HANOVER What if everything we know about Native American and other indigenous cultures is wrong not because the facts are wrong, but because the way we handle these facts is twisting the truth?

That is the proposition John Stomberg, the director of the Hood Museum of Art, and Sue Mehrer, Dartmouth Colleges dean of libraries, want to have explored as the institutions team up over the next three years thanks to a $500,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Stomberg said the way in which western institutions like museums and libraries catalogue and process information comes from the European Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries, and those methods are not capable of appropriately dealing with other cultures.

The ways of codifying information and thought, by squeezing indigenous and Native American knowledge into that framework, we lost a lot, he said. Were distorting the knowledge by the very way we organize it.

Both the Hood and the Dartmouth libraries have artifacts from Native American and Arctic indigenous cultures. Mehrer said the museum and college use the collections for research and teaching, but that new systems are needed to not do harm to knowledge behind the collections.

Its quite different when youre talking about indigenous communities, she said.

Stomberg said that when he speaks with Native American and indigenous-cultures scholars about different artifacts and histories, hes often struck by the shortcomings of attempts to categorize the information.

Im often being corrected by Native Americans with, well, sort of, or, you could say that but its not really accurate, Stomberg said.

John Stomberg and Sue Mehrer look at a 19th-century basket from the Yokuts, a Native American tribe from central California. Items such as the basket, part of the Hood Museums collection, will be used in teaching and research supported by the $500,000 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant.

Stomberg said the methods of separating out and dividing information does not work with Native American and other indigenous cultures. As an example, he said scholars too often mislabel Native American artifacts as ritualistic, when the true value and meaning of the artifact is somewhat different.

We call it a ritual pipe, or a ritual basket, but what we mean by ritual means its just part of life for a Native person, Stomberg said. We apply that term almost willy-nilly to objects that come from Native American and indigenous communities.

Some thinkers tend to separate out religious practices and beliefs from everyday living, Stomberg said, while that is not necessarily the case for Native American peoples. Creating this sort of divide does damage to the understanding of artifacts, culture and history of these peoples.

Things are either religious or not in the way we describe them in our museum, hes said. But for some Native people there is no distinction; all of life can be, in a way, rife with spiritual belief.

Realizing that not only did they have a problem with how they store and process artifacts, Stomberg and Mehrer also knew they would need help.

We werent the people to fix this, Stomberg said.

The grant will fund two positions at the museum and libraries to facilitate a different understanding of the cultures and artifacts, he said. Mehrer said the goal is to look at the systems as a whole and develop new ways of understanding.

Part of our exploration is thinking about our infrastructure, exploring and describing the collections, and bringing in indigenous voices into that dialogue, she said.

Stomberg hopes the people they bring in will help connect the museum and library staff with Native American people so that they can gain a better and deeper understanding of the collections.

Were going to be working with Native communities and indigenous scholars to come up with ways to open up and reorganize knowledge and histories, he said. We dont have a specific goal, we dont want to rewrite the encyclopedia we want to open it up.

Stomberg said the grant will hopefully help the museum and library to be a resource for Native American and other indigenous people, so that their histories and cultures are better preserved and are more accessible. The grant will help the institutions get going on the path to a better system, he said.

How do we create a system where were not always getting it wrong? he said.

Dartmouth was founded 250 years ago with the purpose of providing education for Native American peoples. However, for the first two hundred years of its existence, Dartmouth saw only 19 Native Americans graduate. The college started making changes in the 1960s and 1970s, and has since enrolled about 1,000 Native American students.

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Grant to help Dartmouth museum, libraries better explore knowledge of indigenous peoples - The Union Leader

Danny Zang/THE REVIEWA bust of Oberto Airaudi (Falco Tassaraco), the founder of Damanhur, standing watch over the private gardens in the village center.

BY DANNY ZANGSenior Reporter

And boy, did I come close to converting.

Over winter break I spent a month in Italy for a religious pluralism course. This meant touring dozens of churches, along with a handful of mosques and synagogues of note. That our focus in our visits to different cities was primarily centered around the three Abrahamic religions wasnt a shock. After all, Italy has a long and storied history with Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

But I admit, after weeks of discussing God, I was ready for something new, something that went beyond the faith structures wed seen so much of already. And thats Damanhur, baby.

Founded in 1975 by Oberto Airaudi and a couple dozen devoted followers, the Federation of Damanhur is a spiritual community nestled in the hills west of Milan. Designed as a self-sufficient unit with its own currency, policies and infrastructure, Damanhur has since swelled to several hundred members.

To be clear, Damanhur is not a religious cult. At least, not in the common, pejorative sense of the word. In fact, the Damanhurian faith isnt much of a religion at all; its a philosophy.

Theres no set doctrine to follow or rigidly enforced rules of worship. Damanhurians share common ideations of spiritual energy comprising our galaxy and all others, linking humanity in all its forms to life itself, but the rest is a bit of a mixed bag.

Metaphysically, Damanhurians believe in an unknowable divinity from which humanity and nature are derived; in this way, their religious philosophy is similar to neo-platonism. All of the deities worshipped by other religions are still divine, occupying an intermediate level between creation and humans.

Some of their more eccentric beliefs relate to the definition of humanity on a more galactic scale, where other planets populated with humanoid aliens can be communicated with through advanced meditation.

Damanhur echoes the meditative and enlightenment-striving projects of Hinduism and Buddhism, yet it stands apart from other faiths as a sort of composite of humanitys collective spirituality; it is similar to author Aldous Huxleys perennial philosophy, which held that all world mystical traditions are worshipping emanations of the same divine idea.

Our tour through Damanhur was led by a woman named Lizard, this being her Damanhurian name given in a tradition of animal first name and plant surname begun by Oberto himself.

Lizard guided us through the sculpture gardens that came about from the Battle of the Arts in the 1980s, a fierce competition among Damanhurians in which the expression of self through art became the primary battleground.

We visited the Altar of Fire, an open-air temple at which Damanhurians meditate and, on nights with a full moon, consult the Oracle for answers about their future. These open-air Fire Temples are similar to those of the Zoroastrian religion.

But the most striking part of Damanhur, the part that really brought out the existentialism in our tour group, were the Temples of Humankind.

In 1978, Oberto Airaudi, now referred to as Falco Tassaraco, which translates to Falcon Dandelion, decided that the tiny commune needed a place of worship to center the faith. High up in the mountains bordering Chiusella Valley, a couple miles away from the commune itself, Falco and his followers began to dig out a network of tunnels and chambers 100 feet deep entirely by hand.

The project took years to finish and plans are in place to continue adding chambers, without heavy machinery of course. And while the very construction of the Temples is impressive in its own right, the true awe-inspiring quality is what lies within.

As we made our way down the narrow passageways leading from the modest entrance, a small wooden door preserved from the very first shack Falco built over the tunnels, we walked on top of, alongside and under painted surfaces covered from floor to ceiling in intricate designs and multicolored patterns.

The Temples of Humankind are plural for a reason; each major chamber in the underground web of tunnels is a temple representing a cornerstone of Damanhurian belief.

Among these chambers were the Hall of Spheres, containing translucent orbs containing water imbued with spiritual energy intended for use in meditation; the Hall of Earth, with its dreamlike murals of landscapes and extinct animals calling attention to human responsibility to the planets preservation; and the Hall of Mirrors, an area for meditation surrounded on all sides by mirrors.

The last chamber, the Labyrinth Hall, was by far the most breathtaking and significant in understanding Damanhur. The Labyrinth Hall leaves no surface undecorated except for the passageways still being dug out. Its main hallway tells the story of humanity, from its humble origins to the modern age, through murals stretching from wall to wall across the arched ceiling.

In the corridors branching out on either side are still more murals, these depicting gods from nearly every pantheon on Earth, from the Norse to the Hawaiian, even including the Abrahamic faiths. Every few feet is a stained glass window, lit with artificial light from behind, displaying major gods or artifacts, from Zeus to Ganesh to the Torah.

What struck me most about Damanhur was the sincerity and optimism of it all, the lack of any apocalyptic prophecies or cynical analyses of human nature. Damanhur behaved more as a composite of religious spirituality in all its forms, an acknowledgement of divinity and the connection with the human spirit.

Lizard spoke of each god with a reverence that Ive come to not expect from followers of different religions. There was no trace of amused tolerance, only a sincere belief in a unifying spirituality.

Damanhur doesnt claim to have all of the answers. By Lizards own admission theyre a community without a set doctrine that one must follow to be Damanhurian.

Perhaps its this easing of traditional structure that makes the commune so interesting to learn about and even more interesting to witness. The treatment of spirituality as energy to be harnessed rather than rules to be followed was, in many ways, refreshing.

I didnt convert. Beyond the beautiful art and eccentricities of Damanhur, I found a new perspective on spirituality that has allowed me to recontextualize my own feelings on faith. The lessons I learned go beyond faith and can be readily applied to everyday life; if you want to be like a Damanhurian, just believe in something good.

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I toured a religious commune in Italy, and all I got was spiritual existentialism The Review - University of Delaware Review

The Prayer Walk is a physical prayer. If youre new to physical, body-oriented prayers, an introduction is in order.

Our perception of the world and our bodies change with each other, even if we dont know it. Our bodies react to stressful situations by increasing heart rate and breath, and sweating, even though were not doing any physical activity. We tend to unconsciously stand taller with better posture when were feeling confident, maybe in new clothes or after nailing a job interview. And when were in pain, we can feel more negative about the world.

Because every experience, including our experience of God, is filtered through some part of our bodies, we ought to involve our bodies in prayer now and then. Our post-Enlightenment world prioritizes the mind, so its sometimes hard to remember to do as Orthodox mystics did to allow our minds to sink deep into our bodys center and pray with movement, senses, and breath. In this exercise, we walk to pray.

Physical prayers are designed to call attention to the role of your body in communication with God. Forget about how you look or even how different these prayers are from your daily style of prayer. Focus only on your presence with God and using your body in all the different ways we pray giving thanks, praise, supplication, silence, and lament.

Mindful walking is a devotional practice in many religions; its prayer in motion, walking calmly and confidently with an openness to Gods revelation. This is not a power walk, because youre not setting a goal youre not trying to get through it, or even get somewhere youre walking in the light of Gods love, listening to the gentle music of your breath, your stride, your heartbeat.

The Prayer Walk

The Exercise

Tips

You may want to read more about mindful walking from Buddhist monk Thic Nhat Hanh. His book The Miracle of Mindfulness (Beacon Press, 1996) would be a good place to start.

While engaging in this prayer, if you are enjoying the awareness that comes from simply listening, watching and soaking in the environment, feel free to skip the step in which you begin to say a word prayer.

Looking for More?

If you like this prayer and are looking for even more ways to pray, you might enjoy my book, 50 Ways to Pray, from Abingdon Press. Youll find this prayer and 49 others to experiment with.

Want to try spiritual direction? I have openings in my schedule for new directees regardless of where you live. I can work by phone, Skype or if you live in the Phoenix metro area we can meet in person. Contact me at teresa@teresablythe.net or visit http://www.teresablythe.net.

Thank you for following this blog!

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Prayer Walk: An Excerpt From '50 Ways To Pray' - Patheos

The painting Im looking at depicts a hunt. But the hunters are not people like us, even though the artists were fellow Homo sapiens. The characters are tiny animal-human hybrids, some with tails and beaks, others holding spears and ropes. These figures are known as therianthropes (from the Greek theron meaning wild animalor beastand anthrpos meaning human being), and are found in many ancient cultures, from Greek centaurs to Anubis, the dog-headed Egyptian god of death. In the painting, six of them charge at pigs and an anoa, a midget buffalo endemic to Sulawesi, a starfish-shaped island in eastern Indonesia. The artist or artists made stylistic choices in rendering their subjects: the anoas body is bigger, its hoofs more elegant than the animals in the flesh. The buffalo towers over the humanoids. Altogether, they evoke a time when the planet belonged to animals and animals did not belong to us. The people who painted this started making pictures almost as soon as they arrived in this archipelago from continental Asia, after the last ice age, around 45,000 years ago. They inhabited an implacable world, dodging intense rain showers,hunting, gathering and fishing at great personal risk, living in cramped caves or under the stars, at the mercy of the elements.

