De Opio a Prozac: Deseo, Ilusiones y Religión en la Globalidad

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to analyze the paper that fulfills the religion in the contemporary western societies. The departure point is the freudian conception of the religion, which is considered an illusion, a collective neurosis that has its origin in the psychic difficulties of the human being to face suffering and unhappiness, and that places the individual in an infantile attitude. The great transformations that have occured since Freud have granted a preponderant paper to the technology, that has imposed its rationality. The technological neoliberal and capitalist regime that reigns today imposes economic profits, ilimited market expansion, consumption and work as the main aims, turning man from one subject in history into an objet. In these conditions emptiness and dissatisfaction tend to become general. It is from there that finds sustenance in the present societies the impulses to recreate the religious illusions. Instead of accepting the reality and assuming an adult and mature attitude, the religious person is looking for a father, a master, or a God. The difference is that religions are lived now in a more light way, and the commitment with the beliefs and experiences has become less intense. Such separation respect the different ways of living has facilitated the globalization of religions.