Is religie een illusie zonder toekomst? — De reacties van Meissner en Kernberg op Freuds ideeën over religie

Is religion an illusion without a future? Meissner and Kernberg's response to Freud's ideas about religion Freud had an atheistic worldview, which is clearly expressed in his work. Psychoanalytic reflections on religion developed since Freud. This article gives an impression of different positions in the debate about the psychoanalytic understanding of religion by comparing Freuds work on religion with the views of Meissner and Kernberg. Both support Freud in ehis psychoanalytic observations that religion can be infiltrated with an oedipal or obsessive dynamic, but they oppose his atheistic view that all religion is illusory. Using scientific-philosophical arguments they state that Freud mistakenly used psychoanalytic theory within the realm of philosophy. Psychoanalysis can give a clear perspective on the development of the capacity for religiosity and distinguish pathological tendencies in religious convictions and practices of patients.