Symptoms of Religious Addiction
Sunday, December 13th, 2009
Josh posted a list of signs that one is addicted to religion, along with how he fit the criteria. I read it and definitely saw myself and my family.
The list can be found here and seems to describe fundamentalism at its core. It is as follows:
- Inability to think, doubt, or question religious information and/or authority
- Black-and-white, good/bad, either/or simplistic thinking: one way or the other
- Shame-based belief that you aren’t good enough or you aren’t doing it right
- Magical thinking that God will fix you/ do it all, without serious work on your part
- Scrupulosity: rigid obsessive adherence to rules, codes of ethics, or guidelines
- Uncompromising judgmental attitudes: readiness to find fault or evil out there
- Compulsive or obsessive praying, going to church or crusades, quoting scripture
- Unrealistic financial contributions
- Believing that sex is dirty; believing our bodies or physical pleasures are evil
- Compulsive overeating and/or excessive fasting
- Conflict and argumentation with science, medicine, and education
- Progressive detachment from the real work, isolation and breakdown of relationships
- Psychosomatic illness: back pains, sleeplessness, headaches, hypertension
- Manipulating scripture or texts, feeling specially chosen, claiming to receive special messages from God
- Maintaining a religious “high”, trance-like state, keeping a happy face (or the belief that one should…)
- Attitude of righteousness or superiority: “we versus the world,” including the denial of one’s human-ness.
- Confusion, great doubts, mental, physical or emotional breakdown, cries for help
Verrrry interesting. I definitely fit almost every single criteria. Though I do wonder if it is based on anything scientific or the author’s own observations. This may not be a list of addiction symptoms, but rather fundamentalism. Is there a difference? That is for science to know and for us to find out! What do you think?
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December 13th, 2009 at 8:54 am
Some of those strike me as telling and valid, excessive guilt and so on. Some are just signs the emotionally/mentally something isn’t right (such as 10, 12, 13, and 17). And, maybe I’m being too hard on him, but I suspect Aurelio from the last thread may have 2 and 6 while not being religious.
Is this one of those things where if you check off 4 or more you are probably addicted?
December 13th, 2009 at 9:09 am
pplr,
I completely agree with you… a few by themselves could just be signs of something else.
For me the reason this list in particular hit home so strongly was the fact that I see every single one of them displayed in myself and my dad. I don’t think there is a single exception.
It would make sense that some of the items on the list would be “generic”. Addiction can produce vague emotional responses like “moodiness”. The ones that caught my eye were the symptoms specific to religion, like hearing God’s voice, or feeling that it is you against the world in an almost schizophrenic mentality.
The interesting thing about the guy who wrote this is that I think he is a Catholic.
December 13th, 2009 at 9:54 am
J. Jung thank you for your point and if you have each of them then I would encourage you to consider asking for help/talking to someone in the mental health field.
Just to mention it, 16 doesn’t strike me as something that is religion specific.
EDIT: And J. Jung, just to be clear I don’t intend for my encouragement to you to be an insult or something to be embarrassed about but rather something that may be helpful to you and how you live your life. I have & have had some issues as well so things & frames of mind can and sometimes do happen.
December 13th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Leo Booth is an ex-Anglican priest. He is now a Rev. in the Unity movement.
December 13th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
No, its okay pplr. I’m much more humble now about my shortcomings than I was in the faith. We are all broken people, easily affected by… anything. It just so happens I got sucked into some religious experiences at a young age and fell headlong into quite a twisted journey of addiction.
I’ve since left the church and am recovering and have spoken to professionals on a few occasions. I’m tempted to go back at some point because I find that despite the fact I have left, I still struggle with trying to recreate those feelings, those emotions, etc. like an addict trying to find a fix. I had some spiritual moments of elation, let me tell you, that would surpass any drug I could possibly imagine taking – or even sex.
I spent years trying to recreate those feelings, because once you have had them, everything else in life feels empty compared to them. I remember years ago sitting in my room, waiting – just waiting – for God’s presence, trying – pleading – desperately for God to make His presence known again.
I was trying to get my fix.
Things are definitely better now, though.
The nice thing is that I feel like I know what the problem is now. Reading that list – like Laura – just struck home on every count. It makes sense. I make more sense now.
December 17th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
May I “borrow” some of your writing? I never had a theistic bent in my life, so I often have trouble relating to people who did. I like this one because it really highlights how I view theistic thought.
December 17th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Sure! No problem!
January 6th, 2010 at 9:43 am
Painfully familiar…but extremely welcome and enlightening. I am in a difficult situation right now, and I think it’s exacerbated by some addictive factors. Thank you for this, Laura and commenters. I echo Joshua, “I make more sense, now.”
Jango Fett (Star Wars character): “I’m a simple man trying to make my way in the universe.”
Quoting Joshua Jung: “We are all broken people, easily affected by… anything.”
What if we are not “broken,” implying that at some point we were not (i.e. “The Garden” taken literally), but are actually “evolving” as a self-aware species. Evolving to a higher plane of awareness and consciousness.