Subject:  A Cutthroat God -- Part 2 |
Author:
Eugene
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Date Posted: 11:56:32 01/25/03 Sat
In reply to:
Arnold
's message, "Re: one question" on 01:29:48 01/25/03 Sat
Continued from the last post. Dr. Peck's case history:
"My suspicion was correct. Gradually, as we worked together, reluctantly, striving against resistance, Stewart began to recognize within himself a strange and ugly faith: an assumption, beyond his atheism, that the world was controlled and directed by a malevolent force, a force that not only could cut his throat but that was eager to do so, eager to punish him for transgressions. Slowly also we began to focus on his 'transgressions,' mostly minor sexual incidents symbolized by his 'stealing a kiss' from the stationmaster's daughter. Eventually it became clear that (among other reasons for his depression) Stewart was doing penance and figuratively cutting his own throat in the hope that by so doing he could prevent God from literally cutting it.
Where did Stewart's notion of a vicious God and a malevolent world come from? How do people's religions develop? What determines a person's particular world view? There are whole complexes of determinants, and this book will not explore the question in depth.... But less obvious (except to psychotherapists) is the fact that the most important part of our culture is our particular family. The most basic culture in which we develop is the culture of our family, and our parents are its 'culture leaders.' Moreover, the most significant aspect of that culture is not what our parents tell us about God and the nature of things but rather what they do -- how they behave toward each other, toward out siblings and, above all, toward us. In other words, what we learn about the nature of the world when we are growing up is determined by the actual nature of our experience in the microcosm of the family. It is not so much what our parents say that determines our world view as it is the unique world they create for us by their behavior. 'I agree that I have this notion of a cutthroat God,' Stewart said, 'but where did it come from? My parents certainly believed in God -- they talked about it incessantly -- but theirs was a God of Love. Jesus loves us. God loves us. We love God and Jesus. Love, love, love, that's all I ever heard.'
'Did you have a happy childhood?' I asked.
Stewart glared at me. 'Stop playing dumb,' he said, 'You know I didn't. You know it was miserable.'
'Why was it miserable?'
'You know that too. You know what it was like. I got the shit beaten out of me. Belts, boards, brooms, brushes, anything they could lay their hands on. There wasn't anything I could do that didn't merit a beating. A beating a day keeps the doctor away and makes a good little Christian out of you.'
'Did they ever try to strangle you or cut your throat?'
'No, but I'm sure they would have if I hadn't been careful.' There was a long moment of silence. Stewart's face became extremely depressed. Finally, heavily, he said, 'I'm beginning to understand.'
Okay. So much for the case of a suicidally depressive man. Would anyone care to tell me now. So what?
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