gromit
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I wasn't sure whether to post this in the MBTI and other personality matrices or in Religion and Spirituality, but I went with this one because I want it to be more functions-focused.
So I've been thinking about religion/faith a bit recently and also trying to get a little better grasp on these cognitive functions.
In the category of religion, we have communal and individual aspects, group worship and service (like in the "helping others" sense) and then things like personal devotion and prayer. On some level, the communal aspects of religion appear to be very Fe-oriented, while the individual aspects tend to be more Fi-oriented. Religion vs. spirituality, perhaps?
However, there are a lot of Fi users who participate actively in organized religion, and there are a lot of Fe users who are disenchanted with it.
It has been my observation that a lot of Fi users become disenchanted with religion (particular religions or religions in general) because they perceive it as the Fe "man" trying to get them to live by its rules sort of thing. Totally valid, this makes a lot of sense to me. At the same time, Fi users who ARE religious seem to find that religion, even the communal aspects, enhances their Fi spirituality (whether or not they even know/use the term Fi).
Fe users... I do not know exactly what makes them disenchanted with religion or how they feel about the individual aspects. I don't have a lot of data points except for on here and people from real life who have identified with a particular type (since I'm not amazing at distinguishing on my own yet). My dear ENFJ friend has been recently dissecting her religious views, because for a large portion of her life, duty and devotion were the same to her. She felt a sense of spirituality when she was performing religious duties, even in her private live. She wants to continue to be spiritual - and relgious to the extent possible (within a religion that isn't necessarily accepting of her sexuality) - but I can see that it has been very very painful and almost violent for her to let go of these expectations on herself, and I know that she will feel it sharply when she brings these things up with her family.
People who find fulfillment in relgion, it seems, are able to significantly reconcile the communal aspects and the individual aspects with their own F values. But I suspect there will always be tensions there for Fi and Fe users... maybe not. Maybe some people are religious without tension.
Anyway, these are just some thoughts. I'd be really interested in feedback. I didn't even get into the Te dimension for the Fi users and the Ti dimension for Fe users, but I'm sure that has a lot to do with it, particularly for the T-dom people. The above is certainly F-biased.
So I've been thinking about religion/faith a bit recently and also trying to get a little better grasp on these cognitive functions.
In the category of religion, we have communal and individual aspects, group worship and service (like in the "helping others" sense) and then things like personal devotion and prayer. On some level, the communal aspects of religion appear to be very Fe-oriented, while the individual aspects tend to be more Fi-oriented. Religion vs. spirituality, perhaps?
However, there are a lot of Fi users who participate actively in organized religion, and there are a lot of Fe users who are disenchanted with it.
It has been my observation that a lot of Fi users become disenchanted with religion (particular religions or religions in general) because they perceive it as the Fe "man" trying to get them to live by its rules sort of thing. Totally valid, this makes a lot of sense to me. At the same time, Fi users who ARE religious seem to find that religion, even the communal aspects, enhances their Fi spirituality (whether or not they even know/use the term Fi).
Fe users... I do not know exactly what makes them disenchanted with religion or how they feel about the individual aspects. I don't have a lot of data points except for on here and people from real life who have identified with a particular type (since I'm not amazing at distinguishing on my own yet). My dear ENFJ friend has been recently dissecting her religious views, because for a large portion of her life, duty and devotion were the same to her. She felt a sense of spirituality when she was performing religious duties, even in her private live. She wants to continue to be spiritual - and relgious to the extent possible (within a religion that isn't necessarily accepting of her sexuality) - but I can see that it has been very very painful and almost violent for her to let go of these expectations on herself, and I know that she will feel it sharply when she brings these things up with her family.
People who find fulfillment in relgion, it seems, are able to significantly reconcile the communal aspects and the individual aspects with their own F values. But I suspect there will always be tensions there for Fi and Fe users... maybe not. Maybe some people are religious without tension.
Anyway, these are just some thoughts. I'd be really interested in feedback. I didn't even get into the Te dimension for the Fi users and the Ti dimension for Fe users, but I'm sure that has a lot to do with it, particularly for the T-dom people. The above is certainly F-biased.