Religion a complex issue - psychologist

MBABANE – A clinical psychologist has concluded that religious beliefs are complex issues in society.

As a result, he said it was up to an individual to decide whether they viewed it to be right or wrong. The psychologist, who preferred anonymity, warned that any person outside a certain belief should not criticise it in a way that sounds discriminatory. He stated that beliefs were informed by psychological components, social components, emotional components and spiritual components.

The psychologist said, in any belief system, the practices were guided by the principle of the belief. “It is important to understand the logic of one’s thoughts. You need to also understand the environment in which an individual lives. It is important to understand how the individual feels in that environment, then you can understand how they got to be in that belief,” he said.

He said there were many beliefs born from the components of human life. “There are many churches with different beliefs. Some people decide to do other practices outside the Christian faith because of the different components,” he said.

Asked if he believed in miracles, the psychologist responded to the affirmative. However, he said he believed in the Word of God alone. “I personally believe that through faith and prayer, God can do miracles for all people. We have seen God saving Daniel from hungry lions just because of his faith. We also saw God saving the three men Meshach, Shedrack and Abednego from fire. God can intervene from heaven without a material aid,” he said.

Water

Asked if he believed in water, he said the question was a bit complex. Water can be used for different purposes in the Christian space. Some people use it for baptism and cleansing, which comes in many forms, depending on the belief,” he said.

He stated that apart from the Christian space, there were many beliefs centred around water.

The psychologist said he had observed the differences in the operation of the earthly prophets and that of Jesus. He said the Bible taught that Jesus performed miracles without pride.

The health practitioner stated that Jesus never lured people into following him for His miracles. “We hear many stories about miracles nowadays and many of them come from the people who perform them, as opposed to the healed sharing true testimonies. Jesus never told anyone but he just performed miracles to the relevant people at the relevant times,” he said.