This painting was discovered in the Bulu Sipong cave on Sulawesi in 2016 and recent analysis has shown that it is the oldest pictorial record of storytelling and the earliest figurative artwork in the world, and is at least 43,900 years old. (The oldest known drawing in the world, a 73,000-year-old abstract scribble, was found in South Africa in 2018.) My communion with the painting, however, was interrupted by a series of loud explosionsbecause one of the worlds oldest art galleries lies inside a mining concession.

A few days before Christmas last year, I went to the Indonesian port city of Makassar to meet a swashbuckling archaeologist named Budianto Hakim. He is known as Budi, but I came to call him Indonesia Jones, a nickname that was soon adopted by his colleagues. Tanned, stocky and wearing a khaki safari suit, Budi certainly looked the part. His hair was unruly and his large, blunt fingers were usually fishing for a cigarette, except when preoccupied with his favourite hobby: knapping prehistoric flint tools.

In a cavernous storage room at the South Sulawesi Archaeology Centre on the edge of Makassar, he walked me past piles of artefacts that had been excavated nearby, from Neolithic arrowheads to 17th-century blue-and-white ceramics from Indonesias brisk trade with Qing-era China. As we toured the building, Budi explained how he became obsessed with the history of Sulawesi, the large island to the east of Bali where he was born. Growing up as the son of schoolteachers, he read voraciously. When Budi went to college, he picked a field that satiated his thirst for adventure: one that would, as he described in true Indiana Jones style, let him sleep with the snakes.

Since graduating, Budi has explored at least 300 caves in Sulawesi, an island where every arm has a distinct climate and whose landscapes range from misty highlands to dense forests. Animals have even evolved into different species between the islands appendages: the black-crested macaque is found only in the north and the booted macaque in the south-east. Budi has written or co-written dozens of research papers that span tens of thousands of years of history on Sulawesi. His latest work may be his most important yet. The paintings discovered in Sulawesi, including the depiction of pig hunters that I came to see, have rewritten art history. It is no longer believed that figurative painting started in Europe, where the rock art of El Castillo in Spain and the Chauvet Cave in France have been dated to around 40,000 years ago.

I thought convincing Budi to bring me to this historic site would be the hard part. But it turned out even he had to get permission to go, because the painting sits on land owned by the Tonasa Cement Company, inside a large mining concession which Tonasa bought from the Indonesian government in 1984, decades before the cave paintings were discovered. Tonasa has cordoned off a protected area around the painting, but it holds the keys to the site and continues to mine around it. Its not ideal, grumbled Budi, whose colleagues at the South Sulawesi Cultural Heritage Preservation Centre already work with limited resources to steward the provinces heritage against degradation.

We drove to the site with six Tonasa employees, who wore baseball caps and white polo shirts embroidered with the firms motto: Together we build a better future. They were eager to tell us about Tonasas plans to open a museum near the paintings and win the site UNESCO recognition, adding that the paintings are currently open to any visitors who ask the company for access. Only a few dozen have taken up their offer since December, when the discovery was announced publicly.

On arrival at the site, Budi and I walked a few minutes to the entrance and I clambered up a bamboo ladder, directly into the painting chamber, which is about 25 feet off the ground. The wall that the prehistoric artists chose for the painting is a perfect canvas, with a natural window for sunlight. It still throbs with life. The porous limestone walls are laced with thick brown arteries of twigs and creepers; below it, the ground teems with large ants and dark-blue millipedes which dart through the dirt. I craned my neck to take in the ancient fresco in full.

They were brave, said Budi about the ancient Sulawesi painters. Hunting anoa and wild pigs would have been dangerous, he said, especially with primitive tools. He spoke about them proudly and with familiarity, as if they were his grandparents, and often prefaced his brusque sentences to say he was speaking as anak bangsa, a child of this nation. Budi believed these ancient painters lived in the same lowlands where his own ethnic group, the Bugis, build their houses on stilts today.

I want every student in Indonesia to know that art came from here. From us, Budi said, later. He believes that discovering prehistoric art is particularly important in Indonesia, a country where written records from even a few centuries ago are virtually impossible to find paper doesnt keep well in the tropics. Much else of the archipelagos material heritage has been destroyed by volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. For Budi, these ancient paintings mean more than a boost to tourist numbers or even the archeological record: they form a core part of Indonesian identity. Our ancestors were intelligent humans, he said.

This cave was used for rituals, Budi continued, as we gazed at the ancient artwork. There are no other signs of occupation. They came only to make the paintings, maybe to pray to whomever they thought was their God. Humanity has always sought refuge in caves. Hindu yogis, Celtic seers, Senegalese Sufis, the first Buddhists and the Ancient Greeks all retreated into them for spiritual enlightenment. Religious thought is believed by some scholars to have emerged from the creative act of imagining persons or creatures in their absence. From this perspective, the figures here are not merely art, but a fingerprint of faith itself.When I snapped out of my transfixing encounter and Budis breezy exegesis, I noticed that the paintings surface was peeling everywhere. Its disappearing at a rate of up to 3cm per year, according to the preservation centre. The presence of humans degrades ancient artwork; the Lascaux cave paintings in France were permanently closed to tourists in 1963, because visitors breath created carbon dioxide that damaged its frescoes and caused algae and calcite formation. (Where visitors to Lascaux actually go today is an elaborate reproduction called Lascaux II.) In the cave, I took shallow, guilty breaths.

But I also kept stealing glances through the caves mouth, which opened in the direction of the white Tonasa factory that sits just four kilometres away, puffing smoke. Also visible from my perch were supply trucks going back and forth on the dirt road every few minutes, loaded with raw limestone. And throughout our visit, we had to stop periodically each time an explosion reverberated through the cave, like a thunderclap.

Dust from traffic and mining is the biggest danger to prehistoric art here, according to Maxime Aubert, an Australian archaeologist who led the research team that dated this painting. Drilling also affects the delicate hydrological system of the karst, the limestone formations where prehistoric paintings are usually found. This can lead to the paintings surface peeling and the deterioration of their pigments, according to Budi. Logging trees to clear ground for mining also changes the caves temperature and humidity and increases carbon dioxide in the air, which hastens the dissolution of the limestone. (Tonasa representatives denied that mining had any of these effects.)

New prehistoric art is found in Sulawesi every year, so its likely that other nearby caves have undiscovered ancient paintings in them. Tonasa signed a contract with the preservation centre in 2017 promising to protect the Bulu Sipong cave and to report new archaeological findings from the site. But other large swathes of South Sulawesi karst were acquired by Bosowa, another cement company, for just 2500 rupiah, or about 68 pence, per square metre in 1996. And Bosowa has no such protection agreement with the regional government, which worries archaeologists like Budi.

The visible encroachment of industry around the cave meant I left it haunted by a sense of loss. But Budi was less sentimental about the fate of the worlds oldest painting. Look, our work there is done. Its out of our hands now. We documented it as best we could, he said, as we drove away. He has already moved on to researching other caves in nearby Maros. There is not much time to dwell on achievements in this part of the world, where archaeologists must race against mining and deforestation. I turned to get one last look at the site out the window, but all I could see was the top of the factory. There are so many more paintings here, said Budi, and we have to find those too. Its the least we can do. For our ancestors.

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The fight to preserve a 44,000-year-old painting | 1843 - The Economist 1843

Jesus and the rich young man by Heinrich Hofmann, 1889

In 1949 the German philosopher Karl Jaspers coined the term the axial age in his book, The Origin and Goal of History. He defined the Axial Age as the pivotal period in human moral and spiritual development that has conferred upon the world the political, cultural and philosophical shape it has today. It occurred, according to Jaspers, between 2 and 3 thousand years ago in various places around the world. This pivot point in history comes after the emergence of the State and civilization in these areas, which current anthropological and archaeological thinking sets at about 5 to 6 thousand years ago.

What Jaspers and other historians had noticed in studies of ancient history was that over a relatively short span of time all the great founding philosophies or systems of morality that we still refer to today such as Daoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Platonism, the Abrahamic religions appeared in parallel, with no obvious connection, in different civilizations.

Jaspers looked for reasons for this ancient enlightenment in the political situations of the various civilizations he analysed and suggested the opportunity for new thinking was provided in each area by the destabilization of the previous, originary, monolithic, State and the formation of smaller, competing States that were in a process of navigating a new course for themselves and in relation to adjacent territories. Several of the founding philosophers, for example, are known to have wandered around their region, disseminating their ideas in the cities and districts of different States.

Michel Gauchet, in The Disenchantment of the World: A Political History of Religion (1985), takes up Jaspers notion and develops it. He finds that human history has undergone three pivotal revolutions. The first is the emergence of the State the event that brought humans out of the longue (et heureuse) dure of pre-civilized existence while the second is the shift in religious thought from immanence to transcendence: the Axial Age. The third, according to Gauchet, is the expansion of speculative thought brought about by the imperatives of Western Christianity (The Enlightenment). These three revolutions followed one another chronologically, but Gauchet insists: The most important of these upheavals is undoubtedly the first one, the birth of the State. This event severs history in two and brings human societies into an entirely new age.

For these revolutions after the emergence of the State, both Jaspers and Gauchet identify the motors of change as philosophical rather than material, although both would, of course, maintain that these changes in thinking were prompted by situational factors. But still, Jaspers and Gauchet give us a useful way into thinking about pivotal points in human history and we can go further. In fact, we can also go simpler.

In my CounterPunch article The Wonders of Modern Life Briefly Explained I identify two pivotal points. The first being the classic one: the emergence of the State. The second being the expansion of the strategy of acquiring relative surplus value capitalism that led to the Industrial Revolution. Neither of these events were philosophical revolutions. The philosophies that are associated with them came from them. So, morality, religion, and millenarianism (the transcendent philosophies) emerged with the birth of the State and civilization. And the Enlightenment and the march of reason and rationality- speculative thought emerged from the new economic and social circumstances created by capitalism.

In the article linked to above I do not explore how States were created, I do this in the piece Re-Contextualizing Fascism in which I use the image of chickpea bushes to make my argument. It may seem odd that I condense the emergence of the State into a short paragraph involving chickpea bushes within an article about fascism and anti-fascism, but thats all part of the rock-and-roll of trying to cram novel ideas into less than two thousand words.

My argument in that article is that States are neither good nor bad despite them often doing monstrous things and being represented by monsters but emerged as a managerial solution to the dilemma of a large population. This is how I think the first State and civilization emerged picture the scene, from long, long ago, two people are sat chatting in the shade of a rockface in the early morning:

Yeah, Bob and his gang reckon they can sort out all the problems as long as everyone does what he says and gives him a tribute by sending daughters and sons to work for him, and building him a really good place to sleep in. The whole place will be a lot easier to live in, less chaos, but well have to stay where we are and work harder to make sure he gets enough recompense for his trouble. We dont want him to put his thugs on us, but it will be good if he sorts out those lazy thieving bastards who live up by the chickpea bushes

You will need to go back to the original article for a fuller exposition, but my argument here does not rely on you accepting or not my proposition for the origin of the State, so lets proceed.

Back to religion. Did Gauchet get it right when he described the Axial Age as the change in religious thought from immanence to transcendence? Yes and no.

If we define religion only as having something to do with some kind of view that the truth of things as they are is underpinned by some kind of supernatural force or set of forces then yes. Prior to the emergence of the State and this is also recorded by anthropologists in the present day for Indigenous peoples who live with the land and not under the full command of a State peoples viewed supernatural presences as immanent. This means they saw supernatural forces within all material things they viewed the spiritual world as immanent. (Spinoza in 1665, by-the-way, returned God to an immanent state, he was lucky not to be hanged for it, and his Ethics formed one of the first texts of radical democracy, or communism, another transcendent philosophy.) Transcendent religions for example, Christianity took the supernatural out of all material things and made it stand above all things where it could control the universe. Once the idea of supernatural forces had been made transcendental (above the world) rather than in it (immanent) then it became possible to create monotheistic religion and everyone began to see God as a big guy somewhere up there in the sky. So, my contention here is that religion can only be transcendent this is where I think Gauchet does not get it right.

