This is really interesting. I have often had people say to me that my Christian faith is “just a crutch to cope with life.” While my faith does give me huge peace, it also can make life difficult in a world that is, as you say, turning towards a scientific approach to life.
Thank you for considering the role of faith and spirituality, an often overlooked but crucial part of the picture for many of us. I really appreciate it!
Thanks Mark, it's good to see some sensible questioning on this subject, for religion intersects many aspects of life and seems on the whole to get in the way rather than contribute, although the faithful would rightfully argue in favour of their chosen paths.
Our mentality is currently being impinged upon by relentless activities threatening our planetary security (just look overhead) and social equilibrium to the point that people feel helpless in the face of such destructive enormity. Religion, politics and science combined don't seem to be having much effect in slowing the pace, if they are indeed seriously trying to reach an equable goal wherein human beings can self-sustain in tandem with the natural world.
Perhaps we need new kinds of faith that allow for individuality, respect singular truths and adopt collaboration regardless of deity. Perhaps if spirituality interfaced with quantum mechanical principles we would find ourselves getting somewhere, sooner rather than later.
I reread your closing questions and I was completely beside the point in my previous comment so here is my actual answer: Faith is a fascinating subject and I am tempted to say people miss out if they don’t explore it. I like to think that one day humanity will revert back to seeing nature as their religion like an old person who finds peace tending to their garden. It would certainly bring us a sense of humility, identity, belonging and respect which I do believe we miss.
Maybe it is difficult to answer that question because people live religion quite differently, there is a whole spectrum from the fanatic crusader to the hopeful dilettante - the latter is my category btw. It is like saying: does being English make you happier? If you think that being part of a community, meditation, finding meaning in life are important then in some cases religion can make you happier. But then again, all these things can be found outside religion, you just have to look for them actively. Not that you don't have to make any effort when you believe in a certain faith... My mother once told me: "religion is like a friend, sometimes you are closer to it and other times you lose touch" (I like quoting my mum for no reason). All this to say it is all very personal so I will give you my experience even though it is highly anecdotal and no one asked for it. In my case, catholicism has brought me huge happiness and wrecked havoc at the same time. It is messy but it is interesting. Thanks for raising the question, for the article and for the song.
Of course, you are right, and I realised and respected your approach, and I trod carefully because of it. But conversely, religion's ethos is what hinders what I call proper faith, for some. Therefore, the answer to your question is not easy to decide. It is hard to separate the history of religion and faith and faith from religion. Yes, you can have faith without attending 'a building' or following a religion - that is so in my case. Many can't, however. They need both. In a way, my reply was implying that a faith followed conventionally probably can't help much with mental health due to how religion is structured, plus the other attendees are humans! If you asked: can someone be of faith and still have mental issues, then I would answer yes, without a doubt. I read somewhere that faith is the refuge of those suffering from poor mental health. Maybe that's unkind, but I get the point. We often gravitate towards thoughts of God when we are in trouble. Does it help? That is a personal thing. I suspect that not feeling alone and having someone to talk to is more important for most. Personally, having people around me would worsen any issues - I get down, they get down, we all get down, the mood of one affects the others. Platitudes can worsen things, too.
Is having faith a strength of mind or a weakness? Again, that is personal. How many individuals overflowing with faith have committed atrocities? As for talking with God, it would be great to offload and to go away lighter. I have seen people rocking and saying fervently, God will help, God will help. Months later, they are still doing and saying the same thing. Overall, I can't help thinking, though, that faith, expressed through religion, as we humans do, has harmed mental wellbeing more than it has helped. I also can't help wondering, is having faith that God will heal us abdicating our responsibility to heal ourselves? I'm not convinced that faith is the right way to ensure our mental well-being.
Hi Mike. Nicely written, again. I hope you don't mind me butting in on your party, but I simply have to respond...
If we consider the atrocities committed by monotheistic religions to ensure they are the main order and the way they set about controlling followers, I say they don't improve Mental Health. If anything, they hinder it or even cause it to disintegrate. They certainly didn't do well for the poor Cathars - and others! Having said that, I confess, I enthusiastically believe in the existence of a God, just not a humanistic-Blake-like one. That belief has helped me through some very confusing times.
