PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGION - Essay Example

Erikson thinks that Gandhi is helpful in addressing this type of violence. In the 1960s period, social scientists questioned the relevance of studying the effects and consequences of religion on crime. They were of the view that religion, for instance, in the United States of America was not a key source of values, beliefs and other forms of operative norms. Religion forms a part of an individual’s identity. It has many attributes, one of which is religion. It is a representation of the unique culture, religious orientation, experience and gender among other things.

Erikson considers identity as a belief in sameness and a progression in the sense of a shared world. His theory of pseudo speciation can be applied to the formation of religious groups. Group conflicts arise from the evolvement of human beings for certain reasons into a complex interaction based on adversarial relationships (Erikson 3). Erikson places importance on man as a social being who must always belong to social groups. It is with this notion that he proposed the existence of massive ritual defenses of communities.

Erikson explained the concept of religion in terms of s psychological phenomenon. He explained the religion in Martin Luther’s age in terms of demons, Freudian unconscious and superstitions. He had contempt for the true God. He stated that the belief in demons allowed a persistent removal of an individual’s unconscious thoughts and preconscious impulses involving malice and variance. Therefore, religion is a creation of the unconscious part of human beings. Erikson’s theory explains the formation of religious groups.

The grouping instinct arises when there are conditions that discriminate against religious communities in terms of politics and economy. This promotes conflicts along ideological insight especially when the threat perception increases and