...he is using a set of religious instructions to essentially make him feel okay about not dealing with his behavioral problems.

To me, this pretty much sums up one of the biggest problems with most (if not all) religions, people use them as excuses for bad behavior.

Perhaps I should dig up some historical material on Japan just before the Genpei wars way back in the 11th-12th century.

I seem to recall from my Japanese history classes there was a high ranking Buddhist priest in the 11th or 12th century who was having an affair with the Emperor's mother in order to influence policy?

And militant Buddhist orders getting into fights and harassing civilians?

You once mentioned that you were confused as to what LJ comments set me off. Here's two of them.

1. "Religion is an excuse for people to do bad things." (yes, I do realize that was tomsalt. tomsalt, sorry, but I feel that was an incredibly unfair generalization. Along the lines of "All RPG gamers are bad-smelling social misfits." Or "Sci-fi/Fantasy fans are just weirdoes who couldn't play any sports."
As a Christian AND an RPGer AND a sci-fi fan, I've been on the receiving end of all of these type of stereotypes and they all are pretty hurtful. As a gamer and sci-fi fan yourself, may I suggest you consider your comments a bit more carefully?

2. "Christians lie/cheat/steal/are hypocrites. But this OTHER religion (insert here) is always nice."

Didn't we discuss this in an earlier blog?

Sorry. Your comments about OCD and religion are really interesting, and I want to spend some time discussing them as I have mild OCD yourself and some of your observations are really interesting. But I have to take a breath first and chill. Apologies to you and tomsalt for coming across as angry in my initial response, which actually wasn't what I planned to post.

Apology completely accepted. I think where we run into risky territory is when we use general labels, like "Buddhism" or "Christianity"--there are so many denominations, sects and cultural differences in religous practices in different nations that it's hard to describe them all effectively with one phrase.

I in turn should clarify that the events I mentioned involved specific sects or individuals in Japan, and was definitely not a condemnation of Japanese Buddhism in general!

I appreciate you clarifying your intentions and apologize myself for any misunderstanding. I freely admit my "combat monster" reflexes you often joke about seem to manifest alot in online discussion! I must be careful not to become the Internet Devoid, lol. :)

P.S. Also posted some thoughts about OCD and religion based on my personal experiences below, I hope it is of interest to the discussion.

No idea what treatment is available for OCD nowadays, but a few years ago I was reading a bit about it (have a younger cousin with it), and for milder cases of it (unlike my cousin, who was compelled to crush lit lightbulbs in his hands, for example -- he was about 9 yrs old at the time), sometimes the main suggestion from docs at that time was to find healthier ways to incorporate OCD into everyday life. For example, going for a run every day, finding non-hazardous rituals to follow, etc., in order to keep the brain from obsessively repeating more hurtful or annoying activities. Haven't read the book, so have no idea whether the author was seeing a doc or following medical advice, but he may have been. (Don't know what drugs there are now, but the ones my cousin was on were pretty nasty. He had a stint in the hospital for liver failure from one drug, had frequent seizures from another, was zombied-out by another, etc. This was about 10 years ago.)

Have you read his previous book? I haven't, but I wonder now if he deals with the subject more in that one.

OK, now that I've calmed down a little about the initial comments in this thread...

...Speaking from my own experience with OCD, it's not a clearly understood disorder, and apparently different people need different kinds of treatment in order to cope with it. In my case, OCD manifests as certain little "rituals" and "checks" that if I don't do them, cause me anxiety.

Now, in some of those cases, trying to constantly fulfill those checks aggravated the OCD to severe levels. However, I found that talking with a mental health counselor helped enormously. Simply telling someone about it, and receiving third-party reassurance that I wasn't the only one going through it, helped me avoid anxiety-reinforcing rituals. Which in turn reduced my OCD problems!

My initial response would be that using ritual behaviors would aggravate OCD, at least in my case...BUT, as someone mentioned, we don't know what kind of behaviors the author engaged in or what kind of advice he's had from a mental health professional.

I will say that my counselor mentioned that medication is not used to treat OCD in all cases, and in fact said she preferred not to, in my situation.

So it's probably not fair to automatically assume that he is simply doing a bad thing by prefering ritual prayer to medication. There's simply not a way to know that without more information.

I will say that I would recommend ANYONE with OCD symptoms, however, to talk to a qualified medical professional. Again, in my case, just talking was highly beneficial.

I still am over-zealous about checking if I lock my car, though.

I should add one more clarification based on my experience:

It IS very easy for a person with OCD to experience OCD-anxieties associated with religous practice (i.e., fearing irrational consequences if certain rituals or habits are not observed in worship). If one knows one has OCD, it is a very good idea to talk with a good (i.e. compassionate and medically well-informed) pastor or counselor to help sort OCD fears from actual spiritual issues.

