I am interested in references to modern theology texts in which the
author(s) suggests that each of the world’s great religions have
certain negative tendencies that correspond to various types of
psychic illness: “Choose your religion [implies] choose your illness”.
 The author(s) suggests that there is a certain association between
Judaism and manic-depressive disorder, between Christianity and
sadomasochism.  I am interested in finding if this author(s) continued
on to characterize Islam, Buddhism, or Hinduism, but if I just can get
the reference, I will look this up myself.

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Clarification of Question by cormorant-ga on 14 Jul 2002 18:58 PDT

I first want to compliment everyone who has commented on this question
so far, for their insights. Probably all of you deserve this ‘reward’.

Here is some clarification based on the comments by RMG.  I don’t know
the author who suggested any of these connections, including the
characterizations for Judaism and Christianity. I actually heard a
secondhand reference to these ideas on NPR while I was more asleep
than awake.  I would be happy with just one author, such as Rabbi
Lionel Blue.  I just wrote ‘texts’ in the plural, instead of ‘text’
because it crossed my mind that this might be a theme that has
interested several authors.

thanks

Cormorant

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Request for Question Clarification by tehuti-ga on 21 Jul 2002 05:24 PDT

Hello, I'm putting this in as a clarification, because I don't know if
you are alerted to new comments.  I have found a short article by
Richard Holloway: THE MYTHS OF CHRISTIANITY - 3 The Myth of
Justification by Faith at
http://homepages.which.net/~radical.faith/holloway/myths%203a.htm 
This is part of a transcript of one of the Gresham Lectures 1999/2000
(more about the lectures at Gresham College web site
http://www.gresham.ac.uk - there is an archive of lecture texts there,
which also includes all the Holloway lectures)

In it he says: "An insight from Rabbi Lionel Blue may help us here. In
a lecture he gave in Edinburgh he remarked on the different ways the
followers of the three great monotheistic religions go mad. In Judaism
madness takes the form of obsessive compulsive neurosis; in
Christianity it becomes sado-masochism; and in Islam it is
megalomania."

This is the same quotation that pinkfreud has noted, however, the
extra information here is that it formed part of a lecture and that it
refers specifically to the "three great monotheistic religions", ie it
implies Blue did not go on to mention Buddhism or Hinduism in this
context.

I have tried searching for a conference in Edinburgh attended by
Lionel Blue, but with no success.

It may be that Lionel Blue has never actually inserted these ideas
into any of his published texts.  You might wish to try contacting him
through his publisher, Hodder and Stoughton.  The publisher's web site
at http://www.madaboutbooks.com/ has an email form for contacting the
company.  The snail mail address is Hodder and Stoughton, 338, Euston
Road, London NW1 3BH, UK.  Blue is also popular as an after-dinner
speaker.  Perhaps his agent for speaking engagement would be able to
identify the event in Edinburgh (please note, the agency will not
mediate any contacts with their speakers unless you have booked them)
http://www.gordonpoole.com/speak_ent.htm
Gordon Poole Agency Ltd, The Limes, Brockley, Bristol, BS48 3BB, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1275 463222      Fax: +44 (0) 1275 462252 
agents@gordonpoole.com

Am I correct in understanding that you already know of an author who
suggested these connections for Judaism and Christianity, and you want
to see if this same author had similar ideas about other religions? If
so, the name of the text and author would probably help a Researcher
find further material. However, your use of "texts" instead of "text"
seems to suggest you wouldn't mind other authors. Perhaps you could
clarify the question.

This may be of some use:

In a sermon whose audio version I have heard, but which I cannot find
on the Web, Rabbi Lionel Blue said something to the effect that
Judaism tends toward characteristics of obsessive-compulsive neurosis,
while Christianity exhibits certain sado-masochistic tendencies, and
megalomania can characterize Islam. I am not aware of similar
references to Buddhism or Hinduism by Rabbi Blue.

Rabbi Blue has several books in print, but I do not know whether this
sermon, or a variant of it, has appeared in essay form.

