We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided
-
Upload
paul-davis -
Category
Documents
-
view
232 -
download
0
description
Transcript of We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided
Paid Advertisments
Home » Library » Modern » Michael Moore » We Are Too Weak to Walk
Unaided
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided
A Family Therapist View of the Pathogenic Aspects
of Prayer (2000)
Michael Moore
Technion -- Israel
Institute
of Technology
Daniela Kramer
Oranim Teachers'
College
Israel
Author Note
Michael Moore, Department of Education in Science and
Technology; Daniela Kramer, Division of Psychology. The
quotation in the title comes from Service, 1967, p. 275. This
article was written during the authors' sabbatical leave at the
Department of Psychology, University of Southampton.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to
the first author at the Department of Education in Science and
Technology, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa,
Israel 32000. Electronic mail may be sent to email removed.
Abstract
Many aspects of psychology are at loggerheads with religion. In
this paper excerpts from prayers, hymns and scriptures of the
three monotheistic religions are used to illustrate major areas of
conflict between these two institutions. Special attention is given
to those aspects of prayers which contradict basic tenets of
psychological well-being not only of individuals but also of
families. The discussion is divided into four major fields:
Feudalism vs. egalitarianism, developmental issues, defense
Home
What's New
Support Us
Bookstore
Kiosk
Library
News Wire
Products
Blog
E-Resources
About Us
FAQ
Honorary Board
Contact Us
Link to Us
Submissions
Search
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
1 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
mechanisms, and interpersonal control mechanisms. In each
field, several examples, organized around subtopics, show how
the manifest message of religious texts legitimizes and
encourages practices considered pathogenic by the standards
of various psychological approaches.
"We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided"A Family Therapist View of the Pathogenic Aspects of
Prayer
Democracy and egalitarianism are relative newcomers to
society. Compared to other forms of deeply rooted, long
practiced social orders, such as feudalism, oligarchy and
dictatorship, the principles underlying democracy are totally
unaccepted in some parts of the globe, and have only recently
been introduced to others: The Taliban regime in Afghanistan
treats women as chattel; in some regions of India and China
female infants are customarily murdered. Some parts of the
United States practiced slavery in the previous century; the
Nuremberg race laws of 1935 deprived German Jews of their
rights of citizenship; South African apartheid ended in 1994;
until its recent demise, the Soviet block trampled on its citizens'
freedom of speech, worship and even movement. In
Switzerland, one of the progressive Western democracies,
female citizens were not deemed worthy of voting until 1971.
It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the Western family, while
paying lip service to egalitarian and democratic principles, has
only partially internalized them. These principles have confused
the traditional roles, requiring some to relinquish power, others
to receive it. Democracy has been forced upon many by outside
sources, with no assurance that there was an inner maturity to
accept it. Several forces may be acting against the
internalization of democracy at the individual and the family
levels. On the following pages we shall examine the role of a
major candidate for the preservation of feudalism: It is our
hypothesis that religion in general, and the contents of prayers
in particular, contradict not only egalitarian principles, but also
most of the basic tenets of salutogenic family processes.
Indeed, the fundamentally feudal character of many religions
puts their practitioners at considerable psychological risk. The
deeper one's faith, the more difficult it must be to live in a
non-stratified, egalitarian society, and to import society's
democratic norms into one's family. The more democratic the
society in which one lives, the more obvious it becomes that
religion is out of tune with contemporary Western social mores.
The connection between feudal social systems and religion is
not coincidental: The non-egalitarian, feudal basis that is so
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
2 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
necessary for religion could not have survived without the
ideology supplied by the surrounding society. Contemporary
societies, with their penchant for pluralism and change, are at
loggerheads with messages of a single truth and constancy
which may have once served their predecessors so well. In the
following we will illustrate the glaring discrepancies between
religious thought and salutogenic family practices through the
perusal of some prayers and hymns found in the three
monotheistic religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
Our claim regarding the dangers inherent in some religious
ideation is based on the quite safe assumption that one cannot
efficiently and permanently isolate different realms of one's life,
that these realms are in contact and interact with each other, at
one depth or another. Gross, double-binding inconsistencies are
supported by the psyche, but they exact a price: repression,
isolation, denial; they all require an active investment of
energies. In the inevitable clash between social and religious
norms either one may gain the upper hand. If certain religious
concepts are incorporated into one's intimate intrafamilial
relationships, they will cause them considerable damage. If,
instead, these concepts are compartmentalized, they, rather
than the norms of egalitarianism, will require continuous
repression and result in guilt feelings. No less worrisome is the
further possibility of religious norms being consciously and
whole-heartedly accepted by one member of a family, with the
rest being placed in direct and possibly violent conflict.
Before proceeding, let us clarify that the three religions whose
prayers will be discussed greatly differ from each other not only
on grave points of theology, but also with regard to such socially
significant issues as marriage and warfare. The significance of
prayer, its functions and forms, also widely (sometimes
diametrically) differ both within and across religions. Thus Lilley
(1925, pp. 127-128) quoted Bishop Gore, according to whom
the spirit of effective prayer is "Intelligent correspondence with
the purpose of God.... Prayer is not to be an attempt to
persuade God to do what He had not intended to do ." In the
Islam (where prayer is a pillar of religion; see Tames, 1982, p.
38, as well as Gibb, 1975, p. 45), a frequently quoted tradition
says that "Petition is the most honourable part of worship, and
he who asks not incurs God's anger." (From a prayer-manual,
quoted in Padwick, 1961, p. 211). Nachman of Bratzlav (a
Jewish mystic who was active cca. 1800) wrote that "Prayer is a
brazen act... an assault upon, and the despoiling of, the
heavenly order.... Man comes wishing to despoil the order and
do marvels. Therefore man must be shameless in prayer."
(Quoted in Assembly, 1977, p. 3).
We suggest that, in spite of such differences, prayers of all
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
3 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
denominations share a common ground: They often carry
pathogenic messages. Whether pathogeny turns into pathology
is a different matter. The evidence for a relationship between
religiosity and mental health is contradictory. One of the reasons
for this state of affairs is that both of these complex constructs
are, perhaps by necessity, ill defined and ill measured (see
Watson, Morris & Hood, 1987; Williams & Faulconer, 1994).
Thus several sources positively connected religious attitudes
and behavior with measures of psychopathology (e.g.,
Kaldestad, 1996; Lewis, 1998; Quiles & Bybee, 1997); others
reported either a lack of relationship (e.g., Pfeifer & Waelty,
1995) or an association of higher religiosity with various
desirable outcomes (e.g., Blaine & Crocker, 1995; Jensen,
Jensen & Wiederhold, 1993).
A note should be made concerning the complex relationship
between psychology and religion. We are aware of the attempts
made by several theologians to view religion (more specifically,
Christianity) as the exclusive cure for anxiety and alienation
(e.g., Bultmann, 1960 and Tillich, 1953; see also Maitland, 1995,
as well as Walrond-Skinner, 1998, p. 8). In the following it will
become clear that we radically disagree with such an
interpretation of religion, yet a basic discussion of this issue is
not within the scope of the present work. Suffice it to say that in
our view "the religiosity gap" (as in Lukoff, Lu & Turner, 1992) is
not a temporary fluke that will disappear, once clinical
psychologists' attitude towards religion becomes more positive,
but rather a reflection of the contradictory goals of many
religions on the one hand, and many psychological approaches,
on the other. (See, for instance, Albee, 1982; Ellis, 1980;
Rogers, 1978, p. 257, about the opposing views of the church
and a person-centered psychology, as well as Maslow, 1970, p.
169; contrast them with the pronounced anti-individualism and
"self-forgetfulness" of a contemporary Roman Catholic
theologian: Maitland, 1995, p. 179). Neither is it our purpose to
enter into complex theological arguments about the proper
interpretation of either prayer in general or of specific prayers.
On the contrary: We are intentionally dealing with the direct,
straightforward message contained in them, that is to say, with
the message that reaches unsophisticated practitioners of a
religion, who recite their prayers thousands of times. By opting
for this approach we take exception with such philosophical
investigations of prayer as are illustrated by Phillips (1965). The
latter justified his position by limiting his analysis to genuine
faith, while acknowledging the existence of many who err. In a
similar vein, Harris (1973, p. 229) spoke with nostalgia about
early Christians, while decrying "the ritualistic, nonexperiential
activity so characteristic of churches today." (Cf. Erikson 1971,
p. 83, for his criticism of "organized religion"). The artificial
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
4 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
distinction drawn between two levels of religion is a luxury we
cannot afford: Believers are daily confronted by the mediators,
rather than the abstract ideas that guided their distant
predecessors. (For similar apologies with regard to Islam see
Galwash, 1958, p. 130, as well as Padwick, 1961, p. 43). In our
analysis we will take seriously the content of prayers, and will be
lead by the maxim: "Say what you mean, and mean what you
say!"
What are then the main issues that divide certain religious
precepts from healthy patterns of social behavior? Each section
of our discussion will start with a consideration of the individual,
subsequently moving on to the family.
Feudalism vs. Egalitarianism
The religions we deal with are inherently non-egalitarian. Some
denominations have a more blatantly stratified system of
go-betweens than others, having established a complex
hierarchy of clergy, but all share a common theme of lowly
creatures awed by their ruler.
