Bad Religion The Psychology of Religious Misbehavior

by Klassen, Michael L.

• ISBN13: 9780761835615
• ISBN10: 076183561X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-03-06
• Publisher: UPA

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?"

Author Biography

Michael L. Klassen is Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Northern Iowa

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Introduction: Religion and the Spoiled Identity	p. 1
Origins	p. 4
The Human Experience of the Divine	p. 4
The Experience of Wrongness	p. 4
Unconnected to Formal Religion	p. 5
Precedes Formal Religion	p. 5
Universal	p. 5
Unavoidable	p. 6
The Experience of Deliverance	p. 6
"More"	p. 8
Conversion	p. 9
Sudden and Dramatic Conversion	p. 9
Gradual Conversion	p. 10
Lifetime Conversion	p. 11
Sudden Conversion and the Subconscious	p. 12
Conclusion	p. 13
Types	p. 14
Fakes, Flakes, and Emotional High Stakes	p. 14
Frauds	p. 15
Flakes	p. 16
Restless	p. 16
Morally Fickle	p. 17
Demagogic	p. 17
Non-Committal	p. 17
Zealots	p. 18
Disdain for the Present	p. 18
A Failure at Life	p. 19
Inclination to Make-Believe	p. 19
Recruits	p. 19
The "Riches to Rags" Class	p. 19
The Self-Made Rich	p. 20
The Culturally Unassimilated	p. 20
Permanent Misfits	p. 20
Temporary Misfits	p. 21
The Bored Careerist/Disenchanted Consumers	p. 21
The Extremely Selfish	p. 21
The Shame- and Guilt-Ridden	p. 22
Interpreting the Holy Writ	p. 22
The Denigration of Intellect	p. 23
Magic Over Mystery	p. 23
The Careless Disregard of New Knowledge	p. 24
God of the Gap	p. 24
Rightness vs. Compatibility	p. 25
Conclusion	p. 26
Stages	p. 28
Religious Development and the Practice of Bad Religion	p. 28
Make-Believe Reasoning	p. 28
Sex and Violence	p. 29
Imitation	p. 30
Stage One Religion	p. 31
The "Believer-Clone"	p. 32
Totemism	p. 33
Ancestor Worship	p. 33
What Stage One Religious Groups Do To Attract Believer-Clones	p. 34
The Avoidance of Divine Punishment	p. 34
Relationship by Contract	p. 35
Disregard of the Social Conventions	p. 35
Cultural Separatism	p. 35
Refusal to Live in the Real World	p. 36
An Undifferentiated View of Authority	p. 36
God as Doter	p. 37
The Rocky Transition to Stage Two Religion	p. 37
Loss	p. 38
"Crab Basket Religion"	p. 38
Stage Two Believers	p. 39
Good Boy/Good Girl Religion	p. 39
Law and Order Religion	p. 39
Nice Religion	p. 40
The Stage Two Religious Rebel	p. 40
Stage Two Believers and the Games They Play	p. 42
The Perfect Believer	p. 42
Projection	p. 43
Sublimation	p. 44
Group Conformity	p. 45
The Non-Conformist	p. 46
"Hope" and the Stage Two Zealot	p. 47
Stage Two Zealots Who Practice Good Religion	p. 48
Conclusion	p. 48
Traits	p. 50
Good Religion	p. 50
"What Should Heinz Do?"	p. 51
Stage One Morality	p. 51
Stage Two Morality	p. 51
Stage Three Morality	p. 51
The Seven Traits of Good Religion	p. 52
Tolerance	p. 52
Well-Differentiated Perspectives	p. 52
Forcefulness	p. 53
Investigative	p. 54
Willing to Disobey	p. 54
Integrated	p. 55
Comprehensive	p. 56
Conclusion	p. 57
Conclusion	p. 59
References	p. 61
Index	p. 63
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