How does paganism fit here? Paganism as practiced by the Vikings and Ancient Romans, for example is also a product of transcendent thinking because it has supernatural human figures that lord it over the world. Paganism and religion are products of the State neither exist where exploitation and hierarchy are absent. Transcendent thinking is forever tied to social formations in which exploitation and hierarchy dominate.

John Gray begins his book, Black Mass (2007), with the sentence: Politics is a chapter in the history of religion. I think that this is a reversal of reality and history, religion is in fact the child of politics. What I perceive as Grays error comes, I think, from his psychological definition of religion. He writes:

The most necessary task of the present time is to accept the irreducible reality of religion. In the Enlightenment philosophies that shaped the last two centuries, religion was a secondary or derivative aspect of human life that will disappear, or cease to be important, when its causes are removed. Once poverty is eradicated and education universal, social inequality has been overcome and political repression is a thing of the past, religion will have no more importance than a personal hobby. Underlying this article of Enlightenment faith is a denial of the fact that the need for religion is generically human. It is true that religions are hugely diverse and serve many social functions most obviously, as welfare institutions. At times they have also served the needs of power. But beyond these socio-political purposes, religions express human needs that no change in society can remove for example the need to accept what cannot be remedied and find meaning in the chances of life.

There are two immediate problems with this passage. Firstly, is it true to state: At times [religions] have also served the needs of power? I am not sure about the words at times. I would think that religions are either always at the service of power or are trying to build their own power. If they are small and/or unsuccessful they operate like cults, with all the abuse that such social formations encourage. And even when they are only operating as welfare institutions they are setting themselves out in an economic situation, with all the political leverage that comes with such a strategy, or they are pushing their particular religious brand. Either way, they are never separate from power.

Secondly, Gray is conflating religion with the natural impulse within people to embroider a vain narrative onto their life events, or to believe in luck, or to simply see patterns and make meaning. But worse than this, by making religion some kind of irreducible trait of human beings Gray is doing a massive, and possibly dangerous disservice to the perspectives of Indigenous peoples and those peoples who live beyond the clutches of the State those who, as Eduardo Viveiros De Castro describes, see a multiplicity of human subject positions in all the animate and inanimate beings that have, naturally, a different perspective on their world. (Viveiros De Castro has explored the notion of perspectivism not animism in Amerindian culture and, to explain it really simply I could use this question: do you think your dog views the world as a dog, or does she view the world as the human?)

But it is Grays insistence that politics is a chapter in the history of religion that is my main concern here. It is most certainly true, as he shows in his book, that political utopianism, or communism, appears to resemble something like early Christianity and in making this connection we can easily fall into the trap of thinking that radical politics is the spawn of a religious impulse. The similarities between most religions Judaism forms a kind of exception because it is not a recruiting religion and radical politics become more obvious the more one considers them. For example, radical political groups are ever attempting to raise the consciousness of others and recruit them to their cause just like Christianity did from the beginning and so it would seem that the strategy for a political movement is descended directly from a recruiting religion like Christianity. But, in fact, it is the reverse.

Jesus Christ was an expression of political discontent within a Roman occupation. Christianity was a response to the objectionable aspects of a foreign State power. In fact, all religions are a response to living in a State they begin as controlling ideologies, at the beginning of States, or as oppositional political movements, after States have been established.

It is no coincidence that the story of the Garden of Eden, for example, is about the loss of innocence Adam and Eve were the peoples that lived prior to their tragic immersion in a State. When States first appeared, as the archaeological evidence shows, people became hungrier, they were exploited, they were subject to hierarchy and terror. No wonder they looked back to a receding golden age. The story of the Garden of Eden was developed to warn people that they were in new, inescapable territory, it was their fault, and that if they didnt follow a sound moral code then everything would get far worse. A transcendental rather than immanent supernatural force God was now presiding over the house, and he wasnt often pleased. But radicals argued that God didnt like these conditions and wanted to sweep away all the bad people so that the good people, the true believers, could live in peace again and they began a political movement that appealed not to true democracy as we might today but to the true God.

The utopian or millenarian radicals believed, like Jesus did, that heaven was definitely going to be (re-)established on Earth at some appointed time, and that if people wanted to get there then they should sign up and break with their old traditions and old family life asap. As Yuri Slezkine has shown in great detail in The House of Government, the Bolsheviks, as well as the anarchists and left communists, were millenarians too.

Life in an exploitative and hierarchical society naturally generates opposition, which is often revolutionary and millenarian and both are the same thing. Life in civilization also generates thinkers philosophers who try to work out how best to endure in such conditions. But if the political movement designed to revolutionize the State, or escape it completely, becomes successful then not only is a new State created, but also a new religion.

The first religions were indeed transcendent they made the presumed supernatural force external to material life but they werent millenarian, and they were developed in order to control populations that had to exploited. The religions that followed, such as Christianity, were political objections to the State that relied on reference to God for authority. If they became successful they did not do away with the State, they did not bring heaven to Earth, and they did not depose transcendence: they became part of the exploitative system. Communism is the most recent millenarian objection to the State. In our secular age true or radical democracy can replace God as the focus of appeal. Where communism became successful, no matter how much one may think that it was a travesty of what communism means, the new transcendent religion of Marxist-Leninism became established.

Politics the management of people who accept or oppose the machinations of a State comes before religion. We should be careful how we tread.

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Religion is a Repeating Chapter in the History of Politics - CounterPunch

Lili Reinhart took to social media Twitter on Wednesday and remembered a dream she had about the late Luke Perry. Last night I saw Luke, and I hugged him so hard and cried into his shoulder, telling him how much we all miss him, the 23-year-old actress wrote on the social network. Looking back on it this beautiful morning, I think his spiritual vision was visiting me in my dream, let me know he is smiling brightly on the other side. The actor Luke Perry died in March 2019 after suffering a stroke. He was just 52 years old.

After news gets released of Luku Perrys passing broke, several fame celebrities, including Reinhart, paid tribute on social media. Im finding it hard to understand that he will no longer be around to give long hugs and share his enlightenment, wisdom, and kindness with all of us, the artist Betty Cooper tweeted that Im thinking of his family. His children. I pray for them to heal and find peace in this overwhelming loss.

Cole Sprouse, who also appears on Riverdale, recognized him during a conference with Andrew Freund. We are improving at the time. It is not the most natural and simple thing to talk about. But he was well-loved, and there has been an overflow of emotional, warm support from people around the world, which goes to show what a wonderful person he was and how much he influenced peoples lives and changed our lives.

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Lili Reinhart Claims Luke Perrys Spirit Visited Her Last Night! - The Digital Weekly

Massachusetts was a Spiritualist bastion. The Banner of Light newspaper, started in Boston in the 1850s, was published for 50 years. A Spiritualist camp was incorporated in the village of Lake Pleasant, in Montague, in 1879. The National Spiritual Alliance is still headquartered there. Spiritualists were abolitionists and suffragists.

Starting in the 1920s, magician Harry Houdini did everything in his power to debunk Spiritualism. Knowing how tricks worked, he would attend seances in disguise, point a flashlight at deceptions being practiced, and reportedly cry out, I am Houdini! And you are a fraud!

But consider the yearning that drove Spiritualisms believers. In the 19th century, more children died young, more mothers died in childbirth, and more people died of disease and infection. The Civil War saw 750,000 dead.

A search for solace was thrust upon Americans. Spiritualism thrived, and not all its practitioners were kooks and shysters. They longed for meaning. In After Spiritualism curator Lisa Crossman finds striking parallels between then and now.

A section focused on history pointedly calls back to the Civil War. Brian Kneps interactive video installation, Deep Wounds, was originally made for Harvard Universitys Memorial Hall, where the names of Union soldier alumni are inscribed on the walls.

But what of Harvards Confederate dead? Knep evokes them with video tiles on the floor. Step on them and much is made visible: A mans relationships, the year he graduated, and the battle he fell in. But, quite explicitly, not his name. More than 150 years after the most divisive era in American history, Knep points out, silence and recrimination remain.

In the series Within Our Gates: Site and Memory in the American Landscape, painter Keith Morris Washington likewise probes Americas unhealed wounds. For more than 20 years, he has visited the sites of lynchings and painted them as he saw them benign, shimmering landscape or suburban serenity. Beside each painting, he places text from a news report about the murder. He leaves out dates, so the horrors seem ongoing despite appealing paintings in which roiling, loose gestures stir the air.

One addresses the death of an unknown black man accused of attacking an aged white woman, in Maryland, according to the news article. Another visits the housing development tract where Matthew Shepard was murdered for being gay in 1998 in Laramie, Wyo. Gutting to read, these stories raise specters of present-day mob violence and hate crimes. Does the arc of the moral universe bend toward justice? Or does it circle back to fear and loathing?

These works arent merely about loss. Theyre about a society that spurs violence and resists resolution. They are very much about 2020.

Innovations in technology make another rhyme with the past. Scamming Spiritualists capitalized on the magic of photography, conjuring spirits with double exposures. Other so-called spirit photographs had white smudges (darkroom tricks or the result of faulty cameras) that were labeled as ectoplasm a gooey substance mediums were said to emanate during seances.

Ectoplasm, during the stuffy Victorian Era, had a not-so-veiled association to sexuality. Arising in the wake of the Age of Enlightenments valuing of reason and science, Spiritualism addressed in direct and sidelong ways what reason could not satisfy: mortality, longing, sensuality, and intuition.

Even technology. It moves faster than we do and shakes up our perceptions of ourselves and the world. Today, social media is hardly a breeding ground for reason. Maria Molteni and Lacey Prpi Hedtke did a performance at the Boston Center for the Arts, inviting visitors to pose for spirit photos with homemade ectoplasmic goop, collected in a comical and informative book on view here, Ectoplasm Selfies: DIY Ritual in the Age of Social Mediums.

Many works address the shows central theme of bereavement and the question of life after death. Imna Arroyos installation Ancestors of the Passage invites visitors to pin notes to an altar. Its a simple installation: A table covered in white, a bowl of slips of paper. The action is what matters; the momentary sense of communion with a lost loved one.

Society and common sense fall away when we touch into our own tender places of loss. Spiritualism suggests that relationships do not harden into amber after a loved one dies. Whatever you believe about an afterlife, that is a potent tonic.

At its heart, After Spiritualism honors the yearning to connect with someone gone. Art, like religion and unlike science and reason, can do that. But the exhibition leaps to no assumptions, and it peddles no snake oil. Rooted in the context of history and society, its a two-way lens that invites viewers to understand what drives Spiritualism even as we remember our own losses.

AFTER SPIRITUALISM: Loss and Transcendence in Contemporary Art

At Fitchburg Art Museum, 185 Elm St., Fitchburg, through June 7. 978-345-4207, http://www.fitchburgartmuseum.org

Cate McQuaid can be reached at catemcquaid@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @cmcq.

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At Fitchburg Art Museum, revisiting Spiritualism and finding new pathways to the dead - The Boston Globe

Steve Robertson is the Founder and CEO of ProjectPeaceOnEarth.org (PPoE) and the PeaceSongAwards.org

Robertson is also the Founder and CEO of SupportVeteransNow.org, PenPalsForPeace.org and the LoveAllLoveWins.orgcampaigns.

The ProjectPeaceOnEarth.org Steering Committee and Advisory Board consist of 41 world-famed/Grammy-winning musicians, Academy award-winning filmmakers, Emmy winning TV producers, top scientists, doctors, higher-education scholars, human rights and world-thought leaders in the areas of consciousness and spiritual development.

Robertson has produced three international peace concerts from and for Bethlehem Palestine on Christmas Day and for the Middle East/Global Peace out to some 80 million homes worldwide which featured Grammy-winning musicians, famed celebrities, and thought-leaders.

Overview of Steve Robertsons/PPoE achievements to date:

In 2009, Robertson lead a nationwide bus tour called Peace Has Begun that served to frame the word peace as a verb for social good and promote the planned annual Project Peace on Earth global musical prayer concerts. The bus was a traveling media studio that featured two broadcast journalists who interviewed people on their commitment and actions towards inner and outer peace.