Stratification and servitude
Social stratification in general, and religious stratification in
particular, clearly define individuals' position in the system, and
shape their lower or higher self-esteem. Religious hierarchy
places a more or less personified deity at the top of the scale,
followed by one or more ranks of mediators. Then come the
believers, further stratified by gender and age. At the bottom of
the pecking order are placed non-believers and followers of
other faiths. Such a feudalistic structure provides its active
participants both with a sense of inferiority, and with someone to
tower over, and thus fundamentally negates the principle of
equality. On reading the following, we cannot help but recall
Erikson's remark: "One method of avoiding offense to the gods
is to humiliate oneself" (1965, p. 146).
Frail children of dust, / and feeble as frail... (BBC,
1997, #15).
I am weak, but thou art mighty... (BBC, 1997, #
141; also Mayhew, 1989, # 190).
All praise is for Allah almighty, before whose
grandeur everything is helpless, ... before whose
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
5 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
honour everything is insignificant. (Azam, 1984a,
# 4. All prayers quoted from this source originate
either in the Koran or in one of the traditional
hadith collections).
I come to Thee this evening, Thy humble
bondservant unable to control myself for good or
ill or to defend myself from evil. (Padwick, 1961,
p. 4. All prayers quoted from this source originate
in prayer-manuals, collected by its author).
Nor do I see a generous Lord who would be more
patient with a wretched slave than Thou with me.
(Padwick, 1961, p. 4).
Thy little slave is at Thy door, Thy poor one is in
Thy courtyard. Thy beggar is in Thy courtyard.
Thy destitute one is in Thy courtyard. (Padwick,
1961, p. 216).
Lord, pardon! Lord, listen and act! What are we?
What is our life?... What is our success? What is
our endurance? What is our power? (Assembly,
1977, p. 51; see also Service, 1967, p. 122).
We who are but dust and ashes, walk among
things too wonderful to understand. (Service,
1967, p. 83).
Families are a micro-image of the larger social system in which
they are embedded. Feudal societies gave rise to families in
which the father and husband was undisputed lord, served by
his wife and children. Contemporary social and political systems
are becoming increasingly more democratic and egalitarian,
with a style of mutual respect gradually replacing dominance.
Practitioners of religion cannot unequivocally benefit from this
progress, while daily repeating the blatantly feudalistic norms
and attitudes portrayed in the prayer books. This clash between
progress and stagnation inevitably causes conflict and tension
within family structures.
The status of women
Women's inferior position was not only taken for granted in
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
6 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
feudal societies, but served as one of their cornerstones. In line
with this deeply entrenched policy, each of the three religions
under discussion fundamentally discriminated against women.
"The Church", wrote the feminist theologian Maitland, "has
always justified discrimination on theological grounds" (1995, p.
92). We may compare her attitude with the views of a Christian
psychotherapist vis a vis the concept of servanthood. Having
acknowledged the frustration, guilt and depression experienced
by women who find it impossible to combine Christian humility
with a sense of self-efficacy, Propst (1982) suggested that they
adopt the Christian role by choice: "The model is still one of
servanthood, but servanthood resulting from a sense of
personal vocation and not from intimidation by the social forces,
servanthood from an internal locus of control not an external
locus of control." While rationalization seems to be the
mechanism underlying this tour de force, by virtue of its being a
conscious choice, it may be better described as deliberate
self-deception.
The Book of Common Prayer in the service for
the Solemnization of Matrimony refers to wives as
"the weaker vessel"; then goes on to quote
Ephesians 5: 22-23: "Wives, submit yourselves
unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For
the husband is the head of the wife..." (BCP,
1968, pp. 310-311). This attitude was loudly
echoed in an amendment adopted by the 1998
Southern Baptist Convention to the effect that "A
wife is to submit graciously to the servant
leadership of her husband." (See Time, 1998,
151, No. 25, p. 15).
Men are superior to women on account of the
qualities with which God hath gifted the one
above the other... (Koran 4: 37).
The Koran explicitly maintains the superior right
both of the father and of the husband, legalizes
polygamy and repudiation (Gibb, 1975, p. 22). In
several places in the Koran (e.g., 37: 153; 43: 14;
52: 39), having daughters rather than sons is
pejorative; antagonism to women is also present
in the derision of female angels (37: 150; 39: 39;
43: 17).
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
7 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
The Prophet is reported to have said: 'When one
of you marries a bride or buys a slave, let him
say, O God, I ask Thee for the good of her and
the good of the disposition Thou hast given her,
and I take refuge with Thee from the evil of her
and the evil of the disposition Thou hast given
her. And when he buys a camel, let him put his
hand on the summit of its hump and say likewise.
(Padwick, 1961, pp. 87-88; see also Azam,
1984a, # 47).
...and call to witness two witnesses of your
people: but if there be not two men, let there be a
man, and two women...: if the one of them should
mistake, the other may cause her to recollect.
(Koran 2: 282).
With regard to your children, God commandeth
you to give the male the portion of two females...
(Inheritance law in the Koran 4: 12; the same in 4:
175).
Your wives are your field: go in, therefore, to your
field as ye will. (Koran 2: 223).
Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the
universe, who hast not made me a woman. (From
the Morning Service in Hertz, 1959, p. 21).
Spousal relationships are undergoing massive changes. In the
feudalistic era a complementary relationship predominated, in
which both spouses knew their place and tasks, and made sure
not to trespass on the other's territory. This gave a woman full
responsibility for household chores and for bringing up small
children, yet left her with no voice. She did not hold any power,
she had no say and no choice, was ruled by her husband and
depended on his money earning and defending skills. Today
progress towards equality is turning women into independent
agents. They share the task of bread winning, they can
increasingly actualize their potentialities, and make their own
choices. This symmetrical spousal structure serves as a strong
basis for team work and for a spousal dyad that is based on
mutual respect rather than control. There is no trace of this
development in prayers, where men are encouraged daily to
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
8 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
state their superiority over women.
Developmental issues
As suggested before, stratification in general and patriarchal
dominance in particular constitute a threat to healthy
psychological development. We shall use several Eriksonian
stages of psycho-social development to illustrate the issues
involved (see Erikson, 1965).
Trust vs. Mistrust
Erikson was among the first to point out the need for a healthy
individual to develop trust in other human beings: "The firm
establishment of enduring patterns for the solution of the
nuclear conflict of basic trust versus basic mistrust in mere
existence is the first task of the ego..." (1965, p. 241). On the
one hand, this trust, developed in the first year and based on a
stable and satisfying relationship with a mother figure, is the
basis of all future interactions. The development of basic
mistrust, on the other hand, is pathological, and leads to inability
in later attachment. Only when one is trusted and trusting can
one develop self trust, which is a necessary step towards
achieving subsequent developmental stages.
In prayers there is a loud call for mistrust, aimed at all believers.
This mistrust has two components. First, in order to elevate god,
one is called to never trust anyone but god. This command
serves to alienate individuals from their fellow human beings
and adds to their sense of loneliness. Second, though one is
expected to trust god unconditionally, god does not trust man.
Untrustworthy humans should always remember that god's
distrustful eye is upon them, and behave accordingly in order
not to be punished. (See Surveillance, below). Untrusted and
untrusting individuals are therefore utterly at the mercy of their
deity.
All my hope on God is founded. (Mayhew, 1989, #
25).
For God in his wisdom / will provide what is best...
(Mayhew, 1989, # 95; see also "The Lord will
provide" in Baptist, 1962, # 588).
O my lord, O apostle of God, O my support, my
refuge, my apostle, thou sufficest me. (Padwick,
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
9 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
1961, p. 144).
...thy heart should be dependent on God, not on
men. (Padwick, 1961, p. 176).
Blessed is the man who trusteth in the Lord, and
whose trust the Lord is. (From the Grace after
Meals, Herz, 1959, p. 979).
...For in You alone do we trust, O King, high and
exalted God. (Service, 1967, p. 135).
Lack of trust undermines the family as a unit. It is through the
parents that children's sense of trust can develop and later be
transferred to other relationships; it is through spousal trust that
effective team-work of parenting can be established and serve
as the nourishing basis for the next generation. The following
examples illustrate the tendency of prayers to place god above
family. They also constitute a double-bind by contradicting
"Honour thy father"-type commandments.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is
not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
(Matthew 10: 37; see also Mark 10: 29-30).
No earthly father loves like thee, no mother, e'er
so mild... (Mayhew, 1989, # 357).
O Believers! make not friends of your fathers or
your brethren if they love unbelief above faith.
(Koran 9: 23; see also 9: 24).
Thou art to me as father, as mother, as self, as
family, as property, as child. (Padwick, 1961, p.
137).
O God the love of Thee and the love of Thine
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
10 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
Apostle are dearer to me than myself and my
family... (Padwick, 1961, p. 148).
Autonomy vs. Doubt
Erikson's second developmental stage is concerned with "the
autonomy of free choice" (1965, p. 244). Lacking the gradual
development of independence, of being able to stand on their
own feet, children will be haunted by a sense of shame and
doubt. Being controlled by external forces, they need to
"repossess the environment and to gain power by stubborn and
minute control", thus establishing a future pattern of
obsessiveness.
Let Thy clear light for ever shine, / To shame and
guide this life of mine. (Baptist, 1962, # 465).
Autonomy is based on independence, for persons governed by
doubt in themselves tend to be dependent on others. This stage
is the continuation of the preceding one -- trust vs. mistrust -- for
only individuals who trust themselves and look with optimism at
their surroundings, can learn to let go of ties and walk by
themselves. Independence is a necessary stage in growing up,
a proof of healthy development. Without it individuals cannot
mature, as anxieties dominate them and make any initiatives
(Erikson's third stage) and a well defined identity (Erikson's fifth
stage) seem dangerous and impossible. Thus, dependent
individuals feel helpless, weak, worthless and needy. The nexus
between believers and their lord is one of total dependency,
analogous to feudal relationships between lords and vassals,
and to ties between parents and very young children. In
Erikson's (1971) words "it is obvious that large-scale
infantilization is not foreign to the practice and the intent of
organized religion" (p. 106). (Cf. Lilley, 1925, pp. 117-118: "In
prayer we are all, or ought all to be, children...").
