Examining the theme of child sacrifice as a psychological challenge, this book applies a unique approach to religious ideas by looking at beliefs and practices that are considered deviant, but also make up part of mainstream religious discourse in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Ancient religious mythology, which survives through living traditions and transmitted narratives, rituals, and writings, is filled with violent stories, often involving the targeting of children as ritual victims. Christianity offers Abraham's sacrifice and assures us that the "only begotten son" has died, and then been resurrected. This version of the sacrifice myth has dominated the West. It is celebrated in an act of fantasy cannibalism, in which the believers share the divine son's flesh and blood. This book makes the connection between Satanism stories in the 1980s, the Blood Libel in Europe, The Eucharist, and Eastern Mediterranean narratives of child sacrifice.

The first critical guide to the essential literature reflecting and expressing psychoanalytic approaches to religion, this volume's concentrates on critical assessments that steer the user toward works of lasting value. The book's first priority is to include publications clearly aimed at continuing the Freudian tradition and contributing to the psychoanalytic study of religion. The book will be of interest to scholars and students of psychology and religion as well as the general reader who is seeking works on those topics. Most of the psychoanalytic literature in English since 1920 is included and is organized in 21 topical sections. Cross-references and indexes increase the usefulness of the work. The author has tried to include every coherent effort, guided by psychoanalytic theory, to offer an explanation, understanding, or interpretation of religion or religious behavior. The work will be of interest in the fields of psychoanalysis, psychology, sociology, anthropology, history, literature, folklore, and religion. Public libraries will find this a valuable reference tool to offer the general reader who is interested in a broad spectrum of ideas.

Since its founding one hundred years ago psychoanalysis has been the focus of contention, controversy, and debate. What has been clear despite all controversies is that the psychoanalytic tradition has created and inspired special modes of critical thinking which have been used to examine both human behavior and corresponding social ideologies.
Psychoanalysis, Identity, and Ideology presents papers from a historic two day conference of leading Israeli, Palestinian, and European psychologists held in June of 1999. Sensitive professional and historical dilemmas are discussed with refreshing openness. This collection embodies the tradition of critical thinking applied to ideologies and identities, Zionism in particular, through a non-exclusive prism of psychoanalytic traditions.

How should we approach the psychological study of religion, and how relevant is classical psychoanalysis, identified with the writings of Sigmund Freud, to the understanding of religion? Freud's writings on religion have been discussed often and continue to attract attention and debate. Psychoanalysis and Theism starts with an essay by Adolf Grunbaum, one of the world's leading philosophers of science and an incisive critic of Freud's work. Grunbaum looks at Freud's general claims about the psychological mechanisms involved in religion and finds them lacking. Then, in a surprising turn, Grunbaum judges some of Freud's interpretations of concrete religious ideas and practices to be not only cogent, but indispensable. When it comes to the case of the belief in Virgin Birth, Grunbaum finds an Oedipal interpretation to be our only choice. This remarkable essay is the stimulus for a symposium with nine senior scholars, coming from the fields of philosophy, psychology, sociology, and psychoanalysis, who present their critical reflections on how we should study religion, how we should treat Freud's ideas, and what the future directions in psychological research on concrete religious behavior should be. The contributors bring to this effort their varied fields of expertise, from analytical philosophy to experimental psychology. Of special interest are essays which deal with the Virgin Birth doctrine and its possible psychological sources and with the potential for future psychoanalytic studies of faith and ritual. Other essays focus on Freud's conscious and unconscious motivations for studying religion as well as the hidden biases and lacunae found in the social science literature on religious practices. This volume adds a unique combination of critical and knowledgeable voices to the debate on Sigmund Freud's legacy."

Originally published in 1975, this book is a completely rewritten, revised version of Michael Argyle s standard work, "Religious Behaviour," first published in 1958. A great deal of new research had appeared since that date, which threw new light on the nature and origins of religious behaviour, beliefs and experience."

Is religion to blame for deadly conflicts? Should religious behaviour be credited more often for acts of charity and altruism? In what ways are religious and spiritual ideas, practices and identities surviving and changing as religion loses its political power in those parts of the world which are experiencing increasing secularization?