In reference to my previous comment, I have learned that "Doubts and
Loves: What Is Left of Christianity," a book by Richard Holloway,
apparently quotes Rabbi Lionel Blue on the subject of Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam and their respective similarities to
obsessive-compulsive disorder, sado-masochism, and megalomania.

A review of Holloway's book, including a portion of the Rabbi Blue
quote, is here:

http://www.sofn.org.uk/Whatsnew/doubts_and_loves.htm

Dear cormorant,
  I don't know how many *theology* texts you're going to find that
address this issue... theologians seem to generally support religions,
rather than think of them as "diseased".  If you're looking for other
sources, however, I might be able to recommend something.  I tend to
come at the issue from a psychological arena, and I just spent part of
an undergrad semester looking at the intersection between psychology &
religion. Traditionally psychology has been pretty hostile to it,
although attitudes are changing.  The prevailing idea now seems to be
that "spiritual" development of one kind or another (organized or
unorganized religion, or even a positive belief in the "human" spirit)
can help out your psyche.  However, religion and religious expression
can be caught up in

  Robert Sapolsky (who could probably be classified as an evolutionary
psychologist, and has studied primates extensively) has written an
interesting collection of essays which touch on this topic.  They are
collected in his book "The Trouble with Testosterone" and I think
they'd make easy reading even for those who don't have a
biology/psychology background.  In the last essay of the book, the
title of which I don't remember, he speculates somewhat wildly about
how complicated religious rituals may have sprung from the mind of a
leader who had obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).  Other
psychological disorders are also mentioned, and he provides some
support for his way of thinking by giving exampples from Buddhism,
Hinduism, and other non-Judeo-Christian religions (although, as you
probably realize, these hypotheses on the origin of religion cannot be
tested and are therefore not "scientific" per se). Sapolsky
generalizes, but I think it's food for thought on your specific
question.

Anyway, here's a link to the book on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684838915/qid=1026482806/sr=2-3/ref=sr_2_3/102-0549543-9700146

Or check out your local friendly college library (yay free things!).

Thanks for posting; I hope this was helpful or at least interesting!
~hippychick

Search strategy: "Sapolsky" on Google

Oops, my first paragraph didn't paste so well.  

What I meant to say at the end there was that religious expression can
be caught up in diseases, as in people who have delusions of being
Jesus or extreme paranoia about being "watched" by god.  It's not the
religion that causes the disorder, it's messed-up brain chemistry
expressing itself in a religious context (a schizophrenic paranoid
about the government watching just expresses his paranoia
differently).

Find a copy of "Journey to Self-Realization" by Paramahansa Yogananda.
Your local library will probably have a copy, or if not, your local
Border's or other bookstore. Yogananda was an Indian philosopher and
yogi who made it his life's work to demonstrate the underlying
principles behind all religions, and his work is very strong on the
subject.

Excerpted from "The Need for Universal Religious Principles" from the
above book;

"The varying views of religionists are akin to the story told ...
about six blind brothers who were washing an elephant [basic premise -
each of them washes a different part of the elephant and each assumes
their own part of the elephant to be representative of the entire
elephant] ... At the height of the quarrel, their sighted father
arrived and explained, "You are all right and you are all wrong. Right
because you correctly described what you experienced, but wrong
because each of you experienced only a part of the whole."

"Man's consciousness ... gradually experiences more and more of the
nectar-ocean of truth. Each person can absorb only to the degree of
his individual experience. These differences in perception are the
cause of argument."

By very nature of being human, we are partial, unable to comprehend
the entirety of existence. It is when a human clings to his/her belief
system as being superior to that of another's belief system, and is
willing to defend that with force instead of learning, that mental
rigidity and illness develops. What is ironic about this is that there
are atheists who are just as rigid and inflexible and fanatical as any
dogmatic believer.

From here it is a short hop to the conclusion you were seeking; that
each religion is a grouping of people encouraging the same system in
each other, and therefore often encouraging the same neuroses. The
strength of a human being can be seen by his willingness to see the
Spirit "equally in all, regardless of race, creed, position, intellect
or bank balance or any other external pointers."