WHY FAITH IN GOD CAN LEAD TO A MENTALLY DAMAGING PROJECTION

Jesus never said we must love ourselves.  He only pointed to how we already do that.  The problem is that is all we might do so we need to get the focus on our neighbour instead and love him the way we love ourselves.  You are to transplant your self-love on to your neighbour.  He said all love is God's and so we are to love God with all our heart, soul and being.  Because God wants to be loved in the form of doing his will for others it is really only God who is valued and loved ultimately.

Some psychologists embrace the dogma that if you seem to be trying to hurt yourself, the reason is because you are angry at somebody else who let you down, who hurt you or who failed you. There is no proof of this claim that you are always just taking it out on yourself. You could be angry at yourself for failing yourself or hurting yourself or another. But it is clear that some people are trying to hurt themselves because they are angry at somebody who hurt them. Imagine how damaging it would be if they believed in God and felt that he failed them or let them down! It would be worse than thinking or feeling that a loved one let them down for God is so much better than any person.
 
If you punish yourself because another person let you down, it is because you feel that they are better than you and must not be criticised. Their evil must be soft-soaped by you. It is easy to see how belief in God can lead to this far more than being let down by any person would. There would be a stronger incentive to denial of the reality. You will suffer far more.

A person does terrible things to you or to somebody close to you. Trying to understand does not mean you are necessarily trying to condone them or condoning them. But if God comes first or God alone matters then the only thing that matters is understanding why the person has not connected enough with God to be good. That is in total opposition to psychology as a science.
 
People will not go to a professional with a problem if it involves God. They might go to an unqualified pastor or priest who has no right to playing the therapist role. The drunk in the local bar would be as well-qualified. The doctrine that God alone is to be loved and is to be loved above all things clearly indicates that people should be set up to feel angry against themselves if they perceive that God has let them down.
 
That it is possible for belief in God to lead to that is enough to make the promotion of belief in God irresponsible and dangerous.