, both have argued for the secularisation of society on the grounds that religion is infantile, repressive, and a major cause of conflict.
• The views of Freud and Dawkins that society would be happier without Christianity as it is infantile, repressive, and causes conflict.

David Hume:

• Held the view that religion is childish claiming that it is mainly practised by the uneducated where those who are mentally developed have no need for religious beliefs.
• Hume famously claimed that religion was 'sick men's dreams'.

Freud

He argues that religion is a product of wish fulfilment. The experience of vulnerability and helplessness that humans experience as children is made more tolerable by the invented belief that there is a purpose to life, with a moral code advanced by a higher wisdom, and that injustices in this life will be rectified in the next.

Religion represses human desires, particularly those that are destructive to society such as sexual violence, theft, and murder. In itself, this is not a bad thing, but, Freud uses it as evidence that religion is a construct to control people and bring order.

According to Freud, religion assuages infantile fears we have of things we cannot change and represses negative human behaviours. Observing religion as part of his study of the human mind he sees that religion is produced by anxiety and uncertainty about things outside of our control and, concludes that religion is both unreliable and unhealthy – supporting Hume's view that religion is a sickness.

Freud argues that these repeated rituals are obsessional because they keep the ego from being controlled by sexual and irrational urges. Hence, Freud goes on to conclude that religion is a universal obsessional neurosis.

Richard Dawkins

Biologist and famous atheist Richard Dawkins argues that monotheistic religions are the particular cause of mental and physical harm.

This is because belief in God is unfounded and also the very notion of God justifies irrational and dehumanising behaviour.

He argues that religious people default to a 'God of the gaps' where they input God as the solution for things that they do not understand.

In his book 'The God Delusion' Dawkins calls people to:

• Imagine a world without religion
• Accept that the God hypothesis is weak
• Realise that religion is a form of child abuse
• Accept atheism with pride. Dawkins argues that belief in a divine creator is unnecessary and deluded because the clearest explanation of the process of nature has been provided by Darwin and his theory of evolution.

Dawkins defines delusion as the persistent false belief contrary to the vast body of evidence presented.

He says that considering the theory of evolution it is delusional to still believe in God.

Stephen Jay:

Disagrees with Dawkins and argues that the supernatural world is totally different from the material world and therefore cannot be subject to scientific rational inquiry.

Dawkins, obviously, is unsatisfied with this and argues that all things must be subject to rational inquiry. Dawkins argues that these delusional religious beliefs are harmful because they create conflict and are a form of child abuse when taught to children.

He illustrates his argument that religion is abuse with a range of examples including:

• Hell houses in the USA where children are taught about the terrors of hell and how to avoid it
• Labelling children as Christian or Muslim before they have had the opportunity to understand what this means is a form of abduction and kidnapping
• Chapter 9 of The God Delusion gives the example of a woman who was abused by a priest as a child and claims that she was most distressed as a child by the belief that her non-Christian friend who had died would now be in hell.
• Not teaching students about evolution in schools because it conflicts with creationism. Dawkins also claims that religion causes harm because it is oppressive. He uses the example of the burka worn by Muslim women claiming that this is evidence of their submission but that it also serves as a metaphor for the impact that religion has on reducing our ability to perceive and understand things.

Jo Marchant

Science journalist Jo Marchant disagrees with both Freud and Dawkins and suggests that there is compelling evidence for positive medical and psychological benefits to being religious.