How does the Psych of Religion resolve conflict between Science and Religion? In the past, both hard and soft sciences have been a link through which we could factually explain everything, down to the origins of life. Unfortunately, human behavior has proven itself to be far more complex than advocates of human sciences could imagine.
The “brave new world” promised by new technologies has turned out to be just as dominated by war and injustices as those “primitive” religious cultures. Peace, many people have come to believe, can only be found through the beliefs of the individual. Religion often provides the perfect avenue on which to base those beliefs.
The scientific world can show us how much and where brain activity occurs when people show kindness, make love or pray. However, those measurements can’t tell us what decisions are right, how kindness affects social relations, the meaning of love or why people pray. A relatively new area of psychology, the psychology of religion, has risen and helped to resolve some of the science vs. religion issues.
The psychology of religion addresses all those questions while putting the mind of the scientist at ease through use of the scientific method. This field of psychology deals with understanding the psychological processes and explanations of an individual’s religious actions, thoughts, and beliefs. It also incorporates and questions the reasons behind many controversial scientific theories and notions.
Many theories originate in religious thought. For example, Johannes Kepler tried to model the solar system according to his own religious inductions. That was eventually transformed into today’s heliocentric theories, but not without years of heavy debate.
It wasn’t until recent years when religion was made separate from science and it was implied that one could not believe in science AND religion (and vice versa). This is not true. By looking at religious practices like meditation, prayer and worship through the eyes of the researcher, one can see that there is definitely a scientific and observable measurement imbedded in each act.
This goes a very long way in explaining the reasons behind each motion and should prove to the scientist that religion and science (with the help of psychology) can go hand in hand. As the first case in point, meditation is a widely shared practice among many religions. It is largely found in the eastern world, but spreading throughout western society very quickly.
A variety of meditation techniques share the common goal of shifting attention away from habitual modes of thinking and perception, in order to permit experiencing in a different way. This aids the religious in experiencing their God and obtaining divine instruction. From the scientific standpoint, meditation has a very real biological factor.
The release of certain chemicals in the body put a focus on certain areas of the brain while relaxing others. While this would explain the effects of meditation of the participant, it does not negate the original purpose of the act. To better clarify, here is an example of the interpretation of meditation from the viewpoint of the performer, then the scientist.
Many religious and spiritual traditions that employ meditation assert that the world most of us know is an illusion. This illusion is said to be created by our habitual mode of separating, classifying and labeling our perceptual experiences.
On the other hand, concentrative meditation can enable someone to reach an altered state characterized by a loss of sensory awareness of extraneous stimuli, one-pointed attention to the meditation object to the exclusion of all other thoughts, and feelings of bliss, all caused by the release of endorphins and other such chemicals.
In the eyes of the psychologist, the person is experiencing the science as a result of a practice rooted in their religious tradition. They are including themselves in the meditation because it has religious meaning and the scientific effects of the meditation serve to confirm the fact that they are already doing it. Pray also has a very real meaning to the religious individual. It is a form of communication between the person and their deity.
The scientist’s interests would center on the fact that religious psychology has shown that people who pray are a lot happier. According to Dr. Nielsen of Georgia Southern University “When researchers have examined how religious experiences relate to happiness, they find the same sort of pattern. Religious experiences, particularly when they happened during prayer, have been the most powerful predictor of happiness.”
This is very exciting to the scientist in every psychologist because the next question is “why?”. Without going into detail, this very subject has influenced research that suggests three main reasons for the happiness associated with prayer. They are social support, firm beliefs and the religion itself. It is very mentally gratifying to believe that you have been in contact with your God.
Obviously this caused positive feelings, which trigger (again) the release of stimulating chemicals. So, it stands to reason that something that makes the participant experience happiness should be encouraged. That a scientist would encourage religion seems a bit unlikely, but it has in fact been done so following similar studies as the one mentioned. The third example to emphasize how psychology is breaching the divide between science and religion is worship.
When most people think of worship they see a variety of things. To the outsider, unused to such acts, they might picture an ancient druids calling and gesturing loudly for a certain spirit. To modern people of the Judeo-Christian faith, worship means something entirely different. Worship is another form of direct communication with God and a way of experiencing the transcendence.
When done with other people, such as in a church setting, it becomes very psychological, focusing on ties in social relationships. Another way of seeing worship is through sacrifice. After the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centers, many people became interested in Islam, if only to show a disdain. Those who perpetrated the acts were thinking that they acted for the common good.
The participation and influences were very religious. While there has not been conclusive evidence that entirely explains the effects of those attacks, they doe point out that The Psychology of religion is becoming more and more useful when using the scientific methods and general science to explain religious happenings. Many people believe that science and religion couldn’t be farther opposites. Mark Friesel, author of The Templeton Prize: a danger to science?, once said “the difference between faith and conditional reliance on observation of the natural world is profound.
It is the unresolvable difference between religion and science”. While it is easily seen that there are fundamental differences between religion and science, there are also fundamental similarities. It is when the idea from one overlaps the other that the Psychology of religion can be a useful tool at examining the causes behind the conflict. There is a reason or explanation behind everything. That is something that neither side would argue. It is simply the reason that remains a debate; a debate that psychologists research all the time.
