ABSTRACT

In this chapter, the author discusses the conflict between psychoanalysis and religion because he felt there was a growing tendency among religious leaders and also among psychoanalysts to deny some of the basic conflicts between the two schools of thought. He explains "the only reliable self-esteem, the only kind of self-esteem that stays with us, is the one we have built up in relationship toward our own conscience, toward our own ideals. The author stresses at this point, that psychoanalysis is a scientific discipline and, therefore, very different from a religion. Psychoanalysis is an attempt to systematize, classify, and formulate our knowledge about human behavior. There are several basic elements in the psychoanalytic approach which Freud has postulated and which are considered essential for psychoanalysis. The idea that sinful thoughts are as bad as sinful acts, is absolutely contradicted by the findings of psychoanalysis.