Do religious people become hooked on the high that comes from their belief? I think a sense of certainty arises in them about their position in the scheme of things. I suspect the problem with that is they tend to become detached from their dark side. They cease to see it and almost deny its existence so caught up are they in trying to forward their sense of moral rectitude.

The consequence, in Jungian terms, is that the darker side is allowed to hang loose and so not be held down. It flaps around with a free reign and is then given a capacity to project itself which it might otherwise not. This can result in a person behaving in ways inconsistent with their religious and moral beliefs but being oblivious to it. It is often accompanied by an ability to identify clearly that very particular lapse in the behaviour of others. Someone else is blamed and reproached and in certain cases scapegoats can be created out of the repressed material of the supposed upholder of the moral order. Unfortunate souls who for whatever reason suffer from weakened spiritual immunity become recipients.

This can happen at the level of society as well as with individuals. Jung speculated such a phenomenon at work during many historical atrocities. The idea for me is plausible and has strong resonance. The would-be lesson to be taken from it is about being attentive to dark impulses and thoughts, not acting out of them necessarily but having sufficient awareness so that integration presides over projection.