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Posts tagged ‘Christianity’

Nov 30

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My 41 Books for 2010

I just realized that I’ve gone an entire year without posting my reading list. Obviously I didn’t do a lot of writing this year but I did do a lot of reading. Here is the list in chronological order with the ones I’m still reading on top.

  1. The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language by Melvyn Bragg
  2. The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Case for the Existence of the Soul by Mario Beauregard and Denyse O’Leary
  3. The New King James Version of the Bible
  4. Buy-In: Saving Your Good Idea from Getting Shot Down by John P. Kotter, Lorne A. Whitehead
  5. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh
  6. The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
  7. The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us by Christopher Chabris, Daniel Simons
  8. The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean
  9. The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe by Theodore Gray
  10. The Lords of Strategy: The Secret Intellectual History of the New Corporate World by Walter Kiechel
  11. Super Sad True Love Story: A Novel by Gary Shteyngart
  12. The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker
  13. How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like by Paul Bloom
  14. Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch
  15. Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution by Richard Beeman
  16. Landmark: The Inside Story of America’s New Health Care Law and What It Means for Us All by The Washington Post
  17. God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World – and Why Their Differences Matter by Stephen Prothero
  18. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
  19. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
  20. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
  21. The Edge of Physics: A Journey to Earth’s Extremes to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe by Anil Ananthaswamy
  22. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
  23. Anticancer, A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber
  24. Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande
  25. From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time by Sean Carroll
  26. The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  27. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
  28. Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin
  29. The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran by Robert Spencer
  30. Why Evolution Is True by Jerry A. Coyne
  31. What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell
  32. The ESP Enigma: The Scientific Case for Psychic Phenomena by Diane Hennacy Powell
  33. The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins
  34. The Age of Entanglement: When Quantum Physics Was Reborn by Louisa Gilder
  35. Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos by Michio Kaku
  36. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
  37. Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun by Wess Roberts
  38. The Death of Conservatism: A Movement and Its Consequences by Sam Tanenhaus
  39. Tao Te Ching: A New English Version by Stephen Mitchell
  40. Taj Mahal: Passion and Genius at the Heart of the Moghul Empire by Diana Preston and Michael Preston
  41. In the Line of Fire: How to Handle Tough Questions…When It Counts by Jerry Weissman

May 3

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Religious Misunderstandings

Religions are predicated on some profound or miraculous event that requires blind faith to believe in. From an objective point of view, these events are usually quite incredible and sometimes sound plain silly. Did you know that…

  • Christians believe that Jesus was born to a virgin mother and that the universe was created in 6 days
  • Mormons believe that God lives on a planet near the star Kolob and that the Garden of Eden is in Missouri
  • The Kaaba – that Muslims walk around – contains a black stone that they believe is a special divine meteorite that fell at the foot of Adam and Eve
  • Hindus believe that every 40 billion years all things dissolve and nothing exists for an equivalent time – then it all begins again
  • Hindus also once believed that the Earth rested on four elephants and those elephants stood on a giant tortoise floating on the universal ocean
  • Buddhists believe that all life is suffering and that the only way to escape suffering is to eliminate all desire and attachments by becoming a monk and meditate
  • Xenu, according to Scientology, is the dictator of the Galactic Confederacy who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of his people to Earth in a DC-8-like spacecraft
  • Wiccans believe in magic that can be manipulated through the form of witchcraft or sorcery

A religion is more than just a belief in the incredible though. I haven’t found a single case where there isn’t a strong sense of community. Most people are just looking for a place to belong and a way to give their life some meaning. Most of our lives have very little meaning so it’s no wonder we are attracted to the fantastic with promises of another life, after death, that will be much better than this one. Though each religion may be based on a myth that requires a stretch of the imagination, what you get in return is not so bad, is it?

Mormons believe that God was once like humans and that humans can become like God. How empowering is that? Christians believe that we all have the power to be saved and go to Heaven after we die. Muslims believe in a rich afterlife and are required to give a portion of their income to the poor. Scientology has rallied against the power of pharmaceutical companies and also setup some of the best drug rehabilitation centers in the world. Hindus have developed a religion and cosmology that is remarkably close to modern science and cosmology.

Of course, depending on where you were born and what language you speak, someone else’s religion always seems a little silly. But remember that your religion also seems a little silly to them, too. Instead of condemning one another for not believing as we do, it seems better to embrace these differences in the marketplace of ideas. In the end, they are all trying to accomplish the same thing – to give your life and your eventual death meaning in a universe that often feels completely meaningless.

