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ing religious values and organized religious systems, primarily because of Freud's (1) critical writing about religion. In spite of the contributions of a distinguished group of psychoanalysts [Chasseguet-Smirgel (2), Meissner (3), Ostow (4), Rizzuto (5), Zilboorg (6), and others] whose writings pointed to the compatibility of religious convictions and the psychoanalytic identity, I believe it is fair to state that a tendency toward an atheistic philosophical position has prevailed among many leading psychoanalysts, and that this cultural tradition has only recently changed. In what follows, I shall summarize my own views regarding this issue, basing myself upon strictly psychoanalytic considerations regarding individual development and psychopathology, and the application of psychoanalytic understanding to mass psychology and the formation of ideologies.