The Dangers of Secularism

A purely secular approach to psychology would eventually leave the Human race quite insane. Or rather, more-so Secular psychology offers plausible explanations. Good insights, good techniques. It offers very good pills. But it doesn't offer the one thing that people require most: a sense of meaning. In fact, the secular psychological sciences tend to reduce meaning.Symphonies and paintings turn out to be sublimations of the sex drive or productions of the right brain hemisphere. Love turns out to be a matter of stimulus and response or a series of transactions conditioned by family patterns.Why has the rise of modern psychology not produced a golden age of happiness? Try as it might to give us skills for living, psychology has never been able to give a reason for living. It offers no vision.

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"As liberalism did not create moral ideas, so too it cannot preserve them. It lives off the spiritual capital that it inherited from Christian civilization......I think secular psychology is in an analogous position. It assumes in its clientele a fund of goodwill, love, and caring that it is incapable of creating. We can go further and say that it assumes the existence of meaning systems which give order and purpose to people's lives but does nothing to sustain or preserve those meaning systems. It depends on those meaning systems at the same time that it is doing much to undermine and weaken those systems. In short, it is like a man sawing off the branch on which he sits." -Christopher Dawson

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This message has been edited by Limbo, 05-19-2005 08:24 PM

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kind of redundant, since there really isn't any other kind

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Oh? I direct your attention here:http://www.christianpsych.org/
http://narramore.gospelcom.net/
HyperMartAnyhoo, I understand your need to lash out at me, I dont hold it against you.Peace.This message has been edited by Limbo, 05-19-2005 08:57 PM

Sorry bud, Im not rising to take the bait.Peace.This message has been edited by Limbo, 05-19-2005 09:07 PM

IOW, how can one science be valid with God(psych), and one science be invalid with God(ID). Yes, I see why you see an inconsistency.I argued that purely secular psych would eventually backfire on Mankind...but I didnt mean to imply that Christian psych was the only alternative. Crash said there was no alternative to secular, and so I provided those links as an example. I suppose I should have provided more diverse examples. Here are some others:http://buddhistpsychology.info/
Hindu Philosophy Of The Mind And Consciousness
Indian PsychologyI think that every culture should merge psychology with its own traditional religion, whichever one that is.ID would help that merging by injecting principles of design in sciences such as psych which would make it more compatable with the sence of purpose from the religion. Design, purpose and meaning go hand in hand, no matter what religion the patient is.In essence, there are two types of meaning. Theres the kind we make, and the kind we discover. Design would bring both to the psych table.This message has been edited by Limbo, 05-20-2005 06:13 AMThis message has been edited by Limbo, 05-20-2005 06:23 AM

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The introduction of religion at all in science is viewed as improper, which is what the ID theorists admit, so why is Psych different? It is possible you can create an argument to defend mixing the two, but it cannot be by appealing to greater diversity of inclusion. Inclusion is the issue.

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Hmm, perhaps rather than inclusion, ID would strengthen the existing religious psychologies as it weakens and absorbs the secular.Religious psychology has two basic premises. One is dualism; the other is revelation, so ID would fit nicely there. ID would give instant credibilty to such an approach, and it would grow quickly as more ID research is done.

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Indeed I would point out that[...]what we commonly view as problem behaviors would have to be seen as purposeful and good and part of the design, and thus not good to change.

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Religious psychologies already have their particular ways of dealing with issues like this, ID would only strengthen them. Religions have been aware of the inherent defect in human nature for a while now Tough to imagine a sane Human Race, isnt it? lolThis message has been edited by Limbo, 05-20-2005 07:05 AM

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You cannot have your cake and eat it too.

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Can too!When it comes to the human brain, science and religion can go hand in hand. Take for instance the emerging field of neurotheology:Nielsen's Psychology of Religion: The Hollow Curriculum by Robert Sollod
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Neuroscience of religion - Wikipedia