Believing my moment of revelation to be relevant to your question, I will explain how I arrived at that feeling. And no, I’m not about to preach! (God, forbid!)
During a low mood on a country walk - my host of daffodils moment - I pondered the existence of God. I was just concluding, no, God does not exist, when suddenly, my gaze fell upon a tall clump of beckoning grass. It was of a type I had seen many times, but never before was I compelled to fall to my knees to examine it. Parting the strands revealed a myriad of life bustling about the roots. While watching the scurrying and the burrowing, the world around me crinkled and hushed. Then, as if suddenly plugged in, I connected to the creation, yes right back to the beginning. While I revelled in the wonder of our planet and its uniqueness, I prickled and felt a sense of childlike joy for a task well done and a grateful smile for my appreciation. That set my bipolarity spinning in ways I had never experienced. More succinctly, you could say, I parted the grass to find God smiling back, but then that would humanise God, and in my opinion, God does not have human-like traits. The belief that God created Humankind in 'His' image is what robs religion of its effectiveness and, in doing so, affects mental wellbeing. Humans' covert power and wealth, and that in turn corrupts whatever it touches, including religion.
As you alluded, religion should be the coming together of like minds in celebration. It should be there to help us answer those complex questions that arise from our day-to-day living, and of course, to accept that there is an end and help us prepare for it. Religions will say they do that. But how can they when they stand before a pulpit or an altar or whenever and proclaim we are the chosen, when really all they follow and believe in is power. And of course, the wealth of an organisation formed out of the manipulation, exploitation and corruption of mental health. Doubt that? Consider the fear this idea causes some: here are the rules we say you should live by, and if you don't, we'll stone you, or cast you out and let hell, or whatever, take you for eternity.
Excluding difficulties arising from mental mis-wiring, I believe most of our mental health issues are a result of our wayward fight-or-flight impulses. Worse still, they can be programmed by others! When we are comfortable, and feel wanted, or are part of something, and so on, and foresee a good future, we feel safe and our mental wellbeing is balanced, until it is tilted by conscious or subconscious anxiety and or fear. That anxiety and fear can stem from a sensory overload or an inability to subconsciously sort the chaff from the wheat, or it can be imposed by others or circumstance.
Some examples of the effect fight-or-flight can have on mental well-being for those who have yet to make the connection.
I'm on the spectrum, and when frustrated, I explode or implode. Invariably, there is no warning. The rush of negative chemicals gleefully set to work, and down I go or, in temper, rail and gnash and occasionally dash things against a wall. I can take days to come out of that state, and rarely do I ever fully. Traces remain, and in time, they become part of my fight-or-flight impulses. To the extent that I'll mentally cringe - rebel - at the very thought of new things or redo difficult things I've encountered in the past, for I know I'll be confused and stressed by them. Example: 30 years ago, I literally took down a house and rebuilt it. I had to learn every skill on the fly. Working with a tight budget, I had to get everything right first time - that included building a staircase and walls, plastering and plumbing. The tasks were endless, and I made many mistakes; most were expensive, both in money and in time. The time was so intense that I came to hate the feel of paint and cement on my hands, the dust, the smells, the errors, everything. I did it all because it needed doing and there was no other way. Now, 30 years later, I instantly sweat, shake and stress out if I so much as touch a tool or a step ladder. My flight instincts go hell for leather.
Another simple example: TV programmes. I would rather watch something seen before, which I was comfortable with, than dare to watch something new, unless over time its presence becomes familiar, predictable and therefore comfortable. None of that is particularly conscious, although I'm now aware of what I do. In my spectrum-controlled case, I also have the actor's voice tones or strange mannerisms to contend with! Just the thought of putting a TV on can stress me out. Those reactions to actors, if not recognised and controlled, could create bias and or bigotry, which can, I guess, create stress. I came across a well-thought-of well well-balanced chap who worked for the Samaritans at concerts and such like... His trigger was a Londoner's accent, and it created a huge bias which affected how he treated certain people, and of course, it confused them. Somewhere in his past, he had an issue with a Londoner, and the subconscious memory and reaction to it were triggered by the accent.
