efforts to repress and deny most forms of sexual expression, will findthat even if Freud is not entirely correct, he has certainly hit upon something important.Illusions and DelusionsThe issue of "illusion" is another very important part of Freud's critique of religion. At alltimes we must keep in mind that he drew a sharp distinction between "illusion" and"delusion," using only the former to describe religious beliefs. Illusions, including those ofreligion, are such not because of their content but by their sources. Calling religious beliefsillusions does not automatically deny them any sort of validity - they may, after all, evencome true. Their problem lies in their source: undisciplined and uncritical human wishes. It should be pointed out of course, that in Freud's theories just about all thinking, includingscientific thinking, can have nonrational sources and be indicative of wishful thinking.With both religion and science, it is not that the source determines the value of an idea - agreat idea can have a nonrational source, and a poor idea can have a rational source. Whatis key is just how much influence that source continues to hold over the idea in question. Scientists can and do come across revolutionary ideas intuitively, but their intuition andwishful thinking are supposed to remain disciplined. Ideas are supposed to be open torational critique, demonstration and verification. Convictions, no matter how strong, mustbe capable of being refined, modified and even abandoned if necessary. Scientific thinkingcan thus be differentiated from religious thinking, since religion rarely if ever allows forsuch an atmosphere to hold sway.Works CitedFreud, S. (1927/1961). The future of an illusion. New York: Norton. A Probe of Sigmund Freud’s View of ReligionApril QuetschkeJuly 22, 1999Philosophy 101...