In September of 2010, Steve lead a medical mission, with famed eye surgeon Paul Dougherty MD, to Hebron Palestine which resulted in the restoration of eyesight (40 free cataract surgeries) to elderly people. Michael Garcia, former VP of Development for HBO traveled with the Medical Mission to film a documentary called Visions of Peace.

On November 25th, 2011, Robertson, Executive Produced a promotional aerial image, in conjunction with John Quigley (PPOE Advisory Board), additional PPoE Middle East Production team members and a UNRWA team, that consisted of some 1000 Palestinian refugee children forming the Picasso Peace Dove image and spelling out the words Love All both in English and Arabic.

On September 26th, 2012 the UN selected the Picasso Peace Dove and Love All still image photo (out of some 800,000 over the course of the UN) as one of the 49 most iconic images ever captured since the organizations inception.

In 2014 Robertson became an Executive Producer and the Artistic Mentor on the Shanti Samsara Environmental Consciousness benefit album. The album, produced by Ricky Kej, was produced at the request of Prime Minister Modi of India, to honor all forms of life from a Vedic and Buddhist perspective. Prime Minister Modi presented this album during his November 2014 UN Climate Change Conference Keynote Speech in Paris to every Presidential attendee at the event. The 150-page pictorial coffee table book and 2 CD album set involved over 500 musicians and 40 countries.

In November of 2014 Robertson created and Executive Produced the 2 Unite All benefit album to bring surgical teams, medical supplies, and PTSD Therapies into GAZA and the Middle East Region to support greater peace. The album features numerous world-famed Grammy-winning musicians 30 major musicians including Peter Gabriel, Roger Waters (Pink Floyd), Philip Lawrence (Burno Mars), Stewart Copeland (The Police), Thomas Bergersen (2 Billion YouTube video hits), Gary Nicholson (Grammy Winner and TX Hall of Fame) and many more. The album is endorsed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Professor Noam Chomsky, Oliver Stone, Vera Baboun (former Mayor of Bethlehem) and many more.

In 2017 Steve founded the PeaceSongAwards.org(PSA) worldwide contest which serves as a search for our worlds most enlightened musicians, songs, spoken word poetry and music videos that guide the way to inner peace and outer peace on earth. PSA Jury Panel Members consist of many world-famed Musicians, Music and TV industry people and Thought-leaders.

Steves acclaimed and recent book, The Power of Choice, Success and Your Life Purpose is endorsed by numerous national best selling authors including Gary Zukav (Seat of the Soul, 10million + books sold), Don Miguel Ruiz MD (The Four Agreements),Caroline Myss PhD (Anatomy of the Spirit), Jack Kornfield PhD (founder of the Mindful Meditation Movement, author of A Path With A Heart), Larry Dossey MD (recent author of One Mind former Director of the Nat. Inst. for Health, Alternative Medicine Division), Alexander Astin PhD (founder of UCLAs Higher Education Research Institute), Jack Healey (former Exec. Dir. of Amnesty International) and more.

National Best Selling Authors proclaim:

Steves book is A TEXTBOOK for the Soul Caroline Myss, PhD (National Best-Selling author of Anatomy of the Spirit)

Robertson is a Living Avatar on whose shining example our future may depend. Larry Dossey, MD (National Best Selling Author of One Mind and The Power of Prayer)

Steve book usesbeautiful metaphors and analogies that lead in every instance to awareness, self-responsibility, and our Divinity Gary Zukav (National Best Selling author of Seat of the Soul)

Steves book is required reading for anyone who has longed to find and fulfill their life purpose. Don Miguel Ruiz (National Best selling author of The Four Agreements)

Steves bookcan empower you and help you bring your gifts to the world. Jack Kornfield, PhD (National Best Selling Author of A Path With Heart)

Steves book offers rich and spiritually authentic insights into the meaning of life and how to find and live your life purpose. Gerald (Jerry) Jampolsky, M.D. and Diane Cirincione, Ph.D. (National Best Selling Authors, Pioneers in the Human Potential Movement)

Steves book is a treasure trove of timeless wisdom and spiritual guidance. Alexander Astin, PhD (Considered the worlds most widely quoted person on Higher Education. Co-founder of UCLA Higher Education Research Institute. Best Selling Author of Cultivating the Spirit.)

Steves booklooks at all of us in the eye and asks us to awaken to our own power and force. Jack Healey, former Executive Director of Amnesty International. Former Franciscan Monk.

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The Power of Your Thoughts and Spoken Words (part I and 2) by Steve Robertson - Veterans News Report

Hidden on the coast of northwest Japan is a pocket of tradition, Narnia-esque mountain-scapes and gastronomic delights.

Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, is a castle town turned UNESCO City of Creativity, enveloped in spirituality and relatively untouched by tourists. A coastal city, it looks out onto the Sea of Japan and is backed by Dewa Sanzan, (the Three Mountains of Dewa): Mounts Haguro, Gassan and Yudono, said to respectively represent birth, death and rebirth.

These mountains have been a center for Shugendo (a mountain-centric religion combining aspects of esoteric Buddhism, Taoism and Shinto) for over 1,400 years and today remain a site for yearly week-long retreats called akinomineiri (literally, entering the autumn peaks). Usually attended by the ascetic Shugendo yamabushi (mountain priests), any dedicated individual can attend one of these retreats in late August. Be prepared for physical challenges such as cleansing oneself in the torrent of a waterfall, or nanban ibushi (sitting in a room with braziers of burning chili peppers).

Cant see the pagoda for the trees: En route to the peak of Mount Haguro, the unpainted facade of the Gojunoto (Five Story Pagoda) blends seamlessly into the surrounding woods. | JESSE CHASE-LUBITZ

For those planning a shorter and less physically demanding visit, Mount Haguro (414 meters) is the most accessible of the three mountains and can be climbed year-round. With its 2,446 stone steps winding through centuries-old cedar trees, the scenic path to the summit passes relics such as the Gojunoto (Five Story Pagoda), a 600-year-old National Treasure made entirely of wood that, unpainted, blends seamlessly with its surroundings. Nearby, the Jijisugi (Grandpa Cedar) keeps watch and has done, apparently, for over a millennium.

Summiting Haguro, hikers will be happy to note that Tsuruokas mountain culture extends to its food. At Saikan, the temple complex atop the mountain, hungry hikers can eat shjin ryri, a style of Buddhist vegetarian cuisine that has been passed down through the ages. One of the most famous dishes is gomadfu: soft squares of tofu made of sesame instead of soy, covered in gelatinous sesame sauce. Aside from being tasty, this style of cooking is supposed to have health benefits as well.

We tend to go to the hospital when something is wrong, but mountain people cannot do that, says Shinkichi Ito, the master chef at Saikan. They must cure themselves with their own means. They must connect with the mountain. A shjin ryri meal at Dewa Sanzan costs about 3,300 per person and requires a reservation.

When in Tsuruoka proper, head to Zenpoji, a Zen Buddhist temple complex on the edge of the city that also honors the god of the sea due to Tsuruokas coastal credentials. The temple houses a dozen or so monks in training and holds regular services, during which monks sit in front of individual sets of books and shuffle through the pages, while two others keep the tempo of the service with skillful drumming and chanting.

Good karma: A monk shows off sutras at Zenpoji temple, in the city of Tsuruoka. | JESSE CHASE-LUBITZ

It is meant to send wind and knowledge to people, says Ueno Ryuko, one of the monks currently in training. This religious spectacle is a well-rehearsed spiritual performance, and can be experienced bi-hourly from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. It costs 500 to enter and doubling up on socks is recommended in colder months (a visit involves removing shoes regularly and walking around unheated buildings).

Lunch can be found further inland at Naa, a family-owned restaurant with tatami floors and farm-to-table fare. Opened 17 years ago, Naa serves up organic food that bolsters Tsuruokas accolade of being labeled Japans first UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy in 2014. The restaurant mirrors the citys commitment to preserving the legacy of traditional foods and crops, one of which is dadacha-mame, a type of green soybean that the Onodera family has been planting for decades.

Growing (dadacha-mame) is important, says Norimasa Onodera, 38, owner of the restaurant since his mother passed it down to him eight years ago. But people need to eat them or they will disappear.

The restaurants dishes are affordable, ranging between 900 and 1,200, and delicious; the brown rice paired with the fresh ingredients at Naa gives a satisfying chew and nutty aftertaste. If you have room at the end, try the chiffon rice flour cake with sesame.

Farm-to-table fare at Naa, a family-owned restaurant in Tsuruoka. | JESSE CHASE-LUBITZ

For an immersive cultural experience, head to the neighboring city of Sakata. Set in a 200-year-old tea house, Somaro has daily performances by maiko (geisha in training) laced with a direct influence from their Kyoto counterparts. Admission is 1,000 for adults; to see the maiko dance, which happens daily at 2 p.m., it is an additional 800.

Before leaving Tsuruoka, stop by Nangakuji temple, where you can see the mummified remains of Tetsuryukai, one of Japans sokushinbutsu (self-mummified monks). The ultimate in dedication and endurance, this practice of self-mummification required practitioners (usually monks of the Shingon school of Buddhism) to starve themselves over a period of 1,000 days, eating pine needles and drinking poisonous lacquer so that their organs wouldnt rot after death. This extreme ascetic practice was meant to bring the monks enlightenment.

Just an hour away by train from Tsuruoka in Niigata Prefecture is Murakami a sleepy city surrounded by snowy mountains.

Among other things, Murakami is known for its sake no shiobiki (salted salmon). To see where it starts, swing by Iyoboya Salmon Museum for a glimpse into the world of the freshwater fish. As well as learning about the different types of salmon native to the area and how they are bred, the museum boasts windows through which you can peer into one of the streams. If you go between October and December, you may be able to watch the salmon breed. Iyoboya is open every day from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; admission is 600 for adults, 300 for children.

Hanging out: Sake no shiobiki (salted salmon) dry in a store room in Murakami, Niigata Prefecture. | JESSE CHASE-LUBITZ

In addition to being a Salmon City, Murakami is also a castle town. Though the ruins of its castle do not extend to anything past old, sloping stone walls, standing on the site of the castle provides a scenic vista of the town from above. Getting there involves a pleasant walk up Mount Gagyu (134 meters). If, instead of hill climbing, you want a place to sit and rest, make a beeline for Fujimien, a 150-year-old tea shop that offers a modern teahouse experience through its old Edo Period (1603-1868) hallways.

Both Tsuruoka and Murakami are rich in culture, historical food traditions and natural beauty. Whether you are traveling in the depths of winter, when the mountains are blanketed in snow, or in the heat of summer, these cities invite those who are looking to stay a little longer and immerse themselves in the mystic practices and history of an underrated region.

An upmarket option in Tsuruoka is Yumizutei Isagoya. Located in Yunohama Onsen, its Western-style beds and beautiful onsen (hot-spring baths) ensure a comfortable stay. Prices range from 15,750 to 36,750 per person per night.

For a more affordable option, try Shonai Hotel Suiden Terrasse. This modern offering boasts onsen, locally produced foods and beautifully designed open architecture. Rooms range from 7,000 to 20,000 per night.

A luxurious traditional onsen experience can be had at Taikanso Senaminoyu in Murakami. Taikanso serves up two different dining options and there is a choice of indoor and outdoor baths, as well as private ones for an extra 5,500. Rooms are upward of 19,800 per night, including breakfast and dinner.

For a less expensive, more local and eco-tourism-oriented experience, consider staying in the home of a rice farmer. Located in Tokamachi, 40 minutes from downtown Murakami, Noka Minshuku Zaigomon has breakfast and dinner included, all cooked by the farmers obchan (grandmother). Rooms look out onto rice fields and tall mountains; one night costs 7,000.

For Tsuruoka, take the Joetsu Shinkansen from Tokyo Station to Niigata Station (around two hours; 10,560) and then the Inaho Limited Express to Tsuruoka Station (one hour 50 minutes; 4,330). From Tokyo, the bus is also an option: the Shonai Kotsu Express Service takes between six and nine hours and costs 7,800. For more information visit shonaikotsu.jp.