Everything we do and are, stems from how we process sensory input. Religious houses should be a safe place, somewhere we can go to seek out not a religious, "Jesus or Mohammed 'orders' you to do this", but to unravel with like minds and then remake ourselves in a better image. Offload, share and reload!
We are symbiotic creatures. Like it or not, we need each other and all other life on this planet. Religion has a huge part to play in helping us to see that. Yet sadly, being created from that human need to be “The only one, the all-powerful,” and run by humans with biases, religions let us down and therefore the world. Worse still, they let down the very God they purport to be messengers for. While of course, because they want you to follow them, they instil fear. Those organisations have yet to learn, that understanding and kindness are better recruiters than fear and promises of damnation.
There is so much more I could say; the above words are a simple knee-jerk response to part of your article. Once I've fully digested the rest, I might, with your permission, write further.
A short poem to end this with, which I hope encapsulates some of the above.
Daisies Ways
Ponderous steps led to and through a parade of colourful tulips -
ranks of marching soldiers, stiff in new glistening tunics,
Where I straightened my back as if I too heard the call,
To take up arms to serve the ideals of those who rule,
"March on faint hearts to where flowers never grow,
To face plant in mud, slivering crud and welling blood,
In a land ruled over by crows and those we do not know."
At the field's bend, tulips yield to a wilderness at the end,
Where the bless and mess of a rippling hedge gave relief -
from thoughts of scythes and that overwhelming grief,
And over the way, a merry band of frivolous daisies smiled,
Come, be at peace, forget the tulips, join us for a while.
With lightened, gladdened steps, I climbed an ancient style,
To be beguiled by a host of spirits in free and happy sway -
with sweet voices singing of a freedom seldom relayed,
Where I cried as I died and then again when I was reborn,
Gone was the mud-sucking forlorn and my bitter scorn,
I'm at one now with the daisies' ways, and will forever be adorned.
Thanks so much for sharing, Ray. I avoided getting into the horrors perpetrated by institutional religions for two reasons: 1 - I’m more interested in whether faith itself rather than just going to a communal ritual is helpful. And 2 - while institutional religions have done bad things, is it any worse than what states and ideologies did over the centuries?
This is really interesting. I have often had people say to me that my Christian faith is “just a crutch to cope with life.” While my faith does give me huge peace, it also can make life difficult in a world that is, as you say, turning towards a scientific approach to life.
Thank you for considering the role of faith and spirituality, an often overlooked but crucial part of the picture for many of us. I really appreciate it!
Thanks Mark, it's good to see some sensible questioning on this subject, for religion intersects many aspects of life and seems on the whole to get in the way rather than contribute, although the faithful would rightfully argue in favour of their chosen paths.
Our mentality is currently being impinged upon by relentless activities threatening our planetary security (just look overhead) and social equilibrium to the point that people feel helpless in the face of such destructive enormity. Religion, politics and science combined don't seem to be having much effect in slowing the pace, if they are indeed seriously trying to reach an equable goal wherein human beings can self-sustain in tandem with the natural world.
Perhaps we need new kinds of faith that allow for individuality, respect singular truths and adopt collaboration regardless of deity. Perhaps if spirituality interfaced with quantum mechanical principles we would find ourselves getting somewhere, sooner rather than later.
Thanks Kathy - thought-provoking…
I reread your closing questions and I was completely beside the point in my previous comment so here is my actual answer: Faith is a fascinating subject and I am tempted to say people miss out if they don’t explore it. I like to think that one day humanity will revert back to seeing nature as their religion like an old person who finds peace tending to their garden. It would certainly bring us a sense of humility, identity, belonging and respect which I do believe we miss.
Thanks for some really thoughtful comments … happy Easter
Maybe it is difficult to answer that question because people live religion quite differently, there is a whole spectrum from the fanatic crusader to the hopeful dilettante - the latter is my category btw. It is like saying: does being English make you happier? If you think that being part of a community, meditation, finding meaning in life are important then in some cases religion can make you happier. But then again, all these things can be found outside religion, you just have to look for them actively. Not that you don't have to make any effort when you believe in a certain faith... My mother once told me: "religion is like a friend, sometimes you are closer to it and other times you lose touch" (I like quoting my mum for no reason). All this to say it is all very personal so I will give you my experience even though it is highly anecdotal and no one asked for it. In my case, catholicism has brought me huge happiness and wrecked havoc at the same time. It is messy but it is interesting. Thanks for raising the question, for the article and for the song.