Jul 3

How Ignorant Are We?

“About 1 in 4 Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment (freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition for redress of grievances.) But more than half of Americans can name at least two members of the fictional cartoon family, according to a survey. The study by the new McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum found that 22 percent of Americans could name all five Simpson family members, compared with just 1 in 1,000 people who could name all five First Amendment freedoms.

As we approach our Independence Day, it’s interesting to wonder what this means? Why do we know more about cartoons than freedom? There is a good summary, called How Ignorant Are We? The article does a good job of explaining what is going on. Why is it that Americans that are in favor of bombing Iran cannot seem to find it on a map? I wonder why the majority of Americans have never traveled beyond a 50 mile radius from where they were born? In a country where students are learning that the Earth (and the universe) is only a few thousand years old, is this really any surprise? Science and Technology has always defined a successful nation. American in the 50′s and 60′s was a great example of this. We were caught of guard when the Soviets launched Sputnik and reinvigorated our school system with strong programs in math and science.

For reasons I don’t really understand, there has been a backlash against knowledge in America. Especially among “conservative” Americans, academics are seen a liberal and out of touch. Of course, in a totalitarian state the first that are rounded up are university professors. Knowledge really is power. Unfortunately, ignorance is powerful, too. As America stands ready to topple from top dog position in the world, the power hungry lead at the vanguard followed by the blissfully ignorant bringing up the rear.

Jun 15

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Black Tide of Occultism

I’ve been thinking about a conversation I had last summer. Some friends and I were discussing Richard Dawkin’s book, The God Delusion, with Rupert. As always, Rupert’s ideas are well thought out and always seem to come out of left field – at least to me. This got me thinking… There are people everywhere that quietly practice their religion and seem very happy and truly believe. Then there are others that are discontent unless they are spreading the word to others. I don’t mean “spreading the word” in a benevolent sense but in a militant sense. When I was an undergraduate, these were the guys that ranted all day long at the student center about how we were all going to hell. It seemed that unless we accepted their point of view, we were condemned for all time to fire and brimstone.

Of course, there is a problem with this approach to converting others. First, there is no one point of view in any religion. In Christianity, there are literally hundreds of differing denominations and theologies. The same is true in Hinduism, Islam, and every other world religion. Even though each of the world’s major religions has a book (or set of books) as its theological source, there is usually no universal agreement on what the truth is.

Some call this a crisis of faith since believers are unsure what to believe. Out of this crisis has arisen a very literal approach to interpreting The Bible, The Koran, The Vedas, etc. As if a literal approach is even possible in books written thousands of years ago chock full of allusions and metaphors. Nevertheless, this simple-minded approach has taken hold. I can’t say I understand it completely but I guess in a world of chaos and shifting sand, it’s comforting to try and find some immovable cornerstone anchored to truth. At the very least, it’s one less thing you have to worry about.

However, as Newton warned us in his 3rd Law, to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This opposite reaction has emerged in the West as a response to radical Christianity and radical Islam … radical atheism. Working hard to further a political agenda just as bizarre as creationists, the true believers of radical atheism are just as dedicated to obscuring reality. Composed of Nobel Prize winners and scientists from all walks of life, Richard Dawkins leads at the vanguard. This ideology has already taken deep root. This is especially true in American, where this is an opposite reaction to radical Christianity.

The idea that religion is the root of all evil is not new. Religion has certainly be used for evil things, then again so has science. Religion did not give us the atomic bomb, tomahawk missiles, or machine guns. In The God Delusion, Dawkins has somehow overlooked these points. Science is not always right – not always good. Of course, this this is not the first time very smart people have tried to use science to further a political agenda. I’m reminded of a conversation that Freud had with Jung:

“Once he said to me: we have to turn the theory of the unconscious into a dogma, to make it immovable. Why a dogma, I replied, since sooner or later truth will have to win out? Freud explained: We need a dam against the black tide of mud of occultism.” (from C.G. Jung Speaking, ed. by William McGuire, and R.F.C. Hull, 1978)

I doubt Richard Dawkins or Daniel Dennet would be proud to have Freud as their movement’s ideological ancestor, but Freud’s comments about occultism mirror exactly the views of today’s atheists. I can sympathize, too. When I read news about another American school teaching “Intelligent Design” I feel that “black tide of mud” rising. What Dawkins is fighting for is rationality and free thinking. It’s hard to argue with that. His approach is making as many enemies as converts though. People sign up on his web site proclaiming their new found atheism in the same way that people come forward at church to be baptized.