I was very lucky in this regard, as my mental health counselor turned out to be a Christian (I didn't know this until after I started seeing her) and gave me good support on distinguishing OCD irrationality from genuine causes for concern.

P.S. I'm VERY interested in reading the book now! :)

Thursday we'll be out at my in-laws in Fontana. However...Friday I will be home, and I think Minette has to work extended hours that day (her job, alas). If you'd like to stop by on Friday I would be very pleased for the company. And I could give you your Heroclix as well.

Well, I've followed religious restrictions and commandments out of fear and/or guilt and it SUCKED.

Ok, you haven't followed any rule out of fear or guilt? No wonder you don't understand Evil. That's usually a main component, instilling fear or guilt to establish some ideal usually under a pretext of the betterment of society, but not always.

Yeah, much from what was said above, there realy isn't a way to "treat" OCD other than trying to be OCD in a way that works for your life style.
well...if hes tryin to build this life style...and praying 3 times a day works with it...whats thr problem?
Its like downsyndrom or autisum...there isn't a treatment, there isn't a magical pill. I think what he is doing is just as healthy as anything else.
so yeah, I believe that your premis about OCD is wrong, the rest of it I would agree with *IF* your premiss were correct

You bring up some very interesting points... some things that I never thought about, others that I have thought about a lot. Let me address the latter, first.

I study Religion & Society at a major university. I am a religious scholar, so let me put on my academic hat for a moment. Religion is as old as humanity, and so are diseases like OCD. I have every reason to believe that religion has been used to treat emotional disorders. Drugs are a very recent technology. Ritual of any kind is a wonderful therapy. It calms and reassures the mind, provides an anchor when everything seems terrifyingly out of control. Ritual is my favorite therapy for myself. I don't take drugs of any kind, except for caffeine and an occasional Guinness.

Having said this, you bring up an excellent point about the children. Children learn what they see. They learn the skills of the parent, so if that parent is, in this case OCD, or, another example, alcoholic, then they grow up with OCD or alcoholic survival skills, which they try to use even if they are not OCD or alcoholic.

I don't have an answer for this, other than the kids should never be shielded from it. I grew up around brain damage. Consequently, I know how to deal with that better than anyone, which is a good thing, because my partner has brain damage from a serious car accident. That skill is useful. My parents were also alcoholics, so I have those skills too. Those skills are only useful if one is, in fact, alcoholic themselves.

Great post. You gave me much to think about.

I understand taking medication for depression. This last summer, I got very, very depressed. It was horrible. I got up every morning, got a cup of coffee, and started to cry. I thought about medication as an option. I read about depression, and learned that it was a dopamine shortage. I started looking for sources of dopamine. I discovered that I mostly needed to spend more time with people, but my social group is mostly Pagans, so spending more time with my religion came with it.

But, that is just me, and I realize that other people have different chemical makeups. What works for me may not work for you. We each do what we need to do to feel at peace.

My understanding is that different depressions are caused by either a deficiency in serotonin or dopamine or both. I was not free of symptoms of depression until I started taking a medication that effects the level of both chemicals. And just to chime in with a new perspective, spending time with friends would not have cured my depression, and I can tell you why. When I'm just feeling a normal level of sad, spending time with people really helps a lot. One of the effects of my depression (which is in no way a normal amount of sad) was that I felt that my friends didn't actually like me at all, and they just tolerated my presence. Neither my own internal logic, nor my friends' protestations to the contrary could make me really believe they enjoyed my presence. So paradoxically, spending time with my friends made me feel even more alone.

Thanks. Sorry about that. I don't know what the deal was.

Just as a side note, because caprine's friend billiferothers</i> with dopamine.

Ooh, can I borrow the book when it's done being read?

I was looking forward to reading the book because I want to have and maintain a spiritual experience, and I was hoping that the depiction of specific actions would lead me to that. Then, I read your cts. above, and I realized that I would have firmly closed the book up before I had read very far in it, and I wouldn't have looked back. Learning and keeping ritualistic practices comes very hard to me and his using this format to totally manage his OCD (seemingly) infuriates me. Ritual as a way of smoothing out the gaps that the medication leaves behind is a cool idea, on that I can relate to, but total reliance on it, no way.

Wow. I agree with you. My uncle had OCD, and over the years it began to consume him until he could not function. He lived with my grandmother until she was unable to care for him. At that point, he needed to be in a "home" even with medication. His choice saddens me as he used up his mother in their co-dependent relationship.

I think he is just twisting the doctrine to interpret it for his desire disease.

Sending happy thoughts your way.

Wilhelm vF