Of course, you are right, and I realised and respected your approach, and I trod carefully because of it. But conversely, religion's ethos is what hinders what I call proper faith, for some. Therefore, the answer to your question is not easy to decide. It is hard to separate the history of religion and faith and faith from religion. Yes, you can have faith without attending 'a building' or following a religion - that is so in my case. Many can't, however. They need both. In a way, my reply was implying that a faith followed conventionally probably can't help much with mental health due to how religion is structured, plus the other attendees are humans! If you asked: can someone be of faith and still have mental issues, then I would answer yes, without a doubt. I read somewhere that faith is the refuge of those suffering from poor mental health. Maybe that's unkind, but I get the point. We often gravitate towards thoughts of God when we are in trouble. Does it help? That is a personal thing. I suspect that not feeling alone and having someone to talk to is more important for most. Personally, having people around me would worsen any issues - I get down, they get down, we all get down, the mood of one affects the others. Platitudes can worsen things, too.
Is having faith a strength of mind or a weakness? Again, that is personal. How many individuals overflowing with faith have committed atrocities? As for talking with God, it would be great to offload and to go away lighter. I have seen people rocking and saying fervently, God will help, God will help. Months later, they are still doing and saying the same thing. Overall, I can't help thinking, though, that faith, expressed through religion, as we humans do, has harmed mental wellbeing more than it has helped. I also can't help wondering, is having faith that God will heal us abdicating our responsibility to heal ourselves? I'm not convinced that faith is the right way to ensure our mental well-being.
Hi Mike. Nicely written, again. I hope you don't mind me butting in on your party, but I simply have to respond...
If we consider the atrocities committed by monotheistic religions to ensure they are the main order and the way they set about controlling followers, I say they don't improve Mental Health. If anything, they hinder it or even cause it to disintegrate. They certainly didn't do well for the poor Cathars - and others! Having said that, I confess, I enthusiastically believe in the existence of a God, just not a humanistic-Blake-like one. That belief has helped me through some very confusing times.
Believing my moment of revelation to be relevant to your question, I will explain how I arrived at that feeling. And no, I’m not about to preach! (God, forbid!)
During a low mood on a country walk - my host of daffodils moment - I pondered the existence of God. I was just concluding, no, God does not exist, when suddenly, my gaze fell upon a tall clump of beckoning grass. It was of a type I had seen many times, but never before was I compelled to fall to my knees to examine it. Parting the strands revealed a myriad of life bustling about the roots. While watching the scurrying and the burrowing, the world around me crinkled and hushed. Then, as if suddenly plugged in, I connected to the creation, yes right back to the beginning. While I revelled in the wonder of our planet and its uniqueness, I prickled and felt a sense of childlike joy for a task well done and a grateful smile for my appreciation. That set my bipolarity spinning in ways I had never experienced. More succinctly, you could say, I parted the grass to find God smiling back, but then that would humanise God, and in my opinion, God does not have human-like traits. The belief that God created Humankind in 'His' image is what robs religion of its effectiveness and, in doing so, affects mental wellbeing. Humans' covert power and wealth, and that in turn corrupts whatever it touches, including religion.
As you alluded, religion should be the coming together of like minds in celebration. It should be there to help us answer those complex questions that arise from our day-to-day living, and of course, to accept that there is an end and help us prepare for it. Religions will say they do that. But how can they when they stand before a pulpit or an altar or whenever and proclaim we are the chosen, when really all they follow and believe in is power. And of course, the wealth of an organisation formed out of the manipulation, exploitation and corruption of mental health. Doubt that? Consider the fear this idea causes some: here are the rules we say you should live by, and if you don't, we'll stone you, or cast you out and let hell, or whatever, take you for eternity.
Excluding difficulties arising from mental mis-wiring, I believe most of our mental health issues are a result of our wayward fight-or-flight impulses. Worse still, they can be programmed by others! When we are comfortable, and feel wanted, or are part of something, and so on, and foresee a good future, we feel safe and our mental wellbeing is balanced, until it is tilted by conscious or subconscious anxiety and or fear. That anxiety and fear can stem from a sensory overload or an inability to subconsciously sort the chaff from the wheat, or it can be imposed by others or circumstance.
