Durkheim and Freud
The first few readings that we have discussed so far in class were about the theorists Frazer, Durkheim, Freud, and Marx. Those readings gave us insight on how each of the four theorists viewed religion and how religion reflects us as people. Although I did not really agree with a lot of the things that any of them had to say, I could see where they were coming from and tried to understand why they believed the things that they did. I have decided to discuss Durkheim and Freud because those are the two theorists that really got to me the most, each for different reasons.
Out of each of the theorists, Durkheim’s definition of religion was the one that I could most relate to. He defined religion as, “A unified system of beliefs and practices that are relative to sacred things.” I can relate most to this definition because it is very similar to how I view religion and to the religion that I practice, which is Christianity. Something that Durkheim was big on was sociology, so his definition kind of branched off of ideas pertaining to society as a whole. He really thought that society knew how to work together and had a lot of common motivation towards the same things.
I have many different practices through my religion and that is something that Durkheim included in his definition. In class we discussed that practices can be things such as worship or praying, and that there are also many rites and rituals that are involved as well. I have had my experiences of praying through hard times, or just to help other people in their times of need. Getting baptized is an example of a rite that I have had and going to church is a good example of a ritual. Durkheim also believes that by going to church, the community can unite in performing these practices which also leads back to the whole societal factor he defined his definition around.
One thing that Durkheim mentioned in the reading is that humans always belong to something such as a higher power. The higher power that I feel I belong to is God. It was also said that if you give life to God, it is returned to you. This is something that really stuck out to me, because it is exactly what I believe. I do believe that there is a God, and I think that if you give up your life to follow Him that He will return the favor to you. I do believe that God hears your prayers, and He helps when He can. On this note, this is why I totally disagree with Freud’s views on religion.
In the reading about Freud, it mentions that he thinks when someone has a disease or is ill and on their death bed that they are helpless and nothing can make them better. I disagree with this because I think that people who are in that situation have a fighting chance and God can help them get through it. I have heard many stories of miracles that have happened that are just indescribable and God is the only explanation I can personally come up with for how those things happened. I do not understand how Freud can think that there is another explanation as to how those things happen.
Something else in his reading that just didn’t sit with me well was the fact that he basically thinks people believe in religion in order to deal with guilt. He thinks that women all wish they were men, but I’m sure a lot of people, especially women, would disagree with that statement including myself. I can see where he is coming from when he says people always want what they can’t have because that seems to be true for a handful of things, but I personally don’t think that statement pertains to sex. I think men and woman are fine with whatever sex they were born as and if they aren’t, there are ways that allow them to change that.
All of these readings have opened my eyes to new ideas and things that I never would have even thought of. It was nice to be able to see what these theorists think of religion, but for the most part I didn’t really agree with them or understand how they could believe those things. Durkheim was really the only one who I could probably see eye to eye with because of his view on religion. Since a goal of this class is to try to understand the different religions, I will just take in everything they have to say and respect their views.