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Well that finding would run counter to the life long experience of the late M Scott Peck, a world renowned psychologist and prolific writer. In his opinion, becoming spiritual is the last (and a natural) phase of the journey from religious through agnostic/aethistic. That being the case, all those with the guts and energy to see their spiritual journey through, would end up spiritual. They could thus be no more or no less afflicted than any others by mental health issues.
Well that finding would run counter to the life long experience of the late M Scott Peck, a world renowned psychologist and prolific writer. In his opinion, becoming spiritual is the last (and a natural) phase of the journey from religious through agnostic/aethistic. That being the case, all those with the guts and energy to see their spiritual journey through, would end up spiritual. They could thus be no more or no less afflicted than any others by mental health issues.
Peck is an excellent author and well worth reading, but his version of spirituality is so liberal and eclectic that most conservative and moderate Christians would not find a champion in him.
In any case Peck believed, I think, that religious proclivities can be distorted by mental illness just like any other belief. I don't think he believed that it was some kind of insulation against personality disorders. In fact, his belief was that typical religion was an immature "magical" phase for which the various forms of doubt and unbelief was a necessary antidote. On the other hand, his idea that ultimately doubt and unbelief are just another "phase" to pass through on the way to "true spirituality"(tm) is something I'm very dubious of. As an atheist and freethinker I explore some aspects of Buddhist thought (as did Peck) but unlike Peck I do not cling to a belief in an afterlife. I am much more apt to go down like, say, Hitchens, embracing oblivion with no apologies. Peck would probably have classified Hitchens as never having progressed beyond skepticism, I suppose.
Peck and I would agree that one can't deny that there are unknowns, we'd only disagree on our response to it. My response to the unknown is to let it be the unknown and to assume the most likely rather than the least likely; his was to embellish a story around it. In fact he wrote an entire novel depicting someone's journey into the afterlife and imagining a structure for it -- it was not dissimilar to the movie What Dreams My Come. Entertaining, but goes way beyond what we can definitively say about such things, which is very precious little indeed.
In any case Peck believed, I think, that religious proclivities can be distorted by mental illness just like any other belief. I don't think he believed that it was some kind of insulation against personality disorders.
Agreed, neither was I suggesting that, but that seems to be the basis of this thread. Or that those of the "spiritual kind" are more prone to mental disturbance. Of course this report seems to me to be taking a result, and inferring a cause. Its very likely that people with issues will seek solutions, and that may well be why they are "spiritual" rather than "orthodox". However these terms are loose, and not mutually exclusive.
But inferring that being on a spiritual path may lead to mental disturbance would appear mischievous.
I see this in that report:
Quote:
Their demons included abnormal eating conditions, drug abuse, anxiety disorder, phobias and neurosis.
Now the term "spiritual" is applied to people that for example seek "emotional release therapies". Which is one of many "new age" approaches adopted from main stream psychology to assist folks with issues.
I wonder, if they had done that survey in the United States they may have gotten a whole different result.. They didn't ask us Native Americans....
I have no personal experience of the US, I have limited experience of the Canadian First Nations, and somewhat more with the Australian First Nation people. It think it fair to state that many of these folks, for reasons outside their control, have indeed been in this classification:
Quote:
Their demons included abnormal eating conditions, drug abuse, anxiety disorder, phobias and neurosis.
In the cases in Canada and Australia sexual abuse as children has had horrific effects on their lives.
Peck and I would agree that one can't deny that there are unknowns, we'd only disagree on our response to it. My response to the unknown is to let it be the unknown and to assume the most likely rather than the least likely; his was to embellish a story around it. In fact he wrote an entire novel depicting someone's journey into the afterlife and imagining a structure for it -- it was not dissimilar to the movie What Dreams My Come. Entertaining, but goes way beyond what we can definitively say about such things, which is very precious little indeed.
Peck also got involved personally with Malarchi Martin (Hostage to the Devil) and wrote Glimpses of the Devil based on his personal exposure to extremely troubled individuals for whom he attempted (and once succeeded) exorcism. I think if you personally saw some of this you might have a different view on the afterlife. Not that I think Malarchi Martin was necessarily 100% honest, nor indeed using the best approach to these very rare cases.
"A study found that people professing to be spiritual, but not conventionally religious, were more likely to suffer from a host of mental challenges."
In my previous location ther were a lot of new-age/spiritual folk. Many of them were a bit off mentally. The question is whether they were mentally off and became spiritual or the other way around.
I need to add that I am not saying that all spiritual folk are mentally off, but it seems (in my experience) many are. I am not refering to Native American or other indigenious spirituallity, but mainly the New Age and Occultic type.
I have no personal experience of the US, I have limited experience of the Canadian First Nations, and somewhat more with the Australian First Nation people. It think it fair to state that many of these folks, for reasons outside their control, have indeed been in this classification:
In the cases in Canada and Australia sexual abuse as children has had horrific effects on their lives.
I would argue that the demons you speak of as they pertain to aborginal people in the Americas and Australia have WAY more to do with the effects of conquest and marginalization than our respective spiritual beliefs. As many native peoples have been converted to Christianity at the expense of our cultural traditions (and often by force in the past), the loss of those traditions have been very detrimental to us especially when combined with marginalization.
I am thinking that's what you meant by "for reasons outside their control" though.
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