tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post3691490275883082851..comments2024-03-29T04:06:37.402-07:00Comments on Had Enough Therapy?: PsychotherapismStuart Schneidermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-2425622056699515042014-08-05T06:52:55.907-07:002014-08-05T06:52:55.907-07:00What we have here is a solution looking for a prob...What we have here is a solution looking for a problem. All this psyche/psychobabble is a sophisticated pseudo-science masquerading as a new objective religion, as you have eloquently stated. <br /><br />High pagan priests are attempting to tell you their (necessarily subjective) meaning of life, only to bring you to the est model that "Life is empty and meaningless, and it's empty and meaningless because it's empty and meaningless." <br /><br />From there, you're supposed to come up with your own meaning. So while this is supposed to be empowering, it's actually a backdoor way of sanctioning Nietzsche's "will to power," creating the individual self as some all-knowing, self-justified superman. Of course you have the right to judge when you've replaced God. That's the idea. <br /><br />It's engineered as a way to rescue the human mind from the control of clerics. Clericalism is the true enemy, to be replaced by a new clericalism. The void that must be filled, and the psychoanalyst is all too willing to tell you what this all means. And now, without God, one is alone. <br /><br />But at its core, the orthodox Judeo-Christian professes a God who is "utterly other," who is a mystery. That keeps us seeking. Psychoexplanations like those of Rogers and Maslow propose a replacement -- something novel, yet as certain in its interpretations as anything religion can muster. These new high priests are evangelists of a neo-gnostic movement propelled by subjective mind-reading, producing an intoxicating self-righteousness without a hint of peer review. The interpreter is always right... he/she holds the secret knowledge. There's nothing "utterly other" about that, and master manipulator a like Bernyays knew it. It's elevation of the Self as the subject of worship. And we wonder why narcissism is on the rise everywhere? Yet the truth is there is no secret knowledge.<br /><br />This self-worship drives us away from our fellow man and falsely empowers us to categorize him/her in three ways: (1) someone who agrees and is thus an (always temporary) ally; (2) someone who is beneath you, who doesn't "get it" and is to be viewed with indifference; or (3) someone who questions the newly-minted superman's worldview, and is thus worthy of contempt because of their supposedly oppositional motivations. Pretty neat game, set up for he who is his own life center in every way, and very much alone. <br /><br />Rogers talked about "On Becoming a Person," which is necessarily apart from Christianity's recognition of the universal dignity of the human person. Rogers' person is self-justified superman just because he says he is. This leads to fights over "purity of thought," and purity is a demanding standard that leaves one man standing. We are pushed headlong into the deep, dark recesses of our (always subjective) feelings, Everyone eventually becomes an enemy. Intellectual elitism, disconnection, self-hatred and despair. <br /><br />Yeah, I'd say Freud's experiment failed under its own weight. Solitary confinement, whether in prison or self-imposed, is the surest way to insanity. Freud wanted to replace religion with a new clergy following his model, just as today's New Agers want to replace religion with this personal, pagan "spirituality." Either way, it separates us from each other.<br /><br />TipAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-74138881697042928102014-08-03T06:33:21.293-07:002014-08-03T06:33:21.293-07:00http://www.amazon.com/Faith-Fatherless-The-Psychol...http://www.amazon.com/Faith-Fatherless-The-Psychology-Atheism/dp/1890626252/ref=cm_wl_huc_item<br /><br />According to author Vitz,poor or absentee fathers seem to produce<br />children inclined to pursue an atheist worldview.<br />Of course those with such a worldview<br />excoriate Vitz' book.<br /><br />The sneering and contempt common to many atheists seems ignorant of Grace or anything resembling holiness...perhaps even Wonder is foreign. <br /><br />At a minimum,<br />religious belief encourages one to seek an appreciation of such things. Atheism appears unaware of their existence.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com