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Personal Reflection Journal: Exploring the Psychology of Religion
Miranda L. Daniel
Department of Psychology, National University
Psyc454: Psychology of Religion
Professor Lon Clark
November 23, 2025
, 2
Section 1 – Week One Reflection
The foundations of the major psychological foundations of religion were presented this week,
and it was honestly an eye-opener to me in terms of my own faith. According to Hood, Hill, and
Spilka, religion is a mechanism of meaning, coping, community and identity. I have been raised
a southern Baptist and faith was always introduced to me as something that is true, not as
something psychologist researches like they do on memory or emotion. The experience of
reading Chapter 1 allowed me to realize that religion could be rather serious and, at the same
time, possess psychological, social, and biological aspects. It did not make me weaker in my
beliefs, on the contrary, it made me understand how faith determines the behavior of human
beings on a much bigger scale.
The TED Talk by Alain de Botton posed the greatest challenge to me. It was different when an
atheist wrote about religion in a positive way. He claimed that religion provides order, practices
and ethical teachings, which even non-believers may apply. I did not immediately embrace the
concept since I am accustomed to thinking about faith as a choice of either. But his conversation
drove me to understand that religion has a value beyond the doctrine. Something is strong with
community, repetition, and values together, which I felt even at the time before I was able to
realize what I believed in myself.
Chapter 3 was also a shock to the biological perspectives. I did not even imagine that spiritual
experiences were related to evolutionary science or neuropsychology. It helped me realize that I
was being quite biased in certain aspects particularly the conception that religious emotions
Personal Reflection Journal: Exploring the Psychology of Religion
Miranda L. Daniel
Department of Psychology, National University
Psyc454: Psychology of Religion
Professor Lon Clark
November 23, 2025
, 2
Section 1 – Week One Reflection
The foundations of the major psychological foundations of religion were presented this week,
and it was honestly an eye-opener to me in terms of my own faith. According to Hood, Hill, and
Spilka, religion is a mechanism of meaning, coping, community and identity. I have been raised
a southern Baptist and faith was always introduced to me as something that is true, not as
something psychologist researches like they do on memory or emotion. The experience of
reading Chapter 1 allowed me to realize that religion could be rather serious and, at the same
time, possess psychological, social, and biological aspects. It did not make me weaker in my
beliefs, on the contrary, it made me understand how faith determines the behavior of human
beings on a much bigger scale.
The TED Talk by Alain de Botton posed the greatest challenge to me. It was different when an
atheist wrote about religion in a positive way. He claimed that religion provides order, practices
and ethical teachings, which even non-believers may apply. I did not immediately embrace the
concept since I am accustomed to thinking about faith as a choice of either. But his conversation
drove me to understand that religion has a value beyond the doctrine. Something is strong with
community, repetition, and values together, which I felt even at the time before I was able to
realize what I believed in myself.
Chapter 3 was also a shock to the biological perspectives. I did not even imagine that spiritual
experiences were related to evolutionary science or neuropsychology. It helped me realize that I
was being quite biased in certain aspects particularly the conception that religious emotions
