Bad religion : the psychology of religious misbehavior / Michael L. Klassen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Klassen, Michael L.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Psychology, Religious.

Religious fanaticism.

Conversion--Psychological aspects.

Conversion.

Physical Description:

vii, 64 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, MD : University Press of America, 2007.

Summary:

Bad Religion suggests that there are two classifications of religious people in the world: those that better the world through their faith, and those that cause harm and suffering through their religious misinterpretations. Bad Religion focuses on the latter group of individuals who practice "bad religion" by engaging in religious misconduct. Drawing from psychological research, Bad Religion examines the roots of religious indiscretion, traces the stages of development, examines the nature of people and personalities prone to religious misconduct, and suggests ways for them to maturely seek answers to the questions: "Who am I?" and "What do I stand for?"

Contents:

Introduction: Religion and the Spoiled Identity 1

Origins 4

The Human Experience of the Divine 4

The Experience of Wrongness 4

Unconnected to Formal Religion 5

Precedes Formal Religion 5

Universal 5

Unavoidable 6

The Experience of Deliverance 6

"More" 8

Conversion 9

Sudden and Dramatic Conversion 9

Gradual Conversion 10

Lifetime Conversion 11

Sudden Conversion and the Subconscious 12

Types 14

Fakes, Flakes, and Emotional High Stakes 14

Frauds 15

Flakes 16

Restless 16

Morally Fickle 17

Demagogic 17

Non-Committal 17

Zealots 18

Disdain for the Present 18

A Failure at Life 19

Inclination to Make-Believe 19

Recruits 19

The "Riches to Rags" Class 19

The Self-Made Rich 20

The Culturally Unassimilated 20

Permanent Misfits 20

Temporary Misfits 21

The Bored Careerist/Disenchanted Consumers 21

The Extremely Selfish 21

The Shame- and Guilt-Ridden 22

Interpreting the Holy Writ 22

The Denigration of Intellect 23

Magic Over Mystery 23

The Careless Disregard of New Knowledge 24

God of the Gap 24

Rightness vs. Compatibility 25

Stages 28

Religious Development and the Practice of Bad Religion 28

Make-Believe Reasoning 28

Sex and Violence 29

Imitation 30

Stage One Religion 31

The "Believer-Clone" 32

Totemism 33

Ancestor Worship 33

What Stage One Religious Groups Do To Attract Believer-Clones 34

The Avoidance of Divine Punishment 34

Relationship by Contract 35

Disregard of the Social Conventions 35

Cultural Separatism 35

Refusal to Live in the Real World 36

An Undifferentiated View of Authority 36

God as Doter 37

The Rocky Transition to Stage Two Religion 37

Loss 38

"Crab Basket Religion" 38

Stage Two Believers 39

Good Boy/Good Girl Religion 39

Law and Order Religion 39

Nice Religion 40

The Stage Two Religious Rebel 40

Stage Two Believers and the Games They Play 42

The Perfect Believer 42

Projection 43

Sublimation 44

Group Conformity 45

The Non-Conformist 46

"Hope" and the Stage Two Zealot 47

Stage Two Zealots Who Practice Good Religion 48

Traits 50

Good Religion 50

"What Should Heinz Do?" 51

Stage One Morality 51

Stage Two Morality 51

Stage Three Morality 51

The Seven Traits of Good Religion 52

Tolerance 52

Well-Differentiated Perspectives 52

Forcefulness 53

Investigative 54

Willing to Disobey 54

Integrated 55

Comprehensive 56.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 61-62) and index.

ISBN:

076183561X

9780761835615

OCLC:

123956432