Hold Thou my hand! So weak I am, and helpless,
/ I dare not take one step without Thine aid...
(Baptist, 1962, # 578).
Almighty God, you see that we have no power of
ourselves to help ourselves. (Alternative, 1980, p.
678).
I have lost my purpose. I am stripped of will,
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
11 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
lacking in strength and power... (Padwick, 1961,
p. 181).
As a father hath mercy upon his children, so, O
Lord, have mercy upon us, and save us for thy
Name's sake. (From the Morning Service, Hertz,
1959, p. 173).
We are too weak to walk unaided: hold us, we
implore You, by the hand, as a father holds his
child... (Service, 1967, p. 275).
In families, the constant curbing of independence is considered
pathological. Enmeshing families' need to be needed turns any
attempt at independence into an act of betrayal (Minuchin,
1977, p. 113; see also Bowlby, 1998, pp. 305-311, on the
pathogenic aspects of the inversion of roles between parents
and children). On the surface, enmeshing parents act loving and
appear to be involved, yet they inhibit their children's need to
reach out to the world, to grow and to create some distance
between their parents and themselves. The threat of this
distance is appalling, for it creates a feeling of redundancy and
adds to the enmeshing parents' sense of worthlessness. Their
children grow up feeling guilty, fused with their family, with an
undifferentiated ego (Bowen, 1976a; Kerr, 1981), lacking in self
confidence and poorly functioning. The importance of
differentiation was well described by Skynner (1981, p. 43):
"The lower down the scale of differentiation one goes, the less
value is placed on separateness, individuality, difference and
growth, and the more is placed on sameness, conformity, and
avoidance of change." Minuchin (1977) shared this opinion: "In
the pathological range... the sense of belonging dominates the
experience of being, at the expense of a separate self".
An additional danger inherent in being controlled by authority is
the lack of means for developing an internal locus of control. An
individual will always be controlled by whoever holds the most
power, and prayers make certain that believers see god as the
"Almighty". Even the doubtful benefit of having an external locus
of control, and thus avoiding responsibility, is taken from
believers. The deity appearing in prayers, like every guilt-
producing parent, takes credit for all success, and blames his
children for each failure.
What he says we will do, / where he sends we will
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
12 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
go -- / never fear, only trust and obey. (BBC,
1997, # 319; see also # 281).
God never yet forsook at need / The soul that
trusted Him indeed. (Baptist, 1962, # 580; see
also # 577).
But for the offenders we have got ready the fire
whose smoke shall enwrap them: and if they
implore for help, helped shall they be with water
like molten brass which shall scald their faces.
(Koran 18: 28).
Relinquishing of responsibility takes an extreme form in the
following texts: It is one's will that is extinguished. The
existential theologian Rudolf Bultmann clearly illustrates to what
extent religion opposes the achievement of an internal locus of
control as a precondition for mature development: "Thus
modern man is in danger of forgetting two things: first, that his
plans and undertakings should be guided not by his own desires
for happiness and security, usefulness and profit, but rather by
obedient response to the challenge of goodness, truth and love,
by obedience to the commandment of God which man forgets in
his selfishness and presumption; and secondly, that it is an
illusion to suppose that real security can be gained by men
organizing their own personal and community life." (Bultmann,
1960, p. 39; see also Edith Stein's succinct statement: "I take it
as God wills it;" in Graef, 1958, p. 226). We suggest that this
point of view be contrasted with the importance that personal
responsibility was assigned by such writers as Frankl (1973)
and Perls (1976).
Take my will, and make it thine; it shall be no
longer mine. (Mayhew, 1989, # 510; cf. John 5:
30).
Come, Lord Jesus, come. Come, take my life,
take it for your own. (Mayhew, 1989, # 104).
All that I have is now no longer mine, / And I am
not my own; Lord, I am Thine. (Baptist, 1962, #
438).
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
13 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
Lord, it belongs not to my care / Whether I die or
live... (Baptist, 1962, # 612).
And it is not for a believer, man or woman, to
have any choice in their affairs, when God and
His Apostle have decreed a matter... (Koran 33:
36).
I ask Thee everything O Lord, by Thy power over
everything, till Thou dost not hold me responsible
for anything. (Padwick, 1961, p. 202).
O train our spirits more and more into accord with
Your pure will! (Service, 1967, p. 237).
In a severely authoritarian family children are inhibited from
developing their full capacities. They are hindered by anxiety
and guilt, they are trying to conform to their parents' choices
while giving up those of their own. Attempts at exercising their
basic freedom are considered a sin, and must be extinguished.
As freedom of choice and taking responsibility for one's choices
is too threatening to the enmeshing parents, it is important to
take away from the child the credit for every possible success
and to hand it over to the parent. The harm in prayers which
leave praying persons responsible for their failures only, is that
immature adults subscribing to this approach will not only suffer
guilt and low self esteem, but will also adopt it towards their own
children, as the only style of parenting they know.
Transgenerational pathology is likely to ensue. (Cf. Erikson,
1965, p. 302).
Initiative and Guilt
Initiative and guilt are intimately connected: It is "a sense of guilt
over the goals contemplated and the acts initiated" that stop one
from further initiative (Erikson, 1965, p. 247). And in a genuinely
epigenetic fashion, just as the achievement of purpose and
direction at the conclusion of this third stage of socio-sexual
development depends on having successfully resolved the two
previous major conflicts, so does it pave the way for the
subsequent stages, and for the achievement of competence,
identity and intimacy, in their turn. It is clear, however, that the
very nature and raison d'etre of a large part of liturgy is founded
on guilt. Indeed, a vicious circle of sin, guilt, confession, asking
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
14 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
for forgiveness, and further sin is a hallmark of monotheistic
religions. The painful inevitability of this sequence is well
illustrated by the following prayer:
Had you not sinned and asked forgiveness, God
would have brought another people that sinned
and asked forgiveness, so that He might forgive
them. (Padwick, 1961, p. 205).
How can then healthy initiative and a sense of competence
develop in an atmosphere saturated with an overwhelming
sense of guilt and the accompanying need to beseech
forgiveness? In the following example the deity itself reminds
believers of their immeasurable debt:
I fought for you in battles, / I won you strength
and victory, / gave you a royal crown and sceptre:
/ you have prepared a cross for me. (Smith, 1985,
# 141).
The only way to try and reduce this debt is by constant
engagement in asking forgiveness. Walrond-Skinner's (1998)
attempts at bringing forgiveness into family therapy
notwithstanding, the concept remains not only an inherently
religious one, but also one whose implications contradict
practically everything contemporary family therapy stands for.
These implications include the shifting of responsibility to the
victim, the encouragement of the repression of anger, as well as
the promotion of empty formulas of apologizing. (Cf. Perls & al.,
1973, pp. 158-159). Rather than doing away with these issues,
all antithetical to sanitogenic family dynamics, Walrond-
Skinner's use of the term "authentic forgiveness" (1998, p. 6)
only serves to underline them. Forgiving, as opposed to holding
a grudge, may well be the end result of a successfully handled
interpersonal conflict; as such, it will be totally different from
both "divine forgiveness" and the "forget and forgive" myth.
In your great tenderness, forgive my sin. / My guilt is known to
you, my Lord. / My sin is constantly before my eyes, so wash
me whiter than the snow. (Mayhew, 1989, # 56).
Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon
Thee? / Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone
Thee... (Baptist, 1962, # 137).
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
15 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves
and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins,
God is faithful and just, and will forgive us our
sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (In
both the Morning Prayer, and the Evening Prayer,
BCP, 1968, p. 2 and p. 17; also in Alternative,
1980, p. 48 and p. 61).
No doubt, this servant of yours is a sinner, and
down-graded. But you, my lord, are the exalted
and the beneficient. Please forgive me. Indeed,
you are the forgiving, the beneficient, O' great
forgiver, O' great helper! (Azam, 1984a, # 62; See
also Padwick, 1961, pp. 173-208).
Thou art our guardian, therefore forgive us and
have mercy on us, and thou art the best of
forgivers. (Azam, 1984a, # 56)
Forgive us, our father, for we have sinned; pardon
us our king, for we have disobeyed. (Daily prayer,
Assembly, 1977, p. 235).
We have trespassed, we have dealt
treacherously, we have robbed, we have spoken
slander, we have committed iniquity, we have
done wickedly, we have acted presumptuously...
(From the Day of Atonement Service, Gaster,
1959, p. 39).
Guilt production is characteristic of both enmeshing and
pseudo-mutual families. In their analysis of the joint operation of
guilt and resentment, Perls, Hefferline & Goodman (1973, p.
159) found that these attitudes are homeostatic; while aimed at
restoring an upset interpersonal balance, they result in avoiding
"actual contact with the other person as a person." In a
guilt-laden family atmosphere independent opinions and
appropriate emotions are squashed, autonomous behavior
cannot be exercised, leading to arrested individual development
and to pathogenic family processes.
Another undesirable corollary of forgiveness is the "turning over
a new leaf" concept (underlying the practice of confession; see
Harris, 1973, pp. 221-222). The implication is not only that with
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
16 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
a single verbal act one can erase the past, but also that one's
social environment is expected to cooperate in this manipulative
game.
I confess to you, Lord, all my sinning. But ...with
your help, I've a new life beginning. (Mayhew,
1989, # 344).
