Sacred Psychoanalysis - etheses Repository - University of ...

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because I think I was a little intrigued by the ending to your chapter where I am just
finding it here (soft) where having talked about the importance of the contemplative
position and then talking about the ‘objective of faith and its conviction you cannot be
guaranteed by objective of evidence because subject can be biased you can’t be
discovered in an objective evidence objectively considered’ so I think that was the last
paragraph you say this ‘the contemplative position also makes room for reservation
that many psychoanalysts feel towards religious ways of thinking, that they can serve
as an escape’ and I think my intrigue I think was having stated a very positive point, a
helpful point you end it feels a slightly defensive as if you are saying but I’ve also got
to address this particular issue that psychoanalyst are going to raise with me in
response to this. Anyway can you recall any of the processes that came about or do
you think I am misreading uhm (pause, and soft) this
DB: (pause) yes (pause, sigh) I don’t know I think I occupy a sort of middle position
(loud, rushed) with regard to religion because I feel there is something very important
in it but I also think we don’t have the vocabulary to say what that is yet quite and
very often when I actually meet religious beliefs I found myself thinking Freud really
did have a point in his criticism and often there is a sense of people using religion as a
kind of way of avoiding addressing the reality of the world (soft) so its partly
defensive in the eyes of my colleagues I suppose but its partly also expressing my own
caution
AR: Yes I think maybe defensive is too strong a word, maybe if there is a slight
cautionary note defences are okay (shared laughter) partly because I did think that this
whole notion of contemplative position was actually really highly original and I, in
terms of my reading both theologically and psychoanalytically I would imagine that
you have read much more psychoanalytic literature than I have, certainly you would
have read much wider in terms of Eastern traditions, uhm I probably have a much
stronger background in a theological background and training
DB: Do you
AR: Yes I did a theological degree after a history degree, so up until about 10 years
ago worked as a minister of Religion
DB: Did you (soft)
AR: And technically still am a minister of Religion
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