I agree with Rupert, this extreme view is an equal and opposite reaction in world without critical thinking, full of irrationality. Any extreme view of reality is always wrong. I can’t decide which extreme view is worse – uneducated, religious nuts jobs or scientific, sociopathic nuts jobs. Of course, in the end, neither view will win. Just as Hegel always predicted, a new view composed of the two will emerge. Who knows what that synthesis will be?

Nov 8

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Where Is the Kingdom of God?

It’s fascinating to see how divisive the interpretation of a single line of the Bible can be. People ask, “How should a line be translated? What was the original intent?” as if there is some secret decoder key. The exact intent is important only when you begin to base your entire ideology on the literal interpretation of the Bible. Then, an exact translation is very important. Otherwise, you are not sure what to believe in. Read more

Apr 3

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An Interview with June Singer

Back in 1998 I interviewed one of my favorite Jungian authors, June Singer, for the old Jung Index web site. The interview is no longer available on the internet and it would be a shame to lose it. The format of the interview was collaborative – over email – so many people participated and were able to ask questions. So, here is the original interview from November 1998 – a tribute a great woman, who brought Jung’s psychology within my reach.
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Mar 24

The First Easter Morning

Dr. Zach has put together a rather ruthless quiz for “true believers.” Here is one of the questions from the site:

We know that Christianity is true because the Gospel writers, inspired by God who can make no error, recorded the founding events. For example, on the first Easter morning, the visitors to the tomb were greeted by which of the following:

    a. A young man (Mark 16:5)
    b. No, no, it was no man, it was an angel (Matthew 28:2-5)
    c. You’re both wrong, it was two men (Luke 24:4)
    d. Damn it, there was nobody there (John 20:1-2)

Read the rest of the quiz here.

Sep 17

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Science as a Candle in the Dark

In 1922, President Woodrow Wilson wrote, “Like every other man of intelligence and education, I do believe in organic evolution. It surprises me that at this late date such questions should be raised.”

Why is it that American’s are so susceptible to emotional rhetoric and uncritical thinking? In a time when science is saving the lives of so many people, math and science enrollment is down. Math and science not only teach critical thinking, they help advance truth.

Currently in America there has begun a subtle shift to theocracy over democracy. The symptoms of this are emotions over logic, the legislation of personal morality, and a focus on Christianity as the one truth. This is a disturbing trend. America was founded on freedom of religion – not just Christianity, but all religions.

There’s never been a war fought in the name of science. No country has gone to war because they didn’t believe in M Theory. However, year after year countries go to war over religion. Why is this? How can something that is such a positive force in so many people’s lives also be such a negative? Rupert Sheldrake said, “I think there’s a very widespread sense of disenchantment with this disenchanted world. People aren’t going to start a spiritual quest unless there’s a sense of need, and I think there’s a very widespread sense of need.”

I agree with Rupert. I’m not sure what is going on though. Why does spirituality seem to be incompatible with reason? The more I learn about science, the more spiritual I become. Of course, I don’t believe everything I read though – whether it’s in a scientific article in the journal Nature or in the King James Version of the Bible.

How is it that at a time when TV shows like CSI are so popular, public interest and ‘belief’ in science are at an all time low? The same people that trust DNA evidence in court rooms around the country also doubt ironclad proof of the decay of carbon atoms to date organic matter. The science is the same – it’s based on molecular chemistry and has been tested to destruction and remains solid after almost 50 years of blasting away at it.

In my opinion, people are intellectually lazy and as science has become more complex the bar to understanding has gotten higher and higher. So, people have just stopped trying. Instead they’ve done the opposite and decided that all truth could be found in a single book. The future of America is uncertain. The last Dark Age, caused by the advent of Christianity, lasted for over 1000 years. I have faith that even if a dark age is on the horizon, the strength of truth and the power of reason will prevail over superstition and uncritical thinking. Carl Sagan concurs and concludes his book, Demon-Haunted World, with these words, “The candle flame gutters. Its little pool of light trembles. Darkness gathers. The demons begin to stir.”

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