Forgive us all that is past; And grant that we may
ever hereafter Serve and please thee In newness
of life, To the honour and glory of thy Name.
(BCP, 1968, p. 542).
The myth of "new beginnings" is damaging both
to the individual and to the family. Not only does it
implicitly release one from responsibility for any
current behavior (as in the promises so common
with abusive spouses and parents), but it also
discourages insight and learning.
God as an authoritarian father
The relationship between god and believers is often portrayed
as that of a father to his children. Prayers are made to a father
in heaven, a father looking from above at the children's
activities. In this role the father holds all the power (lavishing
small segments of it on a few favored and obedient children) to
control his children and to keep them in a dependent, inferior
position.
In such an authoritarian family a weak child, lacking
self-acceptance, in contrast with an all knowing and powerful
parent, is the tool for maintaining control and never releasing
the reins. Children idealize their parents, but in order for them
not to grow up and stop this idealization, parents must hold fast
to their power and make sure that the children never become
self-sufficient. Emotional abuse and the belittling of children
keep them in their place, and legitimize their control over the
next generation using the same means.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy
name... (From The Lord's Prayer, Baptist, 1962,
p. I).
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
17 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
Just as a father cares for his children grant us
your peace, Lord, shield us with your love.
(Mayhew, 1989, # 189).
Dear Lord and Father of mankind, / forgive our
foolish ways! (Mayhew, 1989, # 116; also in
Baptist, 1962, # 50).
Lord, be thou my great Father, and I thy true son.
(BBC, 1997, # 287).
I have but Thee, my Father; let Thy Spirit / Be
with me then to comfort and uphold. (Baptist,
1962, # 777).
...Forgive us, our father, for we have sinned.
(Assembly, 1977, p. 251; also in Service, 1967, p.
48).
O our God, our Father, feed us, nourish us,
sustain, support and relieve us... (From the Grace
after Meals, Herz, 1959, p. 971).
Our Father, our King! We have sinned before
thee!... Our Father, our King! Pardon and forgive
us all our sins. (Klein, 1951, p. 521).
One of the criteria for family health is the ability to adopt to the
family life cycle, to move from stage to stage flexibly, and so
enable members to develop (as in Duval & Miller, 1985). At
each stage healthy families perform various developmental
tasks. Pathogeny is revealed when, because of homeostatic
needs and rigidity, roles unsuitable by sex or age are imposed
upon family members.
In families, parents who never let go, who cannot adjust to their
children's needs to grow up and become fully functioning adults,
are regarded as pathogenic. Relating to grown up adults as to
never-growing children, has grave implications for their
psychological development (see the concept of binding in
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
18 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
Simon, Stierlin and Wynne, 1985, as well as Harris, 1973, p.
220, about the "Parent-Child nature of most Western religions").
The legitimization for such a pathogenic relationship between
father and children is likely to have implications for the praying
family: Prayers portray a good, benevolent father as one who
never lets go, who retains his powerful position at the expense
of his children's development and status. In addition to god's
being a rigid and stifling parent, his position undermines that of
the biological parents. While in olden times the father was head
of the household throughout his life time, today there is a
growing need for nuclear families to separate from their families
of origin.
Self-esteem
Self-esteem, or "the capacity for self-acceptance is an important
aspect of adjustment" (Suinn, 1970, p. 215). The lack of this
highly desirable commodity has been linked to various types of
maladjustment; those who have low levels of self-reliance,
confidence, sense of competency or self-respect tend to exhibit
symptoms of neurosis and be generally dissatisfied with their
social interactions. Only those who believe in themselves can
become self-actualizing individuals. Maslow (1970) saw esteem
of self and of others as the stage preceding self actualization.
Satir (1967, p. 94) considered it as closely linked to healthy
interpersonal communication. Individuals need to feel good and
worthy in order to open themselves to their own experiences
and to other people (Rogers, 1961, p. 207; see also Rogers,
1978). Prayers, however, focus on a weak, sinful and unlovable
individual. How much psychological strength is needed to
overcome the destructive message of the following?
As bread my Lord comes to me, / though I am
unworthy. (Mayhew, 1989, # 43).
Lord, accept our nothingness. (Mayhew, 1989, #
319).
I cannot tell how he could love / a child so weak
and full of sin... (BBC, 1997, # 82).
My Saviour's love to me, / love to the loveless
shown... (BBC 1997, # 84).
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
19 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a
broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not
despise. (Psalm 51: 17, in the Morning Prayer,
BCP, 1968, p. 1; also appears in the Evening
Service in Hertz, 1959, pp. 331-332).
I beseech Thee with the beseeching of the
abased sinner, the petition of one whose neck is
bowed before Thee -- whose face is in the dust
before Thee. (Padwick, 1961, p. 10).
We, Thy destitute, weak and poor servants, are
standing at the threshold of the courtyards of Thy
Majesty. (Padwick, 1961, p. 216).
Thanks are due to "Muhammad who is the shelter
of the worthless." (Padwick, 1961, p. 84).
...and I am just a lump of earth, and a worm; dust
from the ground, a cup full of shame, a fleeting
shadow, a breeze that goes and does not return.
(Said on the Days of Repentance, Assembly,
1977, p. 253).
In order to gain self-esteem, one needs to have unconditional
positive regard. One might think that religion will provide exactly
such an acceptance. Yet prayers do contain conditions, often
exemplifying Harris' "You can be OK, if" paradigm (1973, p.
221):
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he that
doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
(BCP, 1968, p. 242; from Matthew 7: 21).
You are my friends if you obey all I command that
you should do. (Mayhew, 1989, # 557).
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
20 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
On those who believe and work deeds of
righteousness will (God) most gracious bestow
love. (Azam, 1984a, # 7).
...If ye shall hearken diligently unto my
commandments... I will give the rain of your land
in its season... (Hertz, 1959, p. 123).
Here, as in other contexts, the pathogenic aspects of prayers
appear at two levels. First, individuals receive destructive
message about themselves. Second, low self-esteem is
depicted as a positive concept, something worth emulating, and
even instilling in one's children.
Homeostasis vs. Change
An important aspect of psychological development involves the
dialectics of change, or what Clarkson & Mackewn (1993) called
"the polarities of homeostasis and disturbance". Together with
an organismic urge to regain equilibrium, these Gestalt-oriented
authors also posit an equally intrinsic urge to disturb balance, in
an "impulse towards contact and growth and...
self-actualization" (p. 52). The capacity for later change and
development presupposes the solid fulfillment of the infantile
need for constancy ("the sameness and continuity of the outer
providers" in Erikson, 1965, p. 239; see also Maslow, 1970, p.
40). Prayers invert the process, decry the changing character of
adult life and exalt the immutable (childish) nature of matters
divine.
O thou who changest not, abide with me.
(Mayhew, 1989, # 4).
Thou art God, / to endless years the same. (BBC,
1997, # 16)
But the Church of Jesus / constant will remain...
(Mayhew, 1989, # 420. Also in BBC, 1997, # 341;
see also BBC, 1997, # 15, 280, 286, 295 and
350).
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
21 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail
not, / As Thou hast been Thou for ever wilt be.
(Baptist, 1962, # 576; see also # 570, 581, 582
and 590).
Aye, but ye love the transitory, / And neglect ye
the life to come. (Koran 75: 20).
Thou art the One, the Permanent, Transcendent
of mate or offspring... (Padwick, 1961, p. 70).
Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; and thy
dominion endures throughout all generations.
(Klein, 1951, p. 245; also in Service, 1967, p.
135).
God does not change; his teaching will not be
supplanted; he will always be the same. (Service,
1967, p. 375).
Both individuals and families are distressed by rigidity and by
opposition to change. While prayers demand constancy,
therapy, by its very nature, is change oriented: homeostatic
tendencies ("considerations ... given to slavish restoration of the
status quo," in Perls, Hefferline & Goodman, 1973, p. 159)
constitute a major threat to the therapeutic process. "Defense is
the behavioral response of the organism to threat, the goal of
which is the maintenance of the current structure of the self,"
wrote Meador and Rogers (1973). A rejection of change,
occasionally serving transgenerational pathogeny, may well
constitute the grounds for most pathological family processes.
Here-and-now
Each of the three religions we are discussing disparages the
here-and-now. Admittedly, there may well be an "innate
compulsion of man to reflect on 'last things'" (Steiner, 1975, p.
144), yet an absorption with after-life, at the expense of
effectively engaging oneself in this one, contradicts the
principles of healthy psychological functioning. (See Chapter 2
of Perls et al., 1973). Prayers instruct believers for exactly such
a derision of this world and exaltation of the other; they often
reflect a contempt for life itself.
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
22 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
This miserable and naughty world... (BCP, 1962,
p. 322; Cf. I John 2: 15: "Love not the world...").
Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on / when
we shall be forever with the Lord, / when
disappointment, grief, and fear are gone, / sorrow
forgot, love's purest joys restored. (BBC, 1997, #
286; also Mayhew, 1989, # 59).
The life in this world is but a play and pastime;
and better surely for men of godly fear will be the
future mansion! (Koran 6: 32). Azam (1984b, p.
H) interpreted this verse: "This world is the
fertiliser, and the next world is the crop".
This world is like an ante-chamber to the world to
come; prepare thyself in the ante-chamber, that
thou mayest enter into the hall." (Herz, 1959, p.
677).
