Religious Scholar

A fine line, isn't it? One of my favorite TV programs about religion is the wry hospital drama, House. Dr. House, an avowed atheist, raises questions that all religious and spiritual (I make a distinction) people need to ask. When I pray, am I just talking to my Imaginary Friend? When something good happens, why is it that God gets all the credit? And so forth.

     Truly, where does religion end and insanity begin? I'm sure there must be plenty of psychological literature on this topic (Psychologists: where can we find this?). Whenever someone kills others or self in the name of God, we shout, “That's not religion: it's crazy!” On a less dramatic note, is it sane to run your 21^st century life by social rules developed 2,000 or more years ago? Is this what it takes to make you feel like a real person?

     I'm not a mental health professional, but I think I can come up with some signs of mental illness according to the Western canon and their possible equivalents in religion:

     You can come up with more, I'm sure. To agnostics and atheists, there is no distinction: many of the characteristics of religion are nothing more than sanctified mental aberrations. To religious people, perhaps what we are quick to call insanity is really misinterpreted paranormal activity. After all, casting out devils works pretty much as well as psychotherapy and can be faster and cheaper.

     This leads one to inquire whether there is in fact a universal science of mental health. Is what we call mental wholeness simply a Western attitude, a Western technique to undermine and control other cultures? When families support suicide bombers, do Middle Eastern psychologists stage an intervention and drag the household into rehab?

     I don't have the answers to these questions, and they are so complex, I doubt anyone has a valid, pat reply. But those of us who identify ourselves more with the religious/spiritual side of the chart would do well to pay attention to the salvos launched by scientific materialists. The fictitious Dr. House is actually a person of some spirituality; it's his attacks on religious practices and attitudes that raise our hackles and help us think through what is, and what and why we believe.