An Interesting article from CNN.com about religious belief being a part of human nature. Seems as if the world is finally catching up with Carl Jung's long supported theory that the spiritual aspect is a natural aspect of the psyche. I often find Jung's discoveries/theories being supported by new science. I have yet to find credible evidence that debunks his science. I have often spoken how his philosophies on dreams are supported by the evidence here at the Dream Forum. Although it is my interpretations to the dream requests, it is his philosophies/theories/discoveries that provide the material to properly interpret dreams.

Here is the article {short}:

Religious belief is human nature, huge new study claims


By Richard Allen Greene, CNN

London (CNN) – Religion comes naturally, even instinctively, to human beings, a massive new study of cultures all around the world suggests.

"We tend to see purpose in the world," Oxford University professor Roger Trigg said Thursday. "We see agency. We think that something is there even if you can't see it. ... All this tends to build up to a religious way of thinking."

Trigg is co-director of the three-year Oxford-based project, which incorporated more than 40 different studies by dozens of researchers looking at countries from China to Poland and the United States to Micronesia.

Studies around the world came up with similar findings, including widespread belief in some kind of afterlife and an instinctive tendency to suggest that natural phenomena happen for a purpose.

"Children in particular found it very easy to think in religious ways," such as believing in God's omniscience, said Trigg. But adults also jumped first for explanations that implied an unseen agent at work in the world, the study found.

The study doesn't say anything about whether God, gods or an afterlife exist, said Justin Barrett, the project's other co-director.

"This project does not set out to prove God or gods exist. Just because we find it easier to think in a particular way does not mean that it is true in fact," he said.

Both atheists and religious people could use the study to argue their sides, Trigg told CNN.

Famed secularist Richard "Dawkins would accept our findings and say we've got to grow out of it," Trigg argued.

But people of faith could argue that the universality of religious sentiment serves God's purpose, the philosophy professor said.

"Religious people would say, 'If there is a God, then ... he would have given us inclinations to look for him,'" Trigg said.

The blockbuster study may not take a stance on the existence of God, but it has profound implications for religious freedom, Trigg contends.

"If you've got something so deep-rooted in human nature, thwarting it is in some sense not enabling humans to fulfill their basic interests," Trigg said.

"There is quite a drive to think that religion is private," he said, arguing that such a belief is wrong. "It isn't just a quirky interest of a few, it's basic human nature."

"This shows that it's much more universal, prevalent, and deep-rooted. It's got to be reckoned with. You can't just pretend it isn't there," he said.

And the Oxford study, known as the Cognition, Religion and Theology Project, strongly implies that religion will not wither away, he said.

"The secularization thesis of the 1960s - I think that was hopeless," Trigg concluded.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 61 Murfreesboro, Tn.

Have You Posted Before? Date of Last Post {Use Search and Your Post Name to Help Find Last Post} Male

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? Yes

Wow, that's an excellent article. Yes Jung had the made the same observation, but he proposed a hypothesis from it that "even though there is only one Truth, the Truth speaks in many tongues." Basically religion is an instinct and they all fulfill that need. I think for me, it may be a very humbling admission, that I am alot like them, because I have a certain amount of unproven faith in the promises of the Self. Even though we reject orthodoxies and institutional religion, we have probably as much spiritual instinct as any fundamentalist Christian, Muslim, or Jew. I like to think that there is a more credible alternative to the reliance on middle-men. It seems for the intellect, there is no experience of an active god, there is just cold control. At least to the degree that the emotions have been depreciated. I would think that this study would prompt every religious person to look at their belief in a more relativistic way, to see that it's one of many.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 34 Montana

Have You Posted Before? Date of Last Post {Use Search and Your Post Name to Help Find Last Post} male

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? yes

Sam,
The science is just now catching up with Jung in so many ways. As is the reality of the collective 'mind'. The 'self' {ego centric} is misguided in believing it is more important than the Self. I say mind and not psyche since it is the mind that has led us to material dependence and promotion of the ego. The psyche is the natural aspect of being and when left to its 'natural' origins finds spirit in all aspects of life. It may be fitting to recall another Jung truth from early in the 20th century when he called American a neurotic nation. Beyond that truth we are slowly but surely progressing in being a narcissist nation.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 61 Murfreesboro, Tn.

Have You Posted Before? Date of Last Post {Use Search and Your Post Name to Help Find Last Post} Male

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? Yes