I find the attempt to drag psychiatry and psychoanalysis into world affairs quite tiresome. No such attempt was made by Pope Francis, even though he has studied psychology. Moreover, the Pope is addressing us as Catholics. He is not talking about David Koresh, Jim Jones or Marshal Appleton. Let us not muddy the issue.
Just mentioned a study I read some decades back. My own view is that the psychological dimension is only one of several that impact human behavior – others being the social (economics, power, kin/friend, status, groups, etc), cultural (beliefs, values, ideology, religion), biological and environmental – with none as sole determinant.
As a religious person, I also consider the spiritual dimension or God’s plan (which goes beyond what we finite humans can understand thru the sciences) but interpenetrates all these other dimensions that we can know to some extent.
That said, one might think about the psychological issues (as well as other dimensions) of various people. As I mentioned some people (only a few, not all) are attracted to fundamentalism or conservatism due to some psychological propensity. One of our Carmelite sisters suffered from paranoia; her husband always blamed religion and stopped going to church, but religion was not to blame, it was only the way she expressed her disorder.
I had this book,
The Inner World of Mental Illness, and it was interesting to see the different stories and styles of how people expressed their mental illness. Those who were religious, expressed it in a religious idiom; those who were more into science, expressed it more like sci-fi, such as things like “radio voices” from enemy countries or outer space.
Which bring me to a main point. Fundamentalism (the part of it re the fear and loathing of people with different beliefs or ethnicities) can be dangerous – not the bulk of the people who might be considered fundamentalists, but the psychologically disturbed, violence-prone fringe, who would then go around killing Indians, thinking they are Middle Easterners (as is now happening in our society). Since my husband is from India (a good Catholic, who brought me into the Church), we are concerned about this.
I think that might be what Pope Francis is concerned about – the ratcheting up of rhetoric, which could ratchet up hostilities, conflict, and suffering. He wouldn’t expect a Cardinal to engage in violence, but he may be concerned that some socially-compromised and/or psychologically-disturbed people may engage in discrimination, abuse, or violence because the enflaming rhetoric of that Cardinal and those who follow him, which makes them feel under serious threat, whether they are Christians afraid of Muslim domination or terrorism or Muslims afraid of Christian domination or war against Muslims.
To answer another poster, I don’t think anti-Semite people thought of Jews as being such a violent threat (as much as an economic, political, and/or racial threat), and that was because they were such a small minority. However, some did fear Jewish violence, blood libel.
In our situation today the percentage of Christians and Muslims in the world are somewhat comparable, even tho the Christian-majority nations have by far great military capabilities.
If people cause greater polarization, this creates fertile ground for great harms on both sides. We don’t want to pour gasoline on whatever spark exist. We need in Christian fashion to try and get along with our neighbors. And who are our neighbors? Jesus answers that.
Pour water, not gasoline on those sparks of hate and violence. Pray for those who persecute us, turn the other cheek, focus on the plank in our own eye rather than the speck in the other’s eye. Understand that the Orlando nightclub massacre may have been more about psychological and homosexuality issues than “Islamic terrorism,” etc. Imagine if 9/11 had been treated as a crime (the way the OK City bombing was) instead of an act of war…what would have been the outcome.
There are many Muslims who do not consider ISIS to be Muslim – I can go along with that.