For Murakami, take the Joetsu Shinkansen to Niigata Station and change for the Inaho Limited Express to Murakami Station (50 minutes; 2,450).

Once in Tsuruoka or Murakami, renting a car is the best option, especially if you plan to leave the city center; public transport is limited, especially during the week. The Shonai Kotsu Haguro-Gassan Line runs from Tsuruoka Station to Mount Haguro (840) and beyond.

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Delicacies and the devout in northern Tsuruoka - The Japan Times

Alain Mingam/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)Louis Althusser in his study, Paris, France, April 26, 1978

The singular hackneyed biographical detail about Louis Althusser (19181990) is his notoriety as the French Marxist philosopher who, in 1980, killed his wife, the sociologist Hlne Rytmann, and got off with being committed to a psychiatric hospital. The horror of his crime cannot be overstated, and there were those at the time who insisted Althusser stand trial for murder, but the French Penal Code allowed for a judgment of juridical-legal non-responsibility, attested to in Althussers case by three psychiatrists. Althusser was confined to a psychiatric institution for three years, one of several such hospitalizations, including treatment that had led to his absence during the events of May 1968. The tragic event of Rytmanns death serves to obscure his real significance from the early 1960s until the present, as his version of Structuralism-tinged Marxism became part of a dominant school in the academy: French Theory.

Despite the gaps he admitted to in his reading of philosophy, Althusser, who was a member of the French Communist Party (PCF) from 1948, effected a revolution in Marxism, positing that there had been an epistemological break in Marxs thought in 18451846 that placed his Philosophical and Economic Manuscripts of 1844stained with idealist aspirations, in Althussers wordsoutside what should properly be considered Marxism. That philosophy, Althusser believed, was most clearly articulated in Capital, the founding moment of a new discipline, the founding moment of a science. Marxism, he wrote, is, in a single movement and by virtue of the unique epistemological rupture which established it, an anti-humanism and an anti-historicism.

Althussers anti-humanism was a reaction to different camps within Marxism he believed had deviated into socialist humanism, which he described not only as a critique of the contradictions of bourgeois humanism, but also and above all as the consummation of its noblest aspirations. This drive to combine socialism and humanism was of dubious theoretical value, he reasoned, for the concept socialism is a scientific concept, but the concept humanism is no more than an ideological one. The unevenness between the two made them incompatible.

Rosa Luxemburg, George Lukacs, and Antonio Gramsci, as well as dissident Marxists like Karl Korsch, were prominent figures of one camp of what he considered Marxist humanists. In his own time, such left-humanists could be found in the Frankfurt School and the Yugoslavian Praxis Group, but also in certain tendencies within the USSR. In the mid-1970s, more threatening still for Althusser was the social-democratizing trend in the Western European Communist movement known as Eurocommunism, which opposed smashing the state and favored the electoral road, while stripping communism of the embarrassing notion of the dictatorship of the proletariat.

As French Theory incorporated Althussers ideas, one important aspect was left behind: his involvement in the issues confronting the French left and specifically the PCF in the late 1970s. The positions he took in the life of the PCF were a continuation of the theoretical work that can be found in his essential early works, Reading Capital and For Marx. For Althusser, the jettisoning by the Communist Parties of Spain, Italy, and France, the core of Eurocommunism, of the concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat, was unacceptable, for, he wrote, this dictatorship was central to Marxism in the realm of theory, and in practice was at least partially necessary if the revolution is not to get bogged down and come to grief.

Althusser was not just a Marxist philosopher, he was a Communist philosopher, which isnt necessarily the same thing. As he wrote in 1976, [W]hat defines the Party is not so much simply the class character of its membership or its scientific theory alone, but the fusion of these two things in the class struggle. In the English-speaking world, Althussers specifically Communist commitments took a back seat during his heyday. The absence of a serious working-class movement in the US and the UK led to Althussers ideas becoming chiefly a subject for academic study and abstruse intra-left debate, rather than a motor for action.

In France, though, he was very much present on the left, where his refusal to accept any softening of Marxism bridged the Sino-Soviet split in the Communist movement. He even wrote (anonymously) for the journal of the Maoist Union de la Jeunesse Communiste Marxiste Lniniste, a group that included the cream of the intellectual far left in France, most of them students of Althussers at the most elite of Frances universities, the cole Normale Suprieure. (Later, when illusions about the Cultural Revolution, Mao, and revolution in general crumbled, many of these Althusserian Maoists would form the basis for the anti-Marxist school of New Philosophers.)

For Althusser, philosophy was not a matter of abstract intellectual inquiry but a guide to actionand an action in itself: the demystifying of capitalism (as the excerpt below shows). His idiosyncratic canon included Lenin and Mao every bit as much as those classical thinkers usually taught in university classrooms. For Althusser, these two revolutionary leaders, normally viewed solely as political actors, were, thanks to their intellectual rigor, true philosophers. Even more, they fulfilled a central tenet of Marxism: The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.

Mitchell Abidor

Thus it is that the capitalist is born. He is, at the outset, an independent petty producer who, thanks to his labour and his merits and his moral virtues, has succeeded in producing enough to sell enough to buy a few more tools, just what it takes to employ a few unfortunates who dont have anything to eat, because theres no room left on earth (which is round, that is, finite, limited, as Kant magnificently puts it) and because they werent able to become independent petty producers; he renders them the magnanimous service of giving them wages in exchange for their work. What generosity! But generosity too is in human nature. The fact that all this goes sour later, that the wage-workers have the bad grace to find that the work-day is too long and that their wages are too short, is also in human nature, which has its bad sides, just as it is in human nature that certain capitalistic independent petty producers take unfair advantage (evil sorts that they are!) of their wage-workers or, still worse, play tricks in their fashion, dirty tricks, on the other independent petty producers whom they regard (just imagine!) as their competitors and treat mercilessly on the market. These things ought not to exist, but there are not only good people in this world: one has to bear the cross of human wickedness or thoughtlessness. For if they only knew!

If they knew, they would know what we have just said: that there exists one natural mode of production and just one, the mercantile mode of production, constituted by independent petty producers with families, who produce in order to sell either their surplus or everything they produce, working alone with their little family or employing wretches without house or home whom they provide, out of love for their fellow man, with the bread of a wage, thus becoming, quite naturally, capitalists, who can get bigger, if the God of Calvin, who rewards good works, bestows that grace on them.

Thus it is that the mercantile mode of production or the mode of mercantile productionbased on the existence of independent petty producers who started out as subsistence farmers but were naturally destined to become merchants, part-time and then full-time merchants, and then merchants relying on wage-based (capitalist) productionis, for bourgeois ideology, the only mode of production there is.

There is no other. The others are just deviations or aberrations, conceived on the basis of this one and only mode: aberrations due to the fact that the Enlightenment had not penetrated peoples minds with its self-evident truths in these times of darkness and obscurantism. This explains the scandalous horror of slavery: people did not know at the time that all men are free (= have a right to human nature = can be independent petty producers). This explains the horror of feudalism: people did not know at the time that the feudal independent petty producer, the serf, was capable of leaving his land, taking up residence elsewhere and trading his products for other products, like every man on earthinstead of remaining confined to the horrid closed circle of bare subsistence, merely attenuated by that other horror, the corve for the lord and tithe for the Church.

Since the mercantile mode of production is perfectly mythical, an invention of the ideological imaginary, and since the act of foundation depends on the same imaginary, we have, on the one hand, the fact of the existence of the capitalist mode of production, which is terribly real, and, on the other, its theory, its essence, furnished us by the mythical, founding construction of the mercantile mode of production. The result of this act of imaginary foundation is as follows:

1). The capitalist mode of production, which exists, is the only one that can exist, the only one that exists, the only one that has a right to existence. The fact that it has not always existed (and even that must be qualified, for when we look into the matter in detail, we always find this reality, which is natural, everywhere: independent petty producers), or that it has not always visibly existed, obscured as it was by horrid realitiesthis is merely an accident of history. It should have existed from all eternity and, thank God, it exists today, having carried the day against obscurantism, and we may be sure that nature having finally vanquished non-nature, light having finally triumphed over darkness, nature and light, that is, the capitalist mode of production, can be sure of existing for all eternity. It has finally been recognized!

2). This guarantee having been obtained at last, the essence having at last attained to existence, we can, at last, understand everything. If we want to understand what the capitalist mode of production is, it is enough to go have a look at its origin, that is, its essence, the mercantile mode of production: we will find men, the independent petty producers, their families and all the tra-la-la.

3). We have at last arrived at existence and since what has arrived at existence is the essence, we have everything we need: existence, murmuring with satisfaction, and the essence that allows us to understand it. That way everyone is happy.

That way, in other words, bourgeois ideology has reached its goal: representing the capitalist mode of production as the development of an imaginary mercantile mode of production, and the genesis of the capitalist mode of production as the result of the work of deserving independent petty producers who became capitalists only because they really deserved to. It remains only to strike up the universal anthem of humanitys gratitude to free enterprise.

*

Give yourself, for starters, a capitalist honest enough to answer your questions and admit that he is driven to increase his fortune indefinitely, without pause and without respite. Ask him why he yields to this irresistible tendency. You will receive, in this order (disorder would be another order, the same order) the following answers:

1). The psychological capitalist will tell you: Im greedy and bent on acquiring wealth. My nature is such that I thirst for gold and my thirst is such that it makes me thirsty even when its slaked. Everyone knows the story about the sea: Why doesnt it overflow? Answer: because there is a goodly number of fish in the sea, and they drink a tremendous amount of water; since the waters salty, theyre always thirsty. We can only conclude that gold too is salty, since it makes a man thirsty all the time (thirsty for gold). Enough joking. Psychology, which always keeps philosophy and religion in the corner of its eye, answers: its in the nature of things and in human nature too; man is a creature of desire and is therefore insatiable, for desire is infinite. Whatever the world contains in the way of philosophers knows this, from Aristotle talking about Chrematistics down to Pascal and countless others: it is because man is finite that he is condemned to desires bad infinity (Hegel). There you have the reason that the capitalist enriches himself without end, to the point of losing sleep and desirehuman natures to blame.

2). The philosophical capitalist (a notch more sophisticated), versed in Hobbes and Hegel, will tell you: but my dear fellow, nature only reveals itself in its sublation! This desire that you think you bring to bear on mere things, such as goods, wealth or power (power is merely a means of procuring goods, or the men who procure goods) reaches infinitely higher! For example, if so-and-so chases after gold, it is less to satisfy a need (or desire) for wealth or power (for in these matters everything has its limits, and if mans desire is infinite, man isnt) than because he is seeking an altogether different good: the esteem of his peers, that which Hobbes calls glory and Hegel calls recognition. Thus the race for wealth and the race for power (the means of attaining wealth) are merely the obligatory detour that a law takes in order to impose itself on human individuals. In fact, look! The rich man always enriches himself at another mans expense; the powerful man always becomes powerful at a third partys expense. Universal competition rules the world and men are merely its puppets. Not competition for property and power: no, whoa! Competition is a more mysterious, more sophisticated desire: the desire for glory and recognition. Man wants only to be esteemed and recognized for what he is: more deserving than the others (Hobbes) or simply free (Hegel), by way of the figures of the master and slave. Thus, competition for goods and power is simply the means of, and a pretext for, competition of another kind, in which every man expects recognition of his glory or freedom from those he dominates. The insatiable thirst for riches thereby becomes an altogether spiritual affair, in which man can stand tall and proud for being endowed with a nature so dignified that it puts him a hundred feet above the base passions that were attributed to him. One may well be a bourgeois, one still has ones sense of honor.

