In “Future of an Illusion,” Sigmund Freud takes on religion and presents it as an illusion, and as a human obsessional neurosis. Freud, an aggressive atheist, argues that religion is an idea that we humans have developed as a way of dealing with the powers of nature that can harm us greatly. Religion in his mind also is nothing more than our way o

I think even believers reading his ideas on religious doctrines not being authentic nor credible, will see a light bulb, even if it is a faint one, light up, and doubts of these religious doctrines will arise. And I know fear will arise there, just as fear arises in me as I am writing it, it is something that one has to face and deal with. I also agree that we should give ourselves credit for some of our moral actions as our free will because I would like to think that I have something to do with my decisions and that God will not be credited directly with all my good actions, because I know he is not credited with my bad actions.

Freud believes that if there was a great improvement in the way we handle human relations, civilization would be freed of its dissatisfactions. This he says can be done by getting rid of coercion and suppression of instincts, and allowing men to put the time and effort in acquiring wealth as well as enjoying it. Nevertheless, he still points out that even without coercion there will still be those whose destructive, anti-social, and anti-cultural behavior will cause problems, especially if this group is big in number. So here, he presents a vague advice of reducing the burden of instinctual sacrifices imposed on men, but he acknowledges that it is impossible to do it without the control of the mass. This means that individuals, who possess the superior insight into the necessities of life and who have mastered their own instinctual wishes, would be needed as leaders. Freud points that the two biggest reasons that some degree of coercion is necessary is due to our nature of not being spontaneously fond of work, and due to that fact that arguments are of no purpose against our passions. The possibility of such cultural regulations depends on the leaders, not to mention the great amount of coercion that is inevitable in carrying this plan out. Granted some people will remain asocial the goal, as Freud points out, is to reduce the majority that is hostile toward civilization to a minority.

Religion is an illusion according to Freud. An illusion, not necessarily false but something derived from human wishes. A belief is an illusion when a wish-fulfillment factor is an important factor in its motivation. This is why Freud calls religion an illusion, something developed out of people wishing for more wealth, and gold, and defense against the cruel nature. While this illusion cannot be proven or disproved, Freud doesn’t believe it is a reason to continue believing. Even if there is no concrete proof to disprove religion, Freud reminds us that deceiving ourselves with this being a reason to believe is very ignorant. He sees it as “a case of lame excuse to still” believe in religious doctrines just because there is no proof to completely disprove its teachings.

I also think that in a way I do agree that we look up to God to deal with feeling helpless and weak in matters of life. He is usually represented as a fatherly type to whom we should look for protection, and at the same time fear. Therefore, his labeling of religion as a neurosis would not be so wrong, maybe even marking it an obsessional neurosis might not be wrong, but then I think that there is nothing wrong with that to begin with. I believe it is better to look up to God because of our feelings of helplessness and weakness, than to take dark ways, like drugs and alcohol.

Most of Freud’s ideas would make sense since they are coming from someone who doesn’t believe in a higher power. But it scares me when he says that religion will eventually and inevitably disappear. This especially scary because you can see religion disappearing slowly in our world today, where money and material wealth is becoming more important than enjoying a life in any form of spiritual way. I just hope that if religion ever disappears from our civilization I am not around. This is the feeling I came out with after reading thi

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