When we stop believing in religion, religion doesn’t go
away, it becomes a servant of psychology. For example, books like Jean Shinoda
Bolen’s Goddesses in Everywoman, and
Robert Johnson’s She, He, and We take the Gods and myths of ancient
Greece and turn them into modern psychological archetypes. The same thing may
be happening with liberal Judaism as well.
In the current issue of Reform
Judaism magazine Alan Morinis, founder and dean of the Mussar Institute,
and one of the most creative voices in contemporary Judaism, offers an
insightful essay on the meaning of Hanukkah and other Jewish holidays.
“Embedded in each of our holidays,” Alan writes, “are the
messages they hold for us.” Purim’s message is “It’s time to be joyful!” Tisha
b’Av tells us its time to be sad. “If you are a person who is always or often
sad, then Purim comes to help you usher in some happiness. Or perhaps you live
your live (sic) experiencing great joy, and here comes Tisha B’av (sic), saying
“You should learn to know sorrow, too.”
Hanukkah it turns out is about trust which is why the photo
accompanying the essay is of a young woman hanging from a harness over a gorge
of some sort. Maybe she is lighting candles each time she approaches the
ground, I don’t know. Or maybe lighting candles is irrelevant to the theme of
trust.
Let me be clear: I’m not criticizing Alan’s approach. I know
him and have only the greatest respect for his work. All I’m doing is pointing
out that this is what we do when we no longer believe. The hope is that in this
way Judaism will take on a new life as a system of metaphors for psychological
insight and wellness. If this is what is happening to liberal Judaism it will
no longer be a religion, but a self–help therapy.
I can imagine a questionnaire to help you determine if you
are a Purim Person or a Tisha B’Av Person, etc. and then, based on your
profile, you will determine which Jewish holidays you ought to celebrate. This
may give Judaism a role to play in the future, but it won’t be the one it was
meant to play.
Something similar is happening in evangelical Christianity
where Jesus wants you to be happy and rich rather than saved, and in Buddhism
where Buddha nature is that special something you are meant to actualize in the
world, and meditation is no longer a tool for enlightenment or even the ending
of suffering, but a means to reduce stress, heighten our capacity for
concentration at work and in school, and generally make us more productive
producers and consumers.
There may well be a future for religion, but it may be that
the religions we have now are headed the way of Olympus.
2 comments:
A lot of psychotherapists who were also religious types eventually moved away from psychology and back to religion in it's broadest sense as they felt that sacredness was better expressed that way. I prefer being a weird expression of the divine myself than a set of psychological problems to be sorted through and solved. Gerald May was one of these ex psychotherapists and in his book 'Simply Sane' he spoke for leaving ourselves alone. Once 'being still' happens in any way psychology reaches the end of it's usefulness and wonder starts up along with religion in sometimes really simple forms like bowing and calling out. I think the religious forms must die or transform in some
way but psychology just won't do when pouring out a bowl of water in thanks for the miracle of rain is called for.
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