3). The realistic capitalist (a notch more sophisticated theoretically), better versed in Hobbes, will tell you: the quest for glory is one thing! What matters is something else: the law that forces all men to seek glory, without sparing a one. For how is it that men are brought to engage in this frantic quest, by what power? To be sure, they all start out by desiring goods and, later, glory; but the fact that they all desire them with so equal a desire that this desire surpasses and governs them, and the fact that they are all, without exception, enrolled in the racethat is what calls for explanation. The reason is that, when the time comes, they unleash, unawares, the power of a law that annuls its origin: universal war, the war of all against all. The whole mystery of the matter resides in this conversion: individuals desiring goods, each for [his own] petty ends, and suddenly all of them together are thrown into a war so universal that it becomes a State of War. That is, a State of relations such that the war can flare up at any moment and anywhere (its like bad weather, Hobbes writes: it doesnt rain every day or everywhere, but it could rain anytime, anywhere at all) should someone attack someone else. With the establishment of this State of Universal Competition, aptly called the State of War and a War of All Against All, that is to say, a war of the first person who happens along against the second, things are converted a second time. Fear of being attacked makes men make the first move and war reveals itself for what it is: the essence of war is to be preventive.

With that, the portrait of competition is complete.

However, when we take a closer look at this preventive war that the capitalists wage on each other, it turns out to be a singular war! It pits the combatants against each other, of course, like every war, even the war of all against all. But the combatants, that is, the capitalists, do not really confront each other, since they spend their time protecting themselves against attack by taking preventive measures. In Hobbess war, we might suppose that it is a question of real attacks and that the parties preventively carry out real attacks so as not to be attacked. The same holds here: but rather than preventively launching real attacks, one simply beefs up ones forces, preventively, so as not to fall. To be sure, there are victims, bankruptcies, people left by the wayside. Yet, overall, the capitalists as a group come off rather well, so much so that Marx says of competition that it is ordinarily their friendly society: it is less the rule of the war they wage on each other than that of the war that they dont. Can we therefore say that this State of War is a State of Peace? My word, as far as the capitalist class as a whole is concerned, yes.

But then where is the war? Elsewhere: between the capitalists and their workers. By means of competition, the capitalist class adjusts its accounts rather than settling thembut behind competition, which Marx calls an illusion, the capitalist class wages a veritable war on the working class. For, ultimately, taken at its word, this theory of preventive war shows that prevention, well conducted, spares the capitalists war against other capitalists; it shows that the working class bears the full brunt of prevention, that prevention of the pseudo-war between capitalists is a permanent war against the working class. In that, the war is not at all universal, a war of all against all, as Hobbes claims; it is a war of the capitalist class against the working class. Thus the war that the capitalist class wages on the working class simply allows the capitalists to live in peace. We had been mixing up our wars. We had mistaken competition for a war. We had forgotten the class struggle.

This essay is adapted from Louis Althussers Book on Imperialism, which appears in History and Imperialism: Writings, 19631986, previously unpublished work translated and edited by G.M. Goshgarian, and published by Polity Press.

The rest is here:

Louis Althusser's Class Warfare - The New York Review of Books

By Sarah Lindenfeld Hall, Go Ask Mom editor

Durham, N.C. Tiffany M. Griffin's previous career took her around the world, meeting with world leaders and United Nations delegates. After earning a doctorate in psychology from the University of Michigan, she held positions with the U.S. Agency for International Aid, at the U.S. Senate and in academia, among others.

Today, she's making candles.

Griffin, who lives in Durham with her husband and young daughter, launched Bright Black in 2019. The company features candles made with all-natural products that honor the Black Diaspora through their scents and designs.

Bright Black was born during the government shutdown of December 2018 to January 2019. As Griffin, then a federal employee, waited to get back to work, she wrote the business plan, got the necessary permits and incorporated. On Nov. 1, the business officially launched. "It's been a WILD ride ever since," she tells me.

I checked in with Griffin to learn more about the business, the meaning behind it an what she hopes for the future. Here's a Q&A.

Go Ask Mom: What's the back story to Bright Black? How did it all come about?

Tiffany M. Griffin: I first learned candle making back in 2014 when my now husband and I first started dating. We both like candles and thought it would be a fun and romantic activity to make them together. He was really into perfecting the processes, and I was really into designing the scents. We gave our creations to friends and family and got really positive feedback. That's when we first thought we may be onto something. Initially, we thought we'd create candles that paid tributeto hip hop love songs (we both love hip hop and were falling in love!). It would take five years, amarriage, a baby, a move from DC to North Carolina and the government shutdown to create enough timeand space to refine our concept to what we know it today Bright Black!

In the end, we broadened our concept from hip hop love songs to Bright Black, but the essence of the companys mission remained. In the beginning, we wanted to highlight hip hop love songs because hip hop often has a really negative connotation. Our experience of the genre though was that much of the content is positive and uplifting and full of themes of love and the genre was truly, truly life saving for many people who enjoy it (beyond the mainstreamhits on the radio).

When firming up the concept of Bright Black, we saw parallels between the misconceptions of hip hop (and our contrasting experiences of it) and the misconceptions of black people and black culture as a whole (and our contrasting experiences of it).

When I got pregnant, I contemplated the messages my child would receive from society for countless hours. I, of course, could not control everything that she would see or hear from society about her blackness, but I COULD control what I teach her and expose her to. In many ways, Bright Black is about ensuring our daughter (and others!) have access to positive (and accurate!) representations about blackness.

GAM: Tell us about your candles. What sets them apart, and where can you find them?

TMG: There are a couple of levels to this answer.

First, theres the scent art and the mission of Bright Black. Then theres the materials that make up our candles and the packaging. And then theres the meaning behind candles themselves.

I consider myself a scent artist. Much of the power of Bright Black lies in the scents themselves. Smell is an extremely powerful (and completely underrated!) sense. You have to be present to experience it. It undergirds memory (and taste). There are hundreds of olfactory receptors. I define art as communicating messages through amedium of choice. My medium is scent. Im communicating messages of place andhistory through our Diaspora Collection, messages of creativity and resilience throughour Genres Collections, messages of coping and thriving through our Nourish NoirCollection.

When it comes to our materials and packaging, our candles are vegan and use all natural soy and coconut waxes that we blend ourselves. This combination of waxes creates a super clean, long-lasting burn. We use wood (whisper) wicks which crackle softly as the candle burns (as a nod to nature, and to provide an auditory component to the candle burning experience). There are no phthalates or synthetic dyes (actually no dyes period!). Inshort, the candles are made of extremely high quality materials. The black matte,simple, modern packaging is again a nod to the brilliance of blackness. The packaging isbeautiful and, along with the scent, sends a message before one even delves into themission and meaning behind the company. This was all by design.

And then there's the meaning behind the candles. Candles have been used as a source of light for over 5,000 years, beginning with the ancient Egyptians. They are one of the oldest sources of light on the planet. They transcend cultures, language, geography, race, and religion. They breakdown barriers and force you to focus on the aura of the flame. Candles sparkenlightenment, are a symbol of celebration, and can create a mood. Candles alsoilluminate subtly; they don't beat you over the head with messages.

The presence of a candle can spark dialogue, and they symbolize solidarity (think vigil), passion, security, warmth, hope, spirituality and connection to the spiritual world, new beginnings (think birthday candles!), health, protection, blessing, memories, calm.Candles speak to our souls. What better platform for sparking dialogue and connectionaround blackness?

4. What's the reception been like so far?

TMG: TRULY MAGICAL!!!!!!!!! Honestly, sometimes I cant believe it. Folks have been really supportive of the mission and really love the product. And the support has been pretty universal, including different racial, gender, age, and geographic groups. We feel beyond lucky and blessed.

GAM: You took a big leap leaving your full-time job to start your company. What's been the biggest challenge and the biggest reward?

TMG: YOU BET I DID!!!!!!

I had been considering leaving my job for quite some time. A number of life events and logistics, along with wanting to ensure some sort of sustainability of my work, kept me in my position. But when the government shutdown hit, and then lasted for weeks upon weeks, I knew that my itch for entrepreneurship was not going away. I started seeing a counselor to work through a lot of my personal roadblocks. I knew I wanted to leave, but didnt know what Iwanted to do. I considered launching a consultancy in the same field I was in. My intuitionand gut didnt really want to go in that direction, but my fears and anxiety and ego did. I am adoctor and have held some pretty high profile jobs. My work took me around the world. Ivepresented to world leaders, schmoozed with United Nations delegations. Was I seriously going to leave allthat to make candles?!?!?

And then there was the financial stability element to all of this. I grew up very poor. Not middle class. Poor. Despite being upwardly mobile, the fragility of poverty was omnipresent as I embarked on this huge decision. All of this to say, that the biggest challenge has been psychological (how ironic that Im a psychologist! ha!). Ive worked REALLY hard to get over the negative self-talk, to trust my capacity, and to follow my heart.

Now, dont get me wrong, behind following my heart is a TON of planning, research and analysis. I saved for three years before resigning from my government job. My 2020 strategic plan alone is 15 pages long. I know exactly how many candles we need to sell to cover our expenses! But, in the end, I wouldnttrade it for the world! Ive by and large conquered the negative self-talk. First, Im not justmaking candles (and even if I was, that would be OK!). Im doing exactly what Ive done in all ofmy other positions to date Im trying to make a positive impact on this world we live in duringmy very short time on this planet. Its been research and policymaking and blogging in the past.

This is the platform Im leveraging now and who knows that may change in the future too! The biggest rewards have included the reception from others and positive feedback, the flexibility I have to be the mom I want to be. And, to be clear, I am NOT working any less than I worked before! BUT I have more control of when and how I work, which is a huge blessing. Also, when you work for the governmentyou represent the government and its agenda. Working for myself affords me thechance to represent my own agenda. I have my voice again. Finally, Ive REALLY enjoyed all ofthe people Ive had a chance to connect with while on this journey so far customers, suppliers,retailers, other business owners. Its been really cool!

GAM: What are your hopes for the future of your business?

TMG: I have so many!

On a macro level, I hope that our business builds more connection and infuses the world with more positivity. Im also really looking forward to doing more commissions and custom scents for families, organizations, initiatives and businesses. Its really fun!

I, of course, hope to get to the point of financial resilience, profitability and stability. Despite saving to get to the point where I could resign, this beginning stage of our business is very fragile, especially because our business is 100% bootstrapped no financial capital (not even from friends or family) has been applied to the business to date. I look forward to the time when we have the scale and systems in place to easesome of that latent anxiety and to breathe a bit easier.

Im also looking forward to releasing our future collections and limited edition scents, as well as leveraging our brand for group dialogue and connection.

Go Ask Mom features local moms every Monday.

Read more from the original source:

From government shutdown to business owner: Why a Durham mom launched Bright Black - WRAL.com

The organizers of a meeting of conservative United Methodists planning for a denominational split have published a response to critics of the meeting held Jan. 25 at Clearbranch United Methodist Church in Trussville.

The Rev. Paul Lawler, pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in Shelby County and president of the Wesleyan Covenant Association of North Alabama, published a response to a column by Arab First United Methodist Pastor Steve West. Lawlers blog post was co-signed by 55 other United Methodist clergy.

As the expected vote on a possible split in the United Methodist Church approaches in May at the next meeting of the General Conference, clergy in Alabama have been staking out positions and explaining where they stand.

Here is the statement Lawler and others published today on the New Methodist Movement blog:

A Response to Steve Wests article, Why Im not leaving the United Methodist Church

On Jan. 25, a large gathering of United Methodist lay-people and clergy took place in the Birmingham area at Clearbranch United Methodist. The theme of the day was, Why the Best Days of Methodism are Ahead of Us! The purpose of the gathering was to inspire hope for the future of a new Methodist movement. The day featured guest speaker Chris Ritter, and delegation members from multiple annual conferences from around the southeast. You can watch the video of the gathering at this link. Here is the United Methodist News Service article on the gathering: Traditionalists Event Draws Big Crowd. While the gathering did involve many who are in leadership in the Wesleyan Covenant Association, the gathering at Clearbranch was not a WCA event. In addition, the 60 pastors Steve refers to in his article are not all a part of the WCA. The gathering at Clearbranch was made up of traditionally orthodox lay-people and clergy, which transcends the constituency of the WCA.

While the event drew many pastors together, the critical masses of attendees were lay-persons from numerous United Methodist Churches. Following the event, some pastors posted their impressions of the gathering. Apparently, when approximately 1,000 United Methodists gather to consider the next steps, in light of the possible passage of the Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace through Separation, the movement will not be without its critics. Therefore, this article is provided to correct misinformation being propagated.

