The Pathology of Belief Systems

The question of the evaluation of pathogenicity in belief systems, focusing particularly on religious beliefs systems, is distinct from the pathological use of beliefs as a reflection of individual psychopathology. The question of pathology in belief systems is separate from the question of truth-value. Indices of pathology prescind from whether the belief system has verifiability or validity in its own terms. Some indices of pathology include the degree of rigidity versus flexibility, closedness versus openness, broadness versus narrowness of perspective. Religious beliefs are compared and contrasted with paranoid delusions. Delusions are characterized by resistance to change by contradictory evidences. Religious beliefs are not delusional insofar as they do not have contradictory evidences, but they remain illusions since they derive in large measure from powerful wishes. Religious systems achieve greater degrees of validity in the extent to which they respond to fundamental nonpathological human needs rather than simply serving as wish-fulfillments. Estimates of relative pathogenicity (positive or negative) can facilitate therapeutic work with religiously oriented patients.