Religious Motivations - Moral Agoraphobia
DSM IV: anxiety about being in places or situations from which escape might be difficult (or embarrassing) or in which help may not be available in the event of having an unexpected or situationally predisposed Panic Attack or panic-like symptoms. Agoraphobic fears typically involve characteristic clusters of situations that include being outside the home alone; being in a crowd, or standing in a line; being on a bridge; and traveling in a bus, train, or automobile.
This disorder is commonly thought of as a fear of open spaces. It occurred to me that a moral version of this fear can be a strong motivator towards religiosity. Allow me to explain:
I remember well a metaphor used by preachers of my Church of Christ years. When is a train most free? When it's running on the tracks. Rather than seeing the rules and strictures of Christianity as constraining, we were encouraged to see them as "freeing" us to live as God intended, just like that speeding train.The idea was that, free from rules, boundaries and limitations (as Cesar is fond of saying on The Dog Whisperer),we will necessarily run amuck and headlong into self-destruction.
When Mom and Dad said goodbye and left me on the doorstep of my new residence hall at the University of Florida, my new freedom was both exhilarating and terrifying. Mostly terrifying. I was strongly attracted, therefore, to the outreach of Christians, whose religion promised to provide comforting moral safeguards, tracks upon which I could run safely.
The religions seem to offer us a ready-made set of rules. They offer clear markings on the pavement of our lives that tell us that we may go so far and no farther. There's a degree of comfort in that, yes? It is frightening not to know where the danger lies. Religions promise to keep us safe.
One problem, though, is that they often go beyond moral guidelines and stray into demands for absolute devotion, this devotion often involving the performance of rituals that have no bearing on moral virtue. They are frequently more concerned about their own preservation and supremacy in our lives than about relieving suffering and bringing peace and happiness. Another problem is that they feel it necessary to call upon the authority of a fictional all-powerful deity who will punish us eternally if we stray, as a means of keeping us in line. It isn't enough to point out the reasonableness of morality, that being the goal of bringing joy to the lives of others. They have to beat us about the head and shoulders with silly superstitions to cow us into submission.
The moral codes of most established religions seem worthy enough to stand on their own, as the fruits of millenia of human experience, without the unnecessary baggage of superstition and religion.
Follow me on Twitter. Golden Platypus is updated often; the easiest way to get your regular dose is by subscribing to our news feed. Stay on top of all our updates by subscribing now via RSS or Email.