Written by one of the world s leading authorities on the psychology of religion and social identity, "Psychological Perspectives on Religion and Religiosity" offers a comprehensive and multidisciplinary review of a century of research into the origins and consequences of religious belief systems and religious behaviour. The book employs a unique theoretical framework that combines the new cognitive-evolutionary psychology of religion, examining the origins of religious ideas, with the old psychology of religiosity, which looks at correlates and consequences. It examines a wide range of psychological variables and their relationship with religiosity. It is also provides fresh insights into classical topics in the psychology of religion, such as religious conversion, the relevance of Freud s ideas about religion and religiosity, the meaning of secularization, and the crucial role women play in religion. The book concludes with the author s reflections on the future for the psychology of religion as a field."

Psychological Perspectives on Religion and Religiosity" will be invaluable for academic researchers in psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, economics, and history worldwide. It will also be of great interest to advanced undergraduate students and graduate students across the social sciences."

Because society is increasingly secular, it may seem irrelevant to consider the psychology of religion. But the diversity of our multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society in fact makes religion more important to the social sciences than it has ever been before. What are the social consequences of religion? Every day the news is full of events that can be blamed on religion perpetrated by a range of groups from whole societies to individuals.
Beit-Hallami and Argyle are renowned for their clear, analytical approach to topics and this new, state-of-the-art study of psychology and religion is no exception. It will be welcomed as an update to their previous work in the area by social psychologists, sociologists and theologians worldwide.

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Originally published in 1975, this book is a completely rewritten, revised version of Michael Argyle's standard work, Religious Behaviour, first published in 1958. A great deal of new research had appeared since that date, which threw new light on the nature and origins of religious behaviour, beliefs and experience. Trends in religious activity in Britain and the United States since 1900, and the state of religion in these two countries at the time, are examined. Evidence is presented on the origins of religious activity - including the effects of stress, drugs, meditation, evangelistic meetings, personality variables, and social class. Other studies examine the effects of religion, for example on mental and physical health, political attitudes, racial prejudice, sexual behaviour, morals, and the relation between religion and scientific and other achievements. The findings are used to test the main theories about religion which have been put forward by psychologists and other social scientists, such as Freud's father-projection theory, cognitive need theories, and deprivation-compensation theories.

Since its founding one hundred years ago psychoanalysis has been the focus of contention, controversy, and debate. What has been clear despite all controversies is that the psychoanalytic tradition has created and inspired special modes of critical thinking which have been used to examine both human behavior and corresponding social ideologies.
Psychoanalysis, Identity, and Ideology presents papers from a historic two day conference of leading Israeli, Palestinian, and European psychologists held in June of 1999. Sensitive professional and historical dilemmas are discussed with refreshing openness. This collection embodies the tradition of critical thinking applied to ideologies and identities, Zionism in particular, through a non-exclusive prism of psychoanalytic traditions.

Is religion to blame for deadly conflicts? Should religious behaviour be credited more often for acts of charity and altruism? In what ways are religious and 'spiritual' ideas, practices and identities surviving and changing as religion loses its political power in those parts of the world which are experiencing increasing secularization? Written by one of the world's leading authorities on the psychology of religion and social identity, Psychological Perspectives on Religion and Religiosity offers a comprehensive and multidisciplinary review of a century of research into the origins and consequences of religious belief systems and religious behaviour. The book employs a unique theoretical framework that combines the 'new' cognitive-evolutionary psychology of religion, examining the origins of religious ideas, with the 'old' psychology of religiosity, which looks at correlates and consequences. It examines a wide range of psychological variables and their relationship with religiosity. It is also provides fresh insights into classical topics in the psychology of religion, such as religious conversion, the relevance of Freud's ideas about religion and religiosity, the meaning of secularization, and the crucial role women play in religion. The book concludes with the author's reflections on the future for the psychology of religion as a field. Psychological Perspectives on Religion and Religiosity will be invaluable for academic researchers in psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, economics, and history worldwide. It will also be of great interest to advanced undergraduate students and graduate students across the social sciences.