Some examples of the effect fight-or-flight can have on mental well-being for those who have yet to make the connection.
I'm on the spectrum, and when frustrated, I explode or implode. Invariably, there is no warning. The rush of negative chemicals gleefully set to work, and down I go or, in temper, rail and gnash and occasionally dash things against a wall. I can take days to come out of that state, and rarely do I ever fully. Traces remain, and in time, they become part of my fight-or-flight impulses. To the extent that I'll mentally cringe - rebel - at the very thought of new things or redo difficult things I've encountered in the past, for I know I'll be confused and stressed by them. Example: 30 years ago, I literally took down a house and rebuilt it. I had to learn every skill on the fly. Working with a tight budget, I had to get everything right first time - that included building a staircase and walls, plastering and plumbing. The tasks were endless, and I made many mistakes; most were expensive, both in money and in time. The time was so intense that I came to hate the feel of paint and cement on my hands, the dust, the smells, the errors, everything. I did it all because it needed doing and there was no other way. Now, 30 years later, I instantly sweat, shake and stress out if I so much as touch a tool or a step ladder. My flight instincts go hell for leather.
Another simple example: TV programmes. I would rather watch something seen before, which I was comfortable with, than dare to watch something new, unless over time its presence becomes familiar, predictable and therefore comfortable. None of that is particularly conscious, although I'm now aware of what I do. In my spectrum-controlled case, I also have the actor's voice tones or strange mannerisms to contend with! Just the thought of putting a TV on can stress me out. Those reactions to actors, if not recognised and controlled, could create bias and or bigotry, which can, I guess, create stress. I came across a well-thought-of well well-balanced chap who worked for the Samaritans at concerts and such like... His trigger was a Londoner's accent, and it created a huge bias which affected how he treated certain people, and of course, it confused them. Somewhere in his past, he had an issue with a Londoner, and the subconscious memory and reaction to it were triggered by the accent.
Everything we do and are, stems from how we process sensory input. Religious houses should be a safe place, somewhere we can go to seek out not a religious, "Jesus or Mohammed 'orders' you to do this", but to unravel with like minds and then remake ourselves in a better image. Offload, share and reload!
We are symbiotic creatures. Like it or not, we need each other and all other life on this planet. Religion has a huge part to play in helping us to see that. Yet sadly, being created from that human need to be “The only one, the all-powerful,” and run by humans with biases, religions let us down and therefore the world. Worse still, they let down the very God they purport to be messengers for. While of course, because they want you to follow them, they instil fear. Those organisations have yet to learn, that understanding and kindness are better recruiters than fear and promises of damnation.
There is so much more I could say; the above words are a simple knee-jerk response to part of your article. Once I've fully digested the rest, I might, with your permission, write further.
A short poem to end this with, which I hope encapsulates some of the above.
Daisies Ways
Ponderous steps led to and through a parade of colourful tulips -
ranks of marching soldiers, stiff in new glistening tunics,
Where I straightened my back as if I too heard the call,
To take up arms to serve the ideals of those who rule,
"March on faint hearts to where flowers never grow,
To face plant in mud, slivering crud and welling blood,
In a land ruled over by crows and those we do not know."
At the field's bend, tulips yield to a wilderness at the end,
Where the bless and mess of a rippling hedge gave relief -
from thoughts of scythes and that overwhelming grief,
And over the way, a merry band of frivolous daisies smiled,
Come, be at peace, forget the tulips, join us for a while.
With lightened, gladdened steps, I climbed an ancient style,
To be beguiled by a host of spirits in free and happy sway -
with sweet voices singing of a freedom seldom relayed,
Where I cried as I died and then again when I was reborn,
Gone was the mud-sucking forlorn and my bitter scorn,
I'm at one now with the daisies' ways, and will forever be adorned.
Thanks so much for sharing, Ray. I avoided getting into the horrors perpetrated by institutional religions for two reasons: 1 - I’m more interested in whether faith itself rather than just going to a communal ritual is helpful. And 2 - while institutional religions have done bad things, is it any worse than what states and ideologies did over the centuries?