While each of the three sources belittles the present, a depiction
of after-life as the hedonistic fulfillment of (supposedly) every
male's wildest dream is a strictly Islamic feature. It is
paradoxical that, as a reward for their faith, the Paradise of the
faithful will be awash with worldly goods: exquisite food,
excellent wine, an abundance of precious stones and metals,
brocade lined couches, and an endless number of virgins,
"whom nor man nor djinn hath touched before them" (Koran 55:
56). The message conveyed by the following extracts is that
abstract, religious faith is but a means to a concrete, hedonistic
end:
And theirs shall be the Houris, with large dark
eyes.../ Of a rare creation have we created the
Houris, /And we have made them ever virgins, /
Dear to their spouses, of equal age with them...
(Koran 56: 22 and 34-36).
But, for the God-fearing is a blissful abode, /
Enclosed gardens and vineyards; /And damsels
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
23 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
with swelling breasts, their peers in age... (Koran
78: 31-33; see also 4: 60; 37: 47; 44: 54; 52: 20;
55: 56 and 70-74, as well as Padwick, 1961, p.
285).
And in Paradise will be given to him forty domes
of silver, in every dome a castle of gold, in every
castle a hundred pavilions of light, in every
pavilion a bed of silken brocade, on every bed a
slave-girl of the hur... (Padwick, 1961, p. 285).
Total dependence on an intangible future results in a neglect of
the present: One is not motivated to cope with current difficulties
or to invest energies in ameliorating the quality of life. The
tendency to deny the present and to console oneself with
unrealistic dreams runs against the developing of adjustment
skills; it entails, both for the individual and the family, an
avoidance of reality and personal responsibility. When the
sought for future is life after death, this process is not only
crippling, but also portrays life as insignificant and trivial:
...this present life is but a passing good... (Koran
13: 26).
Defense mechanisms
Anxiety and fear must be constantly present in the mind of the
believer. Conflicts between religious commandments and the
wish to act upon both innate and acquired drives are likely to
create anxiety. Fear cannot be far behind either, when one is
ceaselessly reminded of the punishments awaiting sinners.
...everlasting death. (BCP, 1968, p. 294).
The wicked shall be turned into hell: and all the
people that forget God. (BCP, 1968, p. 355, from
Psalms 9: 17).
Those who disbelieve our signs we will in the end
cast into the fire: so oft as their skins shall be well
burnt, we will change them for fresh skins, that
they may taste the torment. (Koran 4: 59).
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
24 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
...oh! how wretched shall be the people of the left
hand! / Amid pestilential winds and in scalding
water, / And in the shadow of a black smoke, /
Not cool, and horrid to behold. /...And thereupon
shall ye drink boiling water, / And ye shall drink as
the thirsty camel drinketh. / This shall be their
repast in the day of reckoning! (Koran 56: 40-56).
Lay ye hold on him and chain him, / Then at the
Hell-fire burn him, / Then into a chain whose
length is seventy cubits thrust him; / For he
believed not in God, the Great... (Koran 69:
30-33).
But high levels of fear and anxiety cannot be tolerated; to permit
day-to-day functioning, the same institution that has unleashed
these debilitating forces, must also provide for their temporary
reduction. (See, in this regard, Maslow's attributing "the
tendency to have some religion" to safety seeking; 1970, pp.
41-42). An inspection of our sources shows that they
persistently teach and encourage the use of defense
mechanisms ("unconscious arrangements which permit the
individual to postpone satisfaction, to find substitutions, and
otherwise to arrive at compromises between id impulses and
super-ego compulsions;" Erikson, 1965, p. 187).
Repression
One type of praying formula asks for deliverance from "desires",
condemning sexual needs even before they are acted upon.
This demand for the repression, or rather suppression of life
instincts is simultaneously a psychological abomination and a
sine qua non of the religions under consideration.
Dost thou renounce... the carnal desires of the
flesh...? (BCP, 1968, p. 284).
Awake, and rise up from the dead, / and Christ
his light on you will shed. / Its power will wrong
desires destroy, / and your whole nature fill with
joy. (Mayhew, 1989, # 52).
From earthborn passions set me free... (BBC,
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
25 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
1997, # 276; also Mayhew, 1989, # 327).
Make us those in whose hearts the door of selfish
desire is locked. (Padwick, 1961, p. 181; based
on Koran 79: 40-41).
He who is mastered by his lower self becomes a
captive in the power of his selfish desires,
confined in the prison of his own inclinations.
(Padwick, 1961, pp. 181). Based on the Koran 79:
40-41: "But as to him who shall have feared the
majesty of his Lord, and shall have refrained his
soul from lust, / Verily, Paradise -- that shall be his
dwelling place."
Protect us O God from the evils of our (lower)
selves and the illusion of our works... (Padwick,
1961, p. 190).
Deliver me... from this self which urges me to evil
/ And from rebelliousness, to sin's disaster calling.
(Padwick, 1961, p. 190).
Make us those who preoccupy themselves
against selfish appetites by the remembrance of
Thee... and put out the fire of selfish desire...
(Padwick, 1961, p. 181).
What then hinders us? The perversity in our
nature. You know that we ourselves have not the
strength to overcome it; therefore, O Lord our
God and God of our fathers, help us to subdue
it... (Service, 1967, pp. 275-276).
The above prayers clamor for the suppression of Eros. Other
prayers go a step further by attacking Thanatos, as well: They
demand an extinction of all "negative" emotions, and their
replacement by a mask or facade. Such denial of unwanted
emotions is characteristic of an undifferentiated pseudo self (see
Bowen, 1966; Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 1996, p. 171), whose
task is to please others, at the expense of obliterating one's
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
26 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
individuality.
Let faith be my shield and let joy be my steed /
'gainst the dragons of anger... (BBC, 1997, #
354).
When troubles come and things go ill, / Teach us
to seek from Thee the grace / That turns to
heaven a trustful heart, / And to the world a
smiling face. (Baptist, 1962, # 470).
Let me be silent if people curse me, my soul still
humble and at peace with all. (Assembly, 1977, p.
41).
O Allah! Forgive me my sin and suppress anger
from my heart. (Azam, 1984a, # 35).
Be not ready to quarrel; avoid oaths and
passionate adjurations, excess of laughter and
outbursts of wrath: they disturb and confound the
reason of man. (The ethical will, by a 13th century
Jewish sage, in Hertz, 1959, p. 261).
Both Bowen and Satir claimed that pathological communication
is implicated in developing a pathogenic family. Bowen (1976b)
wrote about closed systems which will not enable talk about any
anxiety promoting topic. According to Satir (1972) dysfunctional
family rules that establish taboos cause pain and establish
pathogenic communication patterns. Repression of emotions,
denial of painful topics and dynamics, and rejection of the
proclaiming of needs help parents maintain control over their
children, and not face any threat to their own homeostatic need.
If emotions and desires are negative in the adult believer, they
should be extinguished early on among the believer's children.
Christian children, all must be / mild, obedient,
good as he. (Mayhew, 1989, # 414).
Self-denial
Erikson (1965) recognized the dual nature of asceticism: It is
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
27 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
both driven by guilt over vague deeds and transgressions, and
constitutes an attempt to restore faith in the kindness of the
powers of the universe. It is not only in primitive religions that
one must "treat the Supernatural Providers of food and fortune
as if they were angry and must be appeased by prayer and
self-torture" (p. 242). Each of the three monotheistic faiths looks
with special favor upon self-denying individuals, the ones who
go beyond just serving their deity by actively depriving
themselves of food, sleep, sex or physical comfort. This attitude
toward life is a direct outgrowth of several themes encountered
above: mistrust, doubt, guilt, rejection of the here-and-now, and
a repression of emotions. The encouragement of self denial (the
opposite of self-actualizing in Rogers, 1978, p. 276) is one of
the clearest examples of the inevitable clash between
psychology and religion. (For the correlation of eating disorders
and religious beliefs see Banks, 1996, and Joughin & al., 1992).
Lord, accept our Lenten fast and forgive our sinful
past... (Mayhew, 1989, # 156).
Gentle Jesus, meek and mild... / Fain I would be
as Thou art... / Thou didst live to God alone, Thou
didst never seek Thine own, / Thou Thyself didst
never please, / God was all Thy happiness.
(Baptist, 1962, # 583).
The month-long Fast of Ramadan is one of the
five pillars of Islam. During this month the faithful
abstain from food, drink and sexual relations
between sunset and sundown. (See Koran 2:
179-183; for additional fasts in Islam see
Wagtendonk, 1968).
...and ye shall afflict your souls. (Concerning the
fast on the Day of Atonement; Hertz, 1959, p.
891; from Leviticus 16: 31).
An extreme form of self-denial is self-sacrifice, accompanied by
patient suffering. The exaltation of such behavior is unique to
Christian liturgy, with its glorification of Jesus' self-sacrifice. No
wonder that the modern Roman Catholic theologian Maitland
(1995) wrote with such derision of "psychological egocentrism"
(p. 79).
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
28 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
...the cross where my Saviour / For me was
slain... (Baptist, 1962, # 130).
Hopes of joy that never dies / Hang on our
Saviour's sacrifice. (Baptist, 1962, # 136).
A life of self-renouncing love / Is one of liberty.
(Baptist, 1962, # 468).
No greater love a man can have than that he die
to save his friends. (Mayhew, 1989, # 557).
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side; / bear
patiently the cross of grief or pain. (Mayhew,
1989, # 59; also in BBC, 1997, # 286).
And there should be no greater comfort to
Christian persons, than to be made like unto
Christ, by suffering patiently adversities, troubles,
and sicknesses. (From The Visitation of the sick,
BCP, 1962, p. 315).
Lead us to repent according to his preaching and
after his example constantly to speak the truth,
boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the
truth's sake... (Alternative, 1980, p. 777).
Suffering and pain, often unavoidable, are among the major
triggers of dysfunctionality and maladjustment, cruelty and
violence. Both psychology and medicine are devoted to the
alleviation of human suffering. The above religious excerpts'
aggrandizement of suffering legitimizes not only the pathological
role of the victim, but also the act of victimization.
Compensation
While compensation is the major defense mechanism (or
problem solving device) in the Adlerian vocabulary (e.g.,
Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1958), Adler was not alone in
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
29 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
assigning to it an important place among the defenses. Thus
Erikson (1965, p. 187; see also p. 113) saw the related
mechanism of substitution as one of the major components of
many of the defenses, while Maslow (1970, p. 45) found that the
thwarting of self-esteem needs may lead to "compensatory or
neurotic trends". Like other defense mechanisms, compensation
and substitution distort reality, preventing the individual from "an
openness to experience" (Rogers, 1961, p. 187).
...may we abide in union / With each other and
the Lord; / And possess in sweet communion /
Joys which earth cannot afford. (Baptist, 1962, #
763).
Not what I am, O Lord, but what Thou art, -- /
That, that alone can be my soul's true rest.
(Baptist, 1962, # 583).
Thou Who art compensation for all else, and for
Whom nothing else is a compensation. (Padwick,
1961, p. 135).
The idea that the deity can serve as compensation for
unsatisfied needs, has several undesirable consequences: It
legitimizes the use of a defense mechanism instead of directly
coping with the problem. As in all other neurotic behaviors it is
self-perpetuating. It prevents the individual from seeking help
among "lesser beings" such as parents, friends and
professionals. It also frees one's close social circle from the
responsibility of offering meaningful support, as they can always
send the needy to find compensation with their deity.
Interpersonal control mechanisms
Control is antithetical to autonomy. Control techniques (ranging
from mild to severe; see Parke, 1990, pp. 170-173) coerce
individuals to act according to the plan of another. Though
controlling agents may think that all their efforts are for the
controlled's "own good" (cf. Alice Miller's 1983 book in this
regard), coercion is by definition detrimental to mental health.
Several control mechanisms appearing in prayers will be
identified below.
Communication
The main instrument of interpersonal control is pathogenic
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
30 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
communication (Satir, Stachowiak & Taschman, 1975, pp.
41-49). While blamers exercise control through guilt-producing,
placaters achieve their goals by being submissive. Belittling
oneself, while inflating the other, may stop the other person's
anger and result in some brownie points. The super-rationals'
fear of being hurt makes them flee from emotions. They have a
strong need for controlling both self and others. As emotions
tend to overpower, they are viewed as a threat and are
repressed. The super-rational receive power from pretending to
know it all, thus making their audience feel ignorant and foolish.
The irrelevant disbelieve the possibility of gaining self worth
through being heard and evade any confrontation. They control
through refusing to become engaged. In their self-belittling
prayers, believers exhibit various types of such incongruent
communication They constantly placate (Puglisi, 1929, p. 242
referred to prayer as "a verbal sacrifice"), attributing to their lord
a pattern of blaming them. (Though there is also an incipient
reciprocal blaming in the Lord's Prayer: "Lead us not into
temptation...", BCP, 1968, p. 4, as well as in this Koranic verse:
"Portion out for us such fear of Thee as will keep us from
disobeying Thee..., Azam, 1984a, # 54). There is more than a
touch of super-rationality in the frequent admonition not to try
and understand god's ways (see below). In group confessions of
unspecified sins, as well as in group absolutions of the same
(see BCP, 1968, p. 18), there is an atmosphere of irrelevance or
lack of connection between individual actions and their
consequences. Ingratiating is ubiquitous, especially in
petitionery prayers:
Although we for our iniquities have worthily
deserved a plague of rain... BCP, 1968, p. 38)
...grant that the scarcity and dearth, which we do
now most justly suffer for our iniquity... (BCP,
1968, p. 39).
Lo I Thy servant am at Thy door; Thine abject one
at Thy door; Thy captive at Thy door; Thy
destitute one at Thy door... (Padwick, 1961, p.
217).
Deal not with us according to the evil of our
doings; remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
31 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
and thy lovingkindness; save us according to
thine abundant goodness, and have pity upon us,
we beseech thee. (From the Morning Service,
Hertz, 1959, p. 175).
Another type of communication pathology lies behind prayers
that discourage the individual from asking questions. In such
declarations we witness a practical rejection of free and open
communication, a renouncing of the will to understand, a
condemnation of curiosity. As such, they have the potential to
damage cognitive development.
The Lord knows all your needs before you ask.
Only trust in him for he will do the task of bringing
in your life whatever you must know. (Mayhew,
1989, # 123).
God moves in a mysterious way / His wonders to
perform. (Baptist, 1962, # 53).
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, / But trust
Him for His grace. (Baptist, 1962, # 53).
All laud to Him the depth of whose eternal
greatness is unthinkable by the minds of men.
(Padwick, 1961, p. 73).
I take refuge with Thee O God from unprofitable
knowledge... (Padwick, 1961, p. 90).
The systematic reading of pathological communication patterns
in a source which is considered as above all others, can only
result in the praying population adopting these same patterns
into their lives and their interactions with their families.
Bookkeeping
Bookkeeping is a basic aspect of worship. The above
mentioned lack of unconditional acceptance (You're OK, if...) is
accompanied by an accounting system; all of the earthly
creatures' deeds are noted and classified, in order to be
rewarded or punished at a later time. The invidious practice of
bookkeeping, one of the most frequently encountered
pathological processes in family structuring (cf. the concept of
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
32 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
"bitter bank" in Guerin and Guerin, 1976, p. 98), well illustrates
the anthropomorphic projection performed by humans toward
the deity. Bookkeeping in prayers can be blatant or subtle,
involving simple tit-for-tat, or the bringing up of mythical
promises made to biblical forefathers.
Therefore, kind Jesu, since I cannot pay thee, / I
do adore thee, and will ever pray thee... (BBC,
1997, # 77).
In blazing light your cross reveals / the truth we
dimly knew, / what trivial debts are owed to us, /
how great our debt to you! (BBC, 1997, # 272).
Charge them who are rich in this world, that they
be ready to give... laying up in store for
themselves a good foundation against the time to
come, that they may attain eternal life. (BCP,
1968, p. 243; from 1 Timothy 6: 17-19 ).
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the
Lord: and look, what he layeth out, it shall be paid
him again. (BCP, 1968, p. 244; from Proverbs 19:
17).
We sent a stone-charged wind against them all,
except the family of Lot, who at daybreak we
delivered, / By our special grace -- for thus we
reward the thankful. (Koran 54: 34-35).
Ungrateful is man. (Koran 17: 69).
Reciting 80 times on Friday a short sentence
results in Allah forgiving the reciter the sins of 80
years (Azam, 1984a, # 36). For reading prayer #
30, 2,000,000 good deeds will be recorded by the
Recording Angels, but only 40,000 for # 40.
Prayers # 13 and 37 permit one to enter paradise
(if said right before one dies), prayers # 15 and 17
result in one's sins being forgiven and prayer # 32
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
33 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
"gets his debts paid by Allah Almighty, even if it is
as big as a mountain." For him who says one of
the previously quoted prayers "Allah Almighty
writes down 1000 good deeds, raises his stage by
1000, and 70,000 angels are appointed to pray
for his forgiveness." (# 4).
Who is it that will lend to God a goodly loan? He
will double it to him again and again. (Koran 2:
246; see also 64: 17 and elsewhere).
When a certain prayer is said "God Most High
says, 'Behold my servant to whom I gave an
immeasurable gift has given me a priceless return
for it.'" (Padwick, 1961, p. 76).
He remembers the good deeds of our fathers...
(Assembly, 1977, p. 241).
As the intimate relationship between god and his believers
appears to be based on a not too subtle accounting system
which puts the believer in a never repayable debt, it can only
teach spouses and siblings, parents and offspring to be similarly
mercantile while interacting with each other. It can only lead to a
low stage of moral development (see Kohlberg's
preconventional stages, 1986), as one gives of oneself only in
order to gain debtors.
Surveillance
Kelman (1958) described three types of attitude change:
internalization, identification and compliance, with the last being
the most superficial process. When an individual has neither
internalized a message, nor has sufficiently identified with its
source, constant surveillance is needed for the assurance of
continued compliance with the source's demands. In such an
atmosphere there is no privacy, one can never relax ("Man must
live in constant fear and awe of Him, and always be on his
guard against Him," Gibb, 1975, p. 38; for other fear-related
prayers, see above). This constitutes an attack on the
separation (so important for psychological well-being) between
internal and external worlds.
Almighty God, unto whom all hearts be open, all
desires known, and from whom no secrets are
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
34 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
hid... (BCP, 1968, p. 237).
Nothing was ever invisible nor will be invisible to
Thee: from Thee no secret is hid. (Padwick, 1961,
p. 178).
Oh my Lord, you look at me and know me ev'ry
moment of each day. Whether I walk or stand or
lie you read my secret thoughts from far away.
(Mayhew, 1989, # 410).
Your Lord well knoweth what is in your souls; he
knoweth whether ye be righteous. (Koran 17: 26).
...and God knoweth what ye do openly and what
ye hide. (Koran 24: 29).
...verily, God knoweth the very secrets of the
breast. (Koran 5:10).
...and God's eye is on His servants. (Koran 3: 19).
For the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.
(Psalms 7: 9).
The respect of privacy is a difficult task to learn and to practice
in families. If god as parent does not allow for any privacy,
earthly parents may find it not only permissible but even
admirable to emulate him. The idea that "big brother is
watching" is always anxiety and guilt provoking. Telling
someone that s/he will be constantly watched also shows how
negative this person is expected to be, and how only fear can
keep him/her in check. If those values are adopted into the
family they destroy trust in self and others, and diminish the self
into either a criminal who tries to hide, or into one whose
"sainthood" is due to constant fear.
Indoctrination
Another inherent feature of monotheistic religions is their total
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
35 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
lack, and indeed doctrinal rejection of pluralism. While some
denominations have proselytized and/or actively attacked
non-believers more than others, all share an abhorrence of
competing viewpoints. Steiner (1975, p. 220) attributed the
insistence on one "Truth" to early Christianity, though the Jewish
Bible is not devoid of protestations against falsehood, either (as
in "lying lips are abomination to the Lord"; Proverbs 12: 22; see
also 6: 17). The proclaimed existence of one truth creates for all
dissenters a painful double-avoidance conflict: Erase yourself by
conforming, or be erased by your social environment when
voicing your deep-seated convictions.
This is the Catholick Faith: which except a man
believe faithfully, he cannot be saved. (From the
Morning Prayer, BCP, 1968, p. 30).
They also are to be had accursed that presume to
say, That every man shall be saved by the Law or
Sect which he professeth... (Article of Religion
#18, BCP, 1968, p. 619).
I am commanded to make war on mankind till
they say La ilaha illa 'llah. (I.e. "There is no god
but Allah"; Padwick, 1961, p. 56).
The Koran is the perfect truth. (Gibb, 1975, p. 40).
I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of
Moses ... was true, and that he was the chief of
the prophets, both of those that preceded and of
those that followed. (Principles of faith # 7, Hertz,
1959, p. 253).
The myth of there being only one truth and one way damages
individuals' ability for flexible, divergent thinking and justifies the
persecution of dissenters in societies. Within enmeshed families
the rejection of dissenting opinions constitutes the basis for
practically every pathological process. The nonconforming
member is regarded as a threat, with the family's negative
emotions channeled towards him/her. This member is rejected,
blamed, often labeled sick (the "Identified Patient").
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
36 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
Comparison
In addition to encouraging competition rather than cooperation,
the drawing of comparisons between individuals establishes
pecking orders. While these may serve well in some social
environments, neither competition, nor the existence of
hierarchies is conducive to the well-being of primary groups. As
the following examples show, the act of comparison may have
many different targets (among them, somewhat surprisingly for
monotheistic religions, other gods).
There is no god as great as you, O Lord, / there is
none, there is none. / There is no god who does
the mighty wonders / that the Lord our God has
done. (Mayhew, 1989, # 6).
All praise be to Allah who saved me and
prevented me from this trouble, which was
inflicted by him, and who gave me preference and
goodness compared with most of his creatures.
(Azam, 1984a, # 6).
"Allahu akbar" (The Muslim call to prayer, as well
as "one of the most terrible of the world's battle-
cries") means "God is greater" (Padwick, 1961,
pp. 29-30). It can be exchanged for "God is far
greater," or "God is greater than the greatest."
(Padwick, 1961, p. 35). In everyday usage the
comparison is not only to other gods: "God is
mightier than all His created beings. God is
mightier than him whom I fear, than him I dread."
(Padwick, 1961, p. 36).
And true it is that even the sinners of this
community are better than the Jews and the
Christians and the Magians. (Padwick, 1961, p.
146).
The insidious practice of comparison extends to
the hereafter, as well: "I ask Thee for one of the
high places in paradise." (Azam, 1984a, # 54).
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
37 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
Who is like You, Lord, among the gods men
worship! / Who is like You. (Assembly, 1977, p.
35; see also Hertz, 1959, p. 371 and Service,
1967, p. 34; based on Exodus 15: 11).
There is none like thee, O Lord, among them
acclaimed as divine; and there are no works like
thine. (Klein, 1951, p. 245).
Each religion regards itself as better, by belittling others. In
addition to legitimizing scorn towards others, this practice
strengthens a group of myths of the "I'm holier than thou" type.
In the family context, families often turn a blind eye to their pain
by pronouncing themselves better than others. Such
comparison also dominates several family subsystems, it
promotes competition between spouses, siblings, gender
groups, families of origin. The most pathogenic aspect of these
dynamics is consistently forcing a family member (or
subsystem) into the loser's position.
Manipulations
"Interactions become plainly manipulative," wrote Danziger
(1976), "when one side seeks to impose a unilaterally defined
outcome on the situation" (p. 22). Of the endless number of
techniques a manipulator can use, we shall select one that often
appears both in family interactions and in prayers: It is called
"For your own good". In all of the following, as in some
analogous interpersonal exchanges, the sender of the message
tries to overcome the target's reluctance to act in a way that
would benefit the sender. The sender achieves this by
convincing the target that the one who would really benefit is the
target itself.
O Lord of hosts, fight for us, that we may glorify
thee. (From Special Prayers with respect to the
Enemy, BCP, 1968, p. 541).
Though sinful, we implore thee to turn and make
us live, that so we may adore thee, and our
offering give. (Mayhew, 1989, # 393).
Do it for thy sake, if not for ours. (Hertz, 1959, p.
167).
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
38 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
Hear my prayer, prolong my life, let me complete
my years in happiness, that I may be enabled to
serve thee and keep thy statutes with a perfect
heart. (From a Prayer in Sickness, Hertz, 1959, p.
1061).
Manipulation deprives one of freedom of choice, it is dishonest
and opportunistic, belittling and contemptuous of the other's
intelligence ("I know what's good for you better than you do"). It
portrays the manipulator as good and considerate of the other
(a misrepresentation) and the victim as stupid and helpless. In
the family it undermines egalitarian relationships and congruent
communication, rewarding craftiness, rather than authenticity. It
also teaches children to employ the same arrogant tactics in
their dealings with the world.
Obedience
Unquestioning obedience to god and to parents is a basic tenet
of all three religions. The very meaning of Islam is "submitting",
so that a Muslim literally means one who has surrendered, is
resigned to another's will (see Koran 46: 14 and elsewhere).
Disobedience to parents is one of the most dreadful sins in
Islam (e.g., Koran 17: 24-25; see also Padwick, 1961, p. 175).
Obedience is also a cornerstone of Christianity (see, for
example the theme of "perfect submission" in BBC, 1997, # 288
and the expression "Freedom in obedience" in Bultmann, 1960,
p. 41).
Prayer that the full surrender/ Of self may perfect
be... (About marriage; Baptist, 1962, # 625).
And who hath a better religion than he who
resigneth himself to God...? (Koran 4: 124; see
also 3: 18; 31: 21).
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days
may be long upon the land which the Lord thy
God giveth thee. (The 5th of The Ten
Commandments, part of the Morning Service in
Hertz, 1959, p. 245).
The demand for blind obedience towards heavenly or earthly
fathers establishes a norm of enforced respect. In addition to all
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
39 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
the ills associated with stratification and belittling, it also
sanctions irrelevance: Does a healthy social system want
children to obey and honor their parents, regardless of these
parents' behavior? And should children who have no reason to
do so, lie and pretend? Why is the 5th commandment needed?
Parents who deserve to be honored are certainly in no need of
it, for their children are likely to grow up in a healthy
atmosphere, and will honor them. The ones who need
institutionalized honoring (in the family or in the larger social
system) are those who fail in honoring themselves, their
parental role, their children, and are in danger of being
evaluated according to their true merits. A mistrust of family
health and a fear of losing control, as portrayed in many
prayers, may result in generation after generation being brought
up according to a distortion.
Coercion is in itself anti-democratic, rigid, lacking in respect for
the other person. Apart from the danger residing in the coercive
nature of all the above mechanisms, they also specifically
legitimize and promote the use of several pathogenic practices.
It is easy to see how incongruent communication can both bring
about and deepen interpersonal conflict, how the custom of
bookkeeping vis a vis the deity is analogous to an accounting
system between spouses or between children and parents
within the family, how the idea of "my religion is the best" can be
translated to "I and mine are the best". Whether it is the idea of
surveillance, intra-familial comparison, or manipulation that
believers derive and adopt from their prayers, they are likely to
act in a manner directly opposed to commonly accepted criteria
of healthy family dynamics.
Conclusion
Even a brief perusal, let alone an in-depth examination of the
prayers cited above is sufficient to justify Beit-Hallahmi's (1991)
statement: "All social sciences (indeed all human sciences) are
a threat to religion.... Psychology as the discipline that deals
directly with the nature of human beliefs presents a most direct
threat" (p. 190). Indeed, psychology in general, and its various
humanistically oriented approaches in particular, stand in direct
opposition to the long list of messages inherent in these
prayers: feudal hierarchy, rejection of autonomy and
self-actualization, repression of emotions and needs, and the
exercise of interpersonal control. In addition to highlighting this
basic contradiction, we have also attempted to show how these
messages may be used to legitimize and encourage pathogenic
family processes.
We shall conclude this discussion by mentioning a further
problem area, one that properly belongs to the communication
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
40 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
pathologies, mentioned earlier. One could minimize the gravity
of the contradictions we have found between psychology and
religion by suggesting that we have taken prayers too literally
and therefore too seriously. But such an approach would in itself
reveal a rejection of a basic rule of healthy communication, one
that we have promised to adhere to, namely "Say what you
mean, and mean what you say." In this spirit, though reluctantly,
owing to its frightening message, we offer this last quotation for
our readers' consideration:
If any man come to me, and hate not his father,
and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren,
and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot
be my disciple. (Luke 14: 26).
References
Albee, G. W. (1982). Preventing psychopathology and
promoting human potential. American Psychologist, 37,
1043-1050.
The alternative service book -- 1980 (1980). London: Hodder &
Stoughton.
Ansbacher, Heinz L., & Ansbacher, Rowena R. (Eds.). (1958).
The individual psychology of Alfred Adler. London: Allen &
Unwin.
Assembly of Rabbis of the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain
(Ed.). (1977).
Forms of prayer for Jewish worship (7th ed.). London: Reform
Synagogues of Great Britain.
Azam, Umar (1984a). Prayers in Islam. Published by the author.
Azam, Umar (1984b). Selected verses from the Quran.
Published by the author.
Banks, Caroline G. (1996). "There is no fat in heaven": Religious
asceticism and the meaning of anorexia nervosa. Ethos, 24,
107-135.
The Baptist hymn book (1962). London: Psalms and Hymns
Trust.
BBC Songs of praise (1997). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin (1991). Goring the sacred ox: Towards
a psychology of religion. In H. Newton Malony (Ed.), Psychology
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
41 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
of religion (pp. 189-194). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books.
Blaine, B., & Crocker, J. (1995). Religiousness, race, and
psychological well-being -- exploring social-psychological
mediators. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21(10),
1031-1041.
The Book of common prayer (1968). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Bowlby, John. (1998). Attachment and loss, Vol. 2: Separation --
Anxiety and anger. London: Pimlico. (Originally published 1973).
Bowen, Murray (1966). The use of family theory in clinical
practice. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 7, 345-374.
Bowen, Murray (1976a). Theory in the practice of
psychotherapy. In Philip J. Guerin (Ed.), Family therapy (pp.
42-90). New York: Gardner Press.
Bowen, Murray (1976b). Family reaction to death. In Philip J.
Guerin (Ed.), Family therapy (pp. 335-348). New York: Gardner
Press.
Bultmann, Rudolf (1960). Jesus Christ and mythology. London:
SCM Press.
Clarkson, Petruska, & Mackewn, Jennifer (1993). Fritz Perls.
London: Sage.
Danziger, Kurt (1976). Interpersonal communication. New York:
Pergamon.
Duval, E. M., & Miller, B. C. (1985). Marriage and family
development (6th ed.). New York: Harper & Row.
Ellis, A. (1980). Psychotherapy and atheistic values. Journal of
Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 48, 635-639.
Erikson, Erik H. (1965). Childhood and society (2nd ed.).
Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Erikson, Erik H. (1971). Identity -- youth and crisis. London:
Faber & Faber.
Frankl, Victor E. (1973). Man's search for meaning. London:
Hodder.
Hertz, J. H. (Ed.). (1959). The authorised daily prayer book of
the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire (Rev.
ed.). London: Shapiro Vallentine.
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
42 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
Galwash, Ahmad A. (1958). The religion of Islam. Cairo: Misr
S.A.E.
Gaster, Moses (Ed.). (1959). The book of prayer and order of
service according to the custom of the Spanish and Portuguese
Jews, vol. III. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gibb, Hamilton A. R. (1975). Islam (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Goldenberg, Irene, & Goldenberg, Herbert (1996). Family
therapy - An overview (4th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Graef, Hilda C. (1958). The scholar and the cross -- The life and
work of Edith Stein. London: Longmans.
Guerin, Philip. J., & Guerin, Katherine B. (1976). Theoretical
aspects and clinical relevance of the multigenerational model of
family therapy. In Philip J. Guerin (Ed.), Family therapy (pp.
91-110). New York: Gardner Press.
Harris, Thomas A. (1973). I'm OK -- You're OK. London: Pan.
Jensen, L. C., Jensen, J., & Wiederhold, T. (1993). Religiosity,
denomination, and mental-health among young men and
women. Psychological Reports, 72, 1157-1158.
Joughin, Neil, Crisp, Arthur H., Halek, Christine, & Humphrey,
Heather (1992). Religious belief and anorexia nervosa.
International Journal of Eating Disorders, 12, 397-406.
Kaldestad, E. (1996). The empirical relationships between
standardized measures of religiosity and personality mental
health. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 37, 205-220.
Kelman, Herbert C. (1958). Compliance, identification, and
internalization: three processes of opinion change. Journal of
Conflict Resolution, 2, 51-60.
Kerr, M. E. (1981). Family systems: Theory and therapy. In Alan
S. Gurman & David P. Kniskern (Eds.), Handbook of family
therapy (pp. 226-264). New York Brunner/Mazel.
Klein, Max D. (Ed.) (1951). Seder avodah -- Prayer book for
Sabbath, festivals and weekdays. New York: Bloch.
Kohlberg, Lawrence (1986). A current statement on some
theoretical issues. In Sohan & Celia Modgil (Eds.), Lawrence
Kohlberg -- Consensus and controversy (Ch. 30). Philadelphia:
Falmer Press.
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
43 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
The Koran, translated by J. M. Rodwell (1909). London: Dent &
Sons.
Lewis, C. A. (1998). Cleanliness is next to Godliness: Religiosity
and obsessiveness. Journal of Religion and Health, 37, 49-61.
Lilley, A. L. (1925). Prayer in Christian theology. London:
Student Christian Movement.
Lukoff, D., Lu, F., & Turner, R. (1992). Toward a more culturally
sensitive DSM-IV -- Psychoreligious and psychospiritual
problems. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 180,
673-682.
Mackewn, Jennifer, & Clarkson, Petruska (1993). Fritz Perls.
London: Sage.
Maitland, Sara (1995). A big-enough God. London: Mowbray.
Maslow, Abraham H. (1970). Motivation and personality (2nd
ed.). New York: Harper & Row.
Mayhew, Kevin (Ed.). (1989). Hymns old and new (Rev. ed.).
Rattlesden, Suffolk: Kevin Mayhew.
Meador, Betty D., & Rogers, Carl R. (1973). Client-centered
therapy. In Raymond Corsini (Ed.), Current psychotherapies (pp.
119-165). Itasca, Ill.: Peacock.
Miller, Alice (1983). For your own good: Hidden cruelty in child-
rearing and the roots of violence. New York: Farrar.
Minuchin, Salvador (1977). Families and family therapy. London:
Tavistock.
Padwick, Constance E. (1961). Muslim devotion. London:
SPCK.
Park, Ross D. (1990). In search of fathers: A narrative of an
empirical journey. In Erving E. Sigel & Gene H. Brody (Eds.),
Methods of family research, vol. 1(pp. 153- 188). Hillsdale, New
Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Perls, Frederick S. (1976). The Gestalt approach, an eye
witness to therapy. New York, Bantam.
Perls, Frederick S., Hefferline, Ralph F., & Goodman, Paul
(1973). Gestalt therapy. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Pfeifer, S., & Waelty, U. (1995). Psychopathology and religious
commitment -- a controlled study. Psychopathology, 28, 70-77.
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
44 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
Phillips, D. Z. (1965). The concept of prayer. London: Routledge
and Kegan Paul.
Propst, Rebecca L. (1982). Servanthood redefined: Coping
mechanisms for women within Protestant Christianity. Journal of
Pastoral Counseling, 26, 14-18.
Puglisi, Mario (1929). Prayer. New York: Macmillan.
Quiles, Z. N., & Bybee, J. (1997). Chronic and predispositional
guilt: Relations to mental health, prosocial behavior, and
religiosity. Journal of Personality Assessment, 68, 104-126.
Rogers, Carl R. (1961). On becoming a person. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
Rogers, Carl R. (1978). Carl Rogers on personal power.
London: Constable.
Satir, Virginia (1967). Conjoint family therapy (Rev. ed.). Palo
Alto: Science and Behavior Books.
Satir, Virginia (1972). Peoplemaking. Palo Alto: Science and
Behavior Books.
Satir, Virginia, Stachowiak, James, & Taschman, Harvey A.
(1975). Helping families to change. New York: Aronson.
Service of the heart (1967). London: Union of Liberal and
Progressive Synagogues.
Simon, Fritz B., Stierlin, Helm, & Wynne, Lyman C. (1985). The
language of family therapy. New York: Family Process Press.
Skynner, A. C. Robin (1981). An open-systems, group analytic
approach to family therapy. In Alan S. Gurman & David P.
Kniskern (Eds.), Handbook of family therapy (pp. 39-84). New
York: Brunner/Mazel.
Smith, Geoffrey B. (Ed.). (1985). Music for the mass. London:
Geoffrey Chapman.
Steiner, George (1975). After Babel -- Aspects of language and
translation. London: Oxford University Press.
Suinn, Richard M. (1970). Fundamentals of behavior pathology.
New York: Wiley.
Tames, Richard (1982). Approaches to Islam. London: John
Murray.
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
45 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM
Tillich, Paul (1953). Systematic theology, vol. 1. Digswell Place:
Nisbet.
Wagtendonk, K. (1968). Fasting in the Koran. Leiden: Brill.
Walrond-Skinner, Sue (1998). The function and role of
forgiveness in working with couples and families: clearing the
ground. Journal of Family Therapy, 20: 3-19.
Watson, P. J., Morris, Ronald J., & Hood, Ralph W. (1987).
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 26, 535-546.
Williams, R. N., & Faulconer, J. E. (1994). Religion and mental-
health -- A hermeneutic reconsideration. Review of Religious
Research, 35, 335-349.
Top
Share
Copyright © 1995-2014 Internet Infidels®. All rights reserved.
« disclaimer »
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided http://infidels.org/library/modern/michael_moore/weak.html
46 of 46 7/10/2014 11:33 PM