Rev. Steve West wrote a recent article. Steve is the pastor of Arab First United Methodist Church in Arab, Alabama. Steves article was published by Al.com at Steves request and also by United Methodist News Service, along with it being re-posted by several blog sites around the country. You can read his article here. Steve is a colleague in ministry, and we have had good interactions with him over the years.

While we love and appreciate Steve as a colleague, there are some things shared in his article that are misleading. We simply want to give greater clarity to many of the things he stated or implied:

Here are 9 Points of Clarification we wish to Share in Response to Steve Wests Article:

1. The Statement regarding the current human sexuality debate in the United Methodist Church.

Steve states in his article, The debate is incorrectly framed as being about Biblical authority when it is really about culture wars.

For the author to declare the debate in the United Methodist Church, is really about culture wars reflects a deep misrepresentation of the truth. While all of us are aware of the tensions in our culture regarding numerous issues, our debate and division in the United Methodist Church is not rooted in culture but in theology (And a failure of governance, which will be addressed later). A good working definition of theology is simply this: What we believe as the Church and why; or, as Webster put it, the study of God and of Gods relation to the world.

United Methodist theologian after theologian after theologian have all declared a clear, biblically rooted understanding of human sexuality, which includes admonitions to not redefine the covenant of Christian marriage. Thus, our debate is, in fact, rooted in theology and biblical authority, not culture.

There is no biblical text which supports the redefining of marriage as being between two men or two women. A revisionist perspective on human sexuality is a value of western culture, and not reflected in the Scriptures, 2,000 years of Christian tradition, the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, or through the majority of Christians around the world. We would submit that we are not the ones taking our cue from the culture, but those who wish to enable or support changing the definition of Christian marriage in the church are.

2. The Statement made regarding potentially joining the new Methodist denomination:

I feel it would disregard the vows I made at ordination. I promised I would be faithful to the UMC and uphold its discipline. I have done so even if others haventI feel leaving the UMC would be hypocritical

We understand the author is speaking for himself, but we must remember the author is writing this piece in the context of a response to the Clearbranch meeting, as described by Greg Garrison of Al.com. The implied inferences need to be addressed.

The crisis in the United Methodist Church is not just theological, but constitutional. Our present crisis is rooted in the failure of Bishops and leaders who have not upheld the vows they made at their ordination. This has led to chaos in the governance of the United Methodist Church. If there had been no crises of governance, we would not be where we are today.

In the words of United Methodist theologian, Dr. David Watson, who writes regarding Steves article via Twitter, Like so many commentaries on the United Methodist Church, the article misrepresents the reason for division. It is not disagreement. It is that we have abandoned our mechanisms for resolving disagreement. Our governance has failed, and it is no longer reparable.

As clergy, we all took vows to uphold the United Methodist Book of Discipline. If the proposed Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace through Separation passes at General Conference 2020, the denominational iteration known as the United Methodist Church will vote to redefine marriage and officially ordain same-sex partnered clergy. Therefore, for Christians whose convictions will not allow us to redefine marriage, it would be hypocritical for clergy to take a vow to serve in a denomination that redefines marriage when our conscience cannot support it. Where you feel, leaving the UMC would be hypocritical, we feel that if we stayed with the present iteration of the UMC, that we would be hypocritical. We cannot take a vow to uphold an ecclesiology that endorses patterns that we believe are in direct conflict with Gods will for humanity, as expressed through Scripture. You are okay being in a denomination that does choose to do so, and that is why you can stay and not be a hypocrite. We feel this point needed to be expressed with a greater degree of clarity for persons who have read your article.

3. The Statements:I am centrist and I am traditional and orthodox.

The author stakes out the claim that he is a theological centrist, and then later in the article, stakes out the claim that theologically he is traditionally orthodox.

It is worth noting that centrist and progressives, at times, work with multiple sets of definitions of terms. We need to clarify our definitions, lest we confuse lay-persons or even clergy in the UMC. We would like to go on record with the set of definitions we are utilizing.

Theological Progressive: Progressive Christianityis a post-liberal movement within Christianity that seeks to reform the faith via the insights of post-modernism and a reclaiming of the truth beyond the verifiable historicity and factuality of the passages in the Bible by affirming the truths within the stories that may not have actually happened. Progressive Christianity represents a post-modern theological approach and is not necessarily synonymous with progressive politics. It developed out of the Liberal Christianity of the modern era, which was rooted in enlightenment thinking (Source: Wikipedia).

Theological Centrist:A person who claims the classic creeds of Christianity, but is willing to be a part of a denomination that redefines Christian marriage. They may or may not be theological universalists or inclusivists, which underpins a lack of emphasis on mobilizing the church to fulfill the Great Commission. You can read one United Methodist theologians concerns regarding Pastors who become or are, theological centrist here.

Theologically Traditionally Orthodox: a person who holds to the classic definitions of Christianity, the exclusive claims of Christ regarding salvation, as well as Christian marriage being defined as being between one man and one woman.

We would like to ask you, as well as others, to dial down the use of incendiary language.

The gathering at Clearbranch was not schismatic.The United Methodist Church, which you expressed you would be faithful to through your vows, has officially engaged in the process of placing legislation before the 2020 General Conference for the creation of multiple expressions of Methodism. The Protocol for Separation has been worked on by Bishops and leaders from a wide variety of constituencies within United Methodism. In other words, consideration of a new Methodist movement is properly before the church according to her polity, which we all vowed to uphold. We are working within that framework. When using phrases like the Schism being planned,it is misleading and just plain wrong. The gathering of Clearbranch was rooted in seeking to love and shepherd people well as we navigate the change that is potentially before us as a people called Methodists. It was rooted in caring for people in light of change on the horizon.

It was Pastor Chris Ritter who recently appealed to all of us to, Think Methodist mitosis rather than scandalous schism. Mitosis is cell division that expands life, increases health. Wise division with multiplication in mind is essential gospel practice. Angry ripping (the literal meaning of schism) drains all contestants.

There is no schism being planned. There is; however, a formal plan coming before GC 2020 that may be designed to birth new expressions of Methodism.

We are not fundamentalists. We request that centrist and progressives stop labeling everyone who disagrees with their vision of the church as fundamentalists. Please take the time to read this link.

The use of the term southern secessionism.We are a global church. Consider the voices of our sisters and brothers in Africa. Consider United Methodist leaders serving in Colorado or Ohio or New Jersey who express that they cannot live in a church held captive by constitutional chaos and are determined to redefine Christian marriage. We believe the use of the phrase southern secessionism is a poor attempt to manipulate by playing off populist stereotypes. The phrase carries negative connotations from a dark period in U.S. history. Did you mean to impugn the character of approximately one thousand of your United Methodist sisters and brothers who gathered at Clearbranch in this way? Is this how you feel toward Catholics, and the overwhelming majority of Christians around the world whose convictions concerning the definition of marriage remain rooted in the biblical tradition?

You spoke in your article on the importance of grace being expressed toward all people. Are you expressing grace and love toward all people when you call your sisters and brothers in Christ, schismatic, fundamentalist and southern secessionist? Do these words reflect what you profess when you say, Our divided culture needs a witness to love that transcends our differences, not giving in to the prevalent us vs. them and either/or mentality?

Our denominations legislation related to all of this is titled, Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace through Separation. Lets dial down the incendiary language and remember to manifest grace toward one another through this process.

5. The Statement: Wesley said that separating from a body of living Christians with whom we were before united is a grievous breach of the law of love, and hence it is only when our love grows cold that we can consider separation.

You are quoting John Wesleys sermon, On Schism. You quote Wesley accurately where he supports your intended point, but you failed to quote Wesley from the same sermon when Wesley does not support the point you were attempting to make.

John Wesley goes on to say in the same sermon,

Yet if I was not permitted to remain therein without omitting what God requires me to do, it would then become meet and right, and my bounden duty, to separate from it without delay. To be more particular: I know God has committed to me a dispensation of the gospel; yea, and my own salvation depends upon preaching it: Woe is me if I preach not the gospel. If then I could not remain in the Church without omitting this, without desisting from preaching the gospel I should be under a necessity of separating from it, or losing my own soul. In like manner, if I could not continue united to any smaller society, Church, or body of Christians, without committing sin, without lying and hypocrisy, without preaching to others doctrines which I did not myself believe, I should be under an absolute necessity of separating from that society.

Through the work of the protocol, the post-separation UMC plans to make same-sex weddings a rite within her ecclesiology. We believe that serving in a denomination that chooses to change the definition of marriage from one man and one woman to include two men or two women, is a grievous sin that violates Scripture. Because of our conviction, it becomes implausible to preach Repent and believe the gospel while at the same time taking ordination vows to uphold an ecclesiology that is in direct conflict with the call of repentance that is necessary for faithful proclamation of the gospel. According to the sermon you quoted, Wesley did warn against schism, but he went on in that same sermon and stated there are times when it is right to separate.

6. The Statement:I believe in grace. Do our churches rebuke people who are divorced and remarried, not allowing them to serve in ministry? Im not saying we should hold remarried people in judgment, not at all. Im saying that if we offer grace in one situation addressed in scripture and not in another, its clearly not about Biblical authority but about culture wars. I cant be a part of a new movement that insists LGBTQ people cant be Christians. I know too many that are.

The reasoning here is pure conjecture.

Who is considering withholding grace toward anyone? Who is considering withholding grace toward divorced people, LGBTQ people, or remarried people? We are certainly not. All people are, and will continue to be, welcomed into the doors of our churches.

We, too, believe in grace. Grace that forgives. Grace that redeems. Grace that empowers the living of a transformed life through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We offer to all people the invitation, Repent and believe the gospel because Gods grace is open to all people.

7. The Statement:Jesus didnt even mention the issues that divide us,

Again, this is misleading. Jesus did speak to the issue of marriage, and He did so more than once. Jesus could have redefined what marriage is in a Roman culture that involved all types of sexual debauchery; but instead of redefining it, He chose to reinforce its definition:

JESUS: Havent you read, he replied, that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female, and said, For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate. Matthew 19:4-6 (NIV)

Christian marriage, and the deeper reality it signifies, has been defined by God through Scripture, by the red letters of Jesus Christ, and by the apostles. As already noted, United Methodist theologians have written thought- provoking articles on the biblical rooted view of human sexuality.

Concerning our governance and the failure of Bishops and leaders in keeping their ordination vows, Jesus spoke clearly in the Sermon on the Mount about keeping ones vows (See Matthew 5:33-37).

To suggest that Jesus didnt even mention the issues that divide us is simply misleading.

8. The Statement: but theres something else that he most definitely did talk about our unity, for thats what Jesus prayed for in John 17.

We choose to be in unity with the great mass of Christians all over the world who interpret Scripture to be authoritative and agree on traditional definitions of sexual morality and Christian marriage.

Please take the time to read this link: When Unity at All Cost is too Costly.

9. The Statement: there are so many positive things to be lost by leaving. Together we have created the United Methodist Committee on Relief, the Upper Room, the Walk to Emmaus, the Academy for Spiritual Formation, Africa University, and all sorts of regional treasures like Sumatanga and the Childrens Home.

If one takes the time to watch the video of the gathering at Clearbranch, we have gone on record in the panel discussion that a new Methodist movement would continue to support United Methodist Committee on Relief(UMCOR); as well as United Methodist Childrens Homes. We are Methodists who remain passionate for involvement in Walk to Emmaus, and the Academy for Spiritual Formation and support mission to our African sisters and brothers. To infer that a new Methodist movement would forsake these things reflects false assumptions and misinformation.

Before we close, we would like to call on centrist and progressive pastors to stop misrepresenting the traditionally orthodox within their own denomination and within their own congregations. Your misrepresentations are disingenuous at best. United Methodist lay-people are educated and smart, and will ultimately discern when less than accurate and incendiary statements are being made. For the record, in a potential new Methodist movement:

We are committed to women being ordained in ministry. This is not unclear, and it is not unknown. Read this link. Read this link. And read this link. Please refrain from continuing a narrative that does not reflect this fact.

We are committed to dynamic life-transforming ministry with every ethnic group.

We are committed to the continuation of the office of Bishops, the authority of Bishops, and the continuation of being a connectional church that fosters accountability. Please refrain from continuing a narrative that does not reflect this fact.

We are committed to revising our apportionment formula to advance greater expressions of mission. Our connectional giving, and the outdated structure some of it supports, can be better utilized for greater expressions of Gods mission outside the walls of the church both locally and globally.

We are committed to lay pastors, their empowerment, and ways to bolster their voice and involvement in the life of the church on all levels.

We are committed to a new day for a people called Methodists! A new day that rekindles the best of our originating impulses by planting new churches in the United States and around the world. A new day of equipping local bodies with the seeds of church revitalization! A new day of seeing life-giving expressions of the captive being set free and the binding up of brokenness thats pervasive all around us.

We believe the best days of Methodism are ahead of us!

Sincerely,

Tim Alexander, Jeff Armbrester, Steve Baccus, Tim Barnes, Jake Barrett, Kenny Baskins, Alan Beasley, Keith Beatty, Harvey Beck, Bart Bowlin, Liz Bowlin, Charlie Brown, Glenn Conner, Raul Dominguez-Flores, Bridget Dowdy, Dee Dowdy, Eddie Gooch, Tommy Gray, Rudy Guess, Barry Hallman, Randall Ham, Todd Henderson, Gail Hiett, John Hill, Lyle Holland, Jody Hooven, Ron Howard, Sam Huffstutler, Nicky James, John Kearns, Tiwirai Kufarimai, Mark Lacey, Robert Lancaster, Paul Lawler, Bo Lloyd, Mark Mayo, Vicki Mann, Chris Martin, Michael Miller, Chris Montgomery, Deborah Moon, Todd Owen, Mark Parris, Scott Railey, John Ryberg, Ricky Smith, Vaughn Stafford, John Tanner, Rusty Tate, Blue Vardaman, John Verciglio, Ben Vernon, Ray Weaver, Michael Wilder, Trav Wilson, Lee Witherington

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Methodist split: Conservative event organizers respond to critics - AL.com

Did Christianity fade with the coming of the Enlightenment in the West? Not at all, argues British historian Tom Holland in his new book Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind. In fact, Holland argues, the West is suffused with Christianity to this very day.

On the sidelines of the Jaipur Literature Festival, Holland spoke to Scroll.in about why he thinks the pagan morality of the Romans is alien and very terrifying, how the Me Too movement embodies Christian ideas about sex, what impact Christs emphasis on the little guy has on right wing populism sweeping through the West today, and more. Excerpts from the interview.

Many people believe the modern West was made in a post-Christian world, by overturning the ideals of Christianity. But youre saying that is actually not true: the West is shot through with Christianity.Yeah, when I was writing the book [the trick] was to think of the people in the west as goldfish, swimming in a goldfish bowl, and so were oblivious to the fact that were in this goldfish bowl. We just take the waters that we swim in for granted. But I think that the waters that we swim in remain deeply Christian. And it was when Id finished the book that, actually, I came across an even better metaphor, when I watched a drama series about Chernobyl, the Soviet reactor that exploded in the Ukraine.

In the TV series, you had two characters that were right up close to where the radioactivity was leaking from the ruptured power station. And you could literally see it, because the air was being ironised. But, of course, that radioactivity then spreads over Ukrainian forests and over Swedish seas. And you dont see the radioactivity, but you breathe it in, and you are affected and changed by it.

So by comparing Christianity to this, I dont mean that it kills you or makes your hair fall out, or whatever. What I mean by that is that if youre up close to the manifestations of Christianity, if youre in Rome, or Paris, you, of course, can see evidence of Christianity all around you. But, I think that it spreads, and, people who use words like secularism, people who use words like homosexuality and so this is true of India as much as it is of countries in western Europe, or the United States they also in a sense are breathing in this Christian radioactivity, being changed by it, even if they may not realise it.

What I found interesting is that you had a bit of a personal journey, which preceded the book. You started off as a great fan of the Antiquity. And you thought Christianity ushered in an age of superstition and credulity. What made you change your mind? The way I read the book is that not only are you describing this process of the West being saturated with Christianity, but you also think its a good thing. You said you were aghast with pagan morality.I do think its a good thing. But the reason I think its a good thing is precisely because Ive grown up in a Western country, so my perspectives and my assumptions about what a good thing is, in fact, is deeply Christian. But it took me time to realise that. And part of the reason is just that although I was brought up a Christian as child, and I went to church and I kind of believed it, and I was interested in the Bible, I was interested in stories.

The truth was that I was much more interested in the glamour and the swagger and the cruelty and the drama of the great empires who feature in the Bible. So, I wasnt particularly interested in the children of Israel. I was massively with the Egyptians, and the Syrians, the Babylonians and the Persians, and then the Greeks, and then of course, the Romans. And if youd ask me, you know, when I was 10, whose side are you on? Pontius Pilate or Jesus? Id tend to go for Pontius Pilate because youve got the eagles, and the purple, and the legionaries.

And so I had a sense of emotional identification with the swagger and the glamour of the Classical World. When I came to start my writing career, I wrote books on what I was most interested in, which was the Greek and the Roman world. But the experience of having to live in the minds of Greeks and Romans for years at a time, made me come to realise that actually, they were very alien and very terrifying.

Rome in particular was kind of the apex predator of the ancient world. Its like the Great White Shark or a Tyrannosaur. Objects of immense fascination. You wouldnt want to live with a fish tank with a Great White Shark, you wouldnt want to have a Tyrannosaurus a pet. And so I began to ask myself more and more: how and why did this process of transformation happened?

Im going to push back slightly on one thing. You say that Christianity upended this idea that the strong are always right. And the example youve given is the crucifixion. This terrible Roman punishment for slaves was taken by Christians and made into a symbol of love and forgiveness. Maybe the larger point youre making is wanton cruelty was almost celebrated in the ancient world as a sign of power.I think theres a kind of quality of callousness that to us seems terrifying, but to them it was an entirely innocent quality.

But the thing is, even after Europe converted to Christianity wholly lets go right to the 1500s would public torture and execution be so very unusual? I get what youre saying about what Christianity said. But what did it do?Youre absolutely right. Christianity is founded on the principle of the first will be last, the last will be first. Well, you know, there are kings and nobles and rulers and beggars. And the foundational symbol of Christianity is someone suffering death on an instrument of torture. There are tortures, there are people burned, there are people hanged. Of course, and Christianity is founded on someone who, rather than fight back, surrenders himself, puts up his sword and willingly goes to death. But there are people with crosses on their surcoats who are attacking Muslim Spain and attacking the pagans.

Or attacking other Christians...Or attacking other Christians. And theyre taking the cross across the Atlantic and wiping out great empires there. So of course, there is a massive, massive tension there. But what is I think suggestive about this is that individual Christians, and indeed even those who may be executioners or kings or military leaders, at the back of their mind there is always the voice of conscience saying are you sure that this is justified? in a way that no Roman ever had that voice in the back of his head.

And, I think that is pretty radically different. It means that when a nobleman may be riding out on his horse, and he passes a beggar, hed look down at that beggar and part of what he is, is the anxiety that that beggar may be Christ. And its part of the churn of ideas that makes European history so restless and so transformative. Because if you look at the most convulsive development in modern European history, the French Revolution, it ends up targeting Christianity, the great Cathedral of Notre Dame gets converted into a temple to Supreme Reason.

But everything about the French Revolution is drawing on deeply Christian ideas. And so, the king is brought low, the church is brought low, but the church is brought low for deeply Christian reasons. The idea is that the church has been upholding monarchy. The priests somehow lost touch with those who are poor.

Your book pushes the idea that the West is swimming in Christian waters. What I found very interesting is that you identify fascism as an anti-Christian idea. You say its the one thing that has escaped those waters. Isnt it a bit of a cop out to say that the one really evil Western idea is not Christian?But why do we say its evil? The Nazis didnt think they were evil. The Nazis thought that what they were doing was for the good of the race. And the truth is that humans are naturally given to the worship of strength and power. And were naturally given to groupthink, we find it much easier to identify with people who are exactly like us, than with people from vastly different cultures.

Id say that its there in Islam as well. I have a kind of potential brotherhood and sisterhood. I think people naturally, if you look at the course of history, people instinctively feel most comfortable with people who are like themselves. And the great foundational texts of Christianity are opposed to this. Paul says that there is no Jew or Greek, ie, there is no black or white. There is no Englishman or Indian. Theyre all kind of essentially one. Were all created equally in the image of god, there is a set core equality.

Now that is something that the Nazis are radically opposed to. They say, No, you know, absolutely there is Jew and Greek. Indeed, Hitler blames the Jews for the destruction of Greek and Roman culture. And the other thing that the Nazis, following in the footsteps of Nietzsche, are opposed to is the idea that there should be a strength and weakness. That those who are downtrodden should have a moral authority over those who are in power. And so that again is what licenses the death not just of the Jews, but of people with physical or mental disabilities.

But the Nazis do this convinced that Christianity has been a kind of grey breath that has destroyed everything thats most heroic and noble in the German. Hitler thinks that both the Greeks and the Romans are of Germanic stock, and that they were destroyed by Paul coming along with his cosmopolitan insistence that all humans are equal.

And so this actually leads to what is perhaps the most grotesque paradox in the whole of Christian history, which is that one of the reasons that the Jews get targeted for genocide is because Hitler blames them for Christianity. And so when the Nazis deny the common brotherhood of man, and when they deny that those who are at the bottom of the pile have a kind of moral strength greater than that at the top of the pile, they are trampling on the fundamentals of Christianity in a way that the French revolutionaries didnt.

And the way that even the Russian revolutionaries didnt, even though the Nazis sign a concordat with the Catholic Church, and are kind of perfectly happy to sponsor Lutherans, whereas both the French and the Russian revolutionaries targeted the church for destruction. Nevertheless, the Russian revolutionaries are vastly more Christian than the Nazis and I think that explains why in the modern West Nazi is a term of horror in a way that say communism isnt, even though Stalin and Mao probably killed vastly more people than Hitler did. Theres a feeling that these are our people who we can recognise as being part of the kind of organic growth of our assumptions, even if were not thinking of it explicitly in those terms.

The other thing that I want to also just connect to the present day: This very powerful Christian idea that the weak are the actual inheritors of the earthThe first shall be last and the last shall be first

Its a fascinating idea that upends so much of what we think of as natural. One place where I really see this going on today is in right wing populism. There is a sense that the little guy, right or wrong, is the real owner of the nation and elites are evil. Do you see parallels with Christianity here? Are they co-opting the rhetoric of Christianity?I think the idea that those from the bottom of the pile have a kind of moral stature that those at the top dont is again part of the Christian air that we in the West breathe.

Theres a British thinker who looking at Brexit has coined the phrase that there are somewheres and there are anywheres. And Brexit is a revolt of the somewheres. Those who have a particular sense of location against anywheres, and obviously thats something thats kind of happening in India as well. Thats a very similar sense of tension.

As I say, I think the idea that there is a brotherhood of man is not something that comes naturally to people. And it may be that you see whats happening in the West, in a way thats distinctive, is that up until the Second World War, the great moral figure in the West, even if you were an atheist, was Jesus. You would say, what would Jesus do? Pretty much everyone, even if you didnt believe in Christianity, accepted that Jesus was a kind of the moral fulcrum, the way that you would judge what is right.

With a Second World War that changes and the person who becomes the great moral exemplar becomes Adolf Hitler. And essentially in the wake of the Second World War people in the West have said, what is right? And the answer to that is not what Jesus did. But its the opposite of what Hitler did.

So, what we do in the West is to say, what would Hitler have done, and then we do the opposite. Now, this is still a kind of Christian way of thinking. Because, you know, Nietzsches famous parable is that god is dead, but his corpse is so huge that it will cast shadows for centuries to come. In a sense, this is a kind of shadow of the corpse of god.

Were shocked by the Nazis because the Nazis trampled on Christian assumptions. