Hooked On God

Crow 1 Roger Crow Mrs. Heather Coy CAP English 25 November 2009 Hooked on God: Examining the Use of Religion as a Drug “Religion is, indeed, the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man who has either not yet won through to himself, or has already lost himself again. ... It is the opium of the people.” Karl Marx, 1844 The lack of attention society pays to the negative aspects of religion is particularly disturbing. More alarming, perhaps, is the biased view religious people hold that drug use is a terrible epidemic. They believe that drugs are harmful and dangerous, all while worshiping an invisible being and pretending everything will be fine through prayer and church activity. What many fail to see is the overwhelming evidence that links religiousness and drug use. That is to say, religion is a drug. People turn to religion and to drugs for the same reasons. Many of the effects people feel from being religious or from using drugs are similar. And, the two can be used almost interchangeably in their roles as a support system, or crutch, for users. Despite societal views that religiousness is generally good and that drug use is generally bad, the roles and effects of the two are tantamount. Both drug use and religiousness are surrounded by a cloak of mystery that can only be penetrated by one's own curiosity regarding the practice of each. Drugs are taken by people who want to feel relaxed, escape from stress, improve academic or athletic performance, or succumb to peer pressure and curiosity (“Drug Abuse and Addiction” np). While the first three reasons for using drugs are typical of repeat users, first-time users tend to use drugs because of the intrigue and mystery regarding the substances. They have an

Crow 2 insatiable curiosity for how the drug will affect them. Blackmore writes that drugs are dangled in front of someone like a twisted version of a logic statement in mathematics; if someone takes these drugs, then he will have these results (382). Users believe there to be a specificity with drug use, that exactly the same result will occur with each dose of the drug. They are aware of the dangers associated with use, but the motivation of a pleasurable experience is more prevalent. Just like drugs, religion is responsible for concocting a “dangerous mix of promise and threat” (Willett np). Although presented with incontrovertible evidence implicating the faslehood of religion, people turn to religion with the same curiosity as they would to drugs (Fontana 92). They yearn to experience religiousness for themselves, to see it and feel it in practice, instead of just settling for others' stories about it. People who turn to religion do so because of a piqued interest in the lifestyle of praise, worship, and apparent happiness—just like a person curious about drugs would experiment with them to achieve an understanding of the enigmatic substances. When those who turn to religion share their story with others, it might seem as though they were describing a time when they used drugs. According to Argyle, it is common for people to feel depressed, guilty, and shameful about their lives before they convert to religion, but afterward they often feel much better. And for someone to be led to religiousness in the first place indicates that he or she was probably experiencing a “profound personal crisis” before the conversion took place (21, 23-24). People who use drugs do so for the same reasons. They wish to eradicate the stress in their lives, or they want to feel better about themselves. They turn to drugs seeking the same results as people who turn to religion. Argyle says religious experts agree that there are four main criteria that must be present for someone to have a “religious experience”. One, the experience is ineffable, or unable to be described in words. Two, there is a noetic quality about the

Crow 3 experience, and it is treated as an authoritative source of knowledge, insight, or creativity. Three, despite the brevity of the experience, it leaves a lasting, lifelong impression on the person who experienced it. And four, passivity occurs, where one has a sense of not being in control of himself and instead feels as though he is being controlled by another force (52). The great irony from Argyle's arguments comes from examining his own beliefs about drug use and religiousness. Like many religious people, he believes that drugs are destructive to the morality of society and that turning to God is the solution (Argyle 64). The fallacy in his belief is exemplified by the four criteria of a religious experience. Without previous insight on Argyle's stance, it would be difficult to reason if he were referring to a religious experience or a high someone might experience if on drugs. The four criteria seem to explicitly support an argument for both. That is, Argyle has contradicted his own point because the criteria for a religious experience and for a drug high are the same. The line differentiating drug use and religiousness isn't so clear once evidence from both sides is taken into account. What does become clearer, though, is the argument that religion can be classified as a drug. It is evident that someone who uses drugs need not also be religious because the two play the same role in a person's life. A study found that adolescents who viewed religiousness as an important part of their lives and as a way to cope with problems were half as likely to do drugs than their nonreligious peers (Holmes np). Because drugs and religion are so alike, the desire to have both in one's life is paradoxical. Longest states that religiousness can be used as a form of social control. When a person's religion dictates the choices he makes, it is called religious salience. The level of religious salience a person has directly affects his decisions about drug use. A person whose religion is the essence of his being will be deterred away from using drugs. His religiousness serves as a motive for

Crow 4 directing his actions (692-694, 696). So, as a religious person internalizes his beliefs and makes them a part of his entity, he begins to base his choices around that religiousness. He begins to constantly be concerned with religious thoughts, compulsively using his religion as an excuse or justification for something. The same is true for drug addicts, who base their lives around getting high. They always worry about the decisions they make and how those decisions will impact their next high. Drug addicts are constantly making choices to benefit their own ability to use drugs just as religious people constantly worry about making choices that please God and adhere to religious teachings. People lose themselves in religion, and addicts lose themselves in drugs. They can no longer make decisions for themselves because the drug (or in this case, the religion) has seized control over their lives. Drug use and religiousness act in the same way, guiding a person's thought process and decision-making so that little command remains with the user. While it is expected that religion can positively influence a person's life, it is equally likely—albeit less expected—that drugs can positively influence one's life. Snoep comments on the happiness of an individual according to his level of religiousness. He wrote that there was a positive correlation between the two—the more religious someone was, the happier he thought himself to be. This correlation was even stronger among religious people who were more involved in the social aspects of religion, like going to church functions (208). As a religious person's happiness relates to the amount of religious activities in which he partakes, the same goes for drug users. According to McKee, a group of students who used drugs spoke extensively about the pressures people face in society and about their need for drugs. “Users support, by their replies [to a survey question], the importance which drug use can have to a person. Their experiences are quite genuine, valid, and normal to them, whereas they may be symptoms of a social psychological

Crow 5 pathology or illegality to the nonuser” (588-589). This concludes that each group of people —the religious ones and the drug users—see a validity in what they do and why they do it. To them, it's perfectly healthy, normal, and practical. Despite their refuted claims and reasoning, they perceive themselves to be happy because of what they're doing. Blackmore adds to this theory by saying that marijuana users report feeling euphoria and relaxation as a result of using the drug (333). The evidence that marijuana can be harmful is conclusive, yet people continue to use it because it brings them happiness. Similarly, religious people might use religious thoughts or behaviors to avoid or reduce the effects of stress (Argyle 160). The ethics of using drugs or religion to make oneself happy is not the issue at hand; the argument is that both of them are being used in the same way, almost interchangeably, to mask the truth in someone's life and to make him happier. In addition to the perceived happiness people feel from drug use and religiousness, there is evidence that the two are psychologically beneficial. Serotonin, a neurotransmitter in the brain, is crucial in determining a person's mood and motivation. “Of Serotonin” says that certain drugs, like lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), alter levels of serotonin, which can induce “mystical experiences” (np). Being happy is a desire that people have struggled to attain since the beginning of mankind itself. People have a proclivity to want to be happy, but chemical imbalances in the brain sometimes make it difficult for them to achieve such happiness. This is where drugs or religion come into play. Many psychiatric medications are used specifically to address serotonin levels, and other illegal drugs can affect them, too. However, “Of Serotonin” shows that a person's religiousness has an impact on serotonin levels as well. It was found that members of the study whose brain scans showed the most serotonin receptor activity were more susceptible to spirituality. (Patients admitted this on a separate personality test.) This finding challenges the idea that

Crow 6 a person's religious behavior is determined entirely by environmental and cultural factors. Instead, the study shows a “biological underpinning” for religiousness that relates to serotonin (np). Some people are religious for the same reason that others use drugs—to help them reach a state of sheer happiness. Religiousness and drug use, then, aren't just something people do for fun. Both can affect serotonin levels in the brain, which ultimately leads to the drug user or the religious person being happier than they were before. Sometimes, despite a person's perception of how religion or drug use is changing his life for the better, the changes cause more harm than good. A drug user might believe drugs are making everything better, and a religious person might believe that prayer is improving his life, but that doesn't make either of them correct. People get caught up in the experience of using drugs or being religious and quickly can become addicted to the feeling. While a person who does drugs makes the initial decision voluntarily, the addiction takes over, and the user's ability to exert self-control is hindered (“Drug Abuse” np). Drug use becomes drug abuse when the drug interferes with the normal, daily functioning of an individual (McKee 585). The same goes for religious people. They become addicted to religion once it interferes with their lives and ability to function normally. Arguably, an addiction to religion is worse than an addiction to drugs because religious people truly believe that nothing is wrong. They might argue that they're not addicted, but if God were taken out of their lives, they'd certainly throw a fit. According to Willett, “A religious person cannot have joy like a drunk cannot be happy sober and a smoker only feels relaxed while smoking” (np). Just like any other addict, religious people are unable to enjoy themselves except through their vice—in this case, religion (Willett np). Innes argues that religion is just as much an addiction for some people as alcoholism. Religious addicts want God to take away their pain and suffering without accepting personal responsibility for

Crow 7 their situation. The addict refuses to believe that his problems are truly his fault (np). People who are religious and people who use drugs both believe that their lives are improving, which suggests further the role of religion as a drug. The two give people false hope in the same way. Religion and drug use seem to be cultural phenomena around the world. They are part of society, have been for thousands of years, and aren't going away anytime soon. The problem with these things being part of society is the way that they transform anyone involved with them. Willett suggests that religion and drugs spread as memes, cultural ideas passed on from one generation to another. There is nothing inherent in marijuana that causes users to burn incense or display leaf logos, just as there is nothing in the Bible about the trinity or about wearing ties in church, yet those ideas are all present each meme (np). If someone is born into a religious family, it is more likely that he will be religious, and if someone is born into a family of drug users, it is more likely that he will use drugs. The problem with these memes comes when too much of them is experienced. According to Willett, drug users and religious people often turn into memeoids. Memeoids' own lives become unimportant because they live only to spread a particular meme. The spreading of this meme is the only worthwhile part of their existence. Many drug users spend all of their time trying to convince others to do drugs with them much in the same way that religious people try to convince others to join their religion. These people have become memeoids, who “are by definition willing to die for their beliefs, committed to their ideas in a way that makes the tactic seem heroic” (np). Singham says that the danger with the phenomena surrounding religion is that it can serve as a gateway drug of sorts (np). He writes: Once people at a very early age are made to think that is it perfectly rational that there is an invisible, omnipresent, all-powerful being who can read

Crow 8 everyone's mind simultaneously, talk to them with no one else hearing the voice, and take action in the world while evading all direction, then they have been primed to accept as plausible any and all beliefs, however bizarre, provided that it is even vaguely compatible with their childhood indoctrination. (Singham np) Therefore, religion can serve as a bridge to more dangerous ideas or memes, just like gateway drugs can serve as a bridge to more harmful and addictive drugs. The unfortunate thing about religion is that many people do not see its harm. Especially unfortunate is the way in which religious people look down upon drug users with pity, sympathy, or condemnation. After all, religious people are using their religion in the same manner drug users utilize drugs. Both are used to mask a person's stress or unhappiness. They both affect the brain in the same ways. And, perhaps most dangerous of all, the people belonging to these memes are heading down a dangerous road. Many drug users, at least, know what they are doing is wrong and know the harm involved. The scary thing is that religious people are hooked on God without even realizing what a detriment it is to their lives.

Crow 9 Works Cited Argyle, Michael. Psychology and Religion: an Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2000. Print. Blackmore, Susan. Consciousness: an Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2004. Print. “Drug Abuse and Addiction.” Drugs, Brains, and Behavior—The Science of Addiction. National Institute on Drug Abuse, 17 Sep. 2008. Web. 25 Nov. 2009. Fontana, David. Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality. Malden, Maine: Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2003. Print. Holmes, Leonard. “Adolescents' Perceived Importance of Religion Lessens Drug Use.” About.com. 30 Mar. 2003. Web. 25 Nov. 2009. Innes, Richard. “When God Becomes a Drug.” Acts International. Web. 25 Nov. 2009. Longest, Kyle. “Control or Conviction: Religion and Adolescent Initiation of Marijuana Use.” Journal of Drug Issues 38.3 (2008): 689-715. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Nov. 2009. McKee, Michael. “Drug Abuse Knowledge and Attitudes in Middle America.” American Journal of Public Health 65.6 (1975) 584-591. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Nov. 2009. “Of Serotonin and Spirituality.” Psychology Today. American Journal of Psychiatry, 1 Nov. 2003. Web. 25 Nov. 2009. Singham, Mano. “Religion as a Gateway Drug.” Machines Like Us. 16 Feb. 2009. Web. 25 Nov. 2009. Snoep, Liesbeth. “Religiousness and Happiness in Three Nations: a Research Note.” Journal of Happiness Studies 9.2 (2008) 207-211. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Nov. 2009. Willett, Martin. “God is a Drug.” God is a Drug. 1999. Web. 25 Nov. 2009.