Subject: Re: Why do Western religions stress guilt?
Date: Fri, 05 Nov 1999 09:51:14 +1100
From: Daniel McLean
Newsgroups: aus.religion.christian

I know some write of the concept of “good guilt”: 
Becca Cowan Johnson is a clinical psychologist and visiting 
seminary professor has written a book called Good Guilt, 
Bad Guilt: and what to do with each. (IVP,1996).

I haven’t read the whole book, but here are a few 
snippets:

“Good guilt teaches us where we have erred and thus 
where we need to change.  Good guilt is that which we 
SHOULD feel - the appropriate response when we have sinned.  
Rahter than wallow in our sin, we allow the guilt produced 
by our trespass to challenge and change us in ways that 
glorify God.  Authentic guilt motivates, prods and pushes 
us to be all that God intended us to be. GOOD GUYILT DRAWS 
US CLOSER TO GOD AS WE TURN TO HIM FOR FORGIVENESS.

... In constrast, bad guilt reminds us of our shortcomings 
and undermines our spiritual growth.  It leads to despair, 
discouragement, depression and disappointment.  Bad guilt 
immobilises us when we should be moving forward.  It can 
hinder our development, stunt our growth and restrict our 
freedom... BAD GUILT DISTRACTS US FROM GOD BECAUSE WE 
FOCUS ON OURSELVES AND NOT HIM” (pp 21-22)

I think what you said is largely true, the Western 
tradition is fairly gloomy in regards to its emphasis on 
guilt, but obviously guilt can be both positive and 
negative for our life and growth.
Regards,

Daniel
--
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~mcl4/ 
Robert Davidson wrote: 
> Why do the Western religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam - all
> actually rather Eastern in origin) stress sin and guilt so much more
> than Eastern faiths such as Hinduism and its descendent Buddhism?  It
> appears to have had detrimental effects on the mental health of us
> Westerners.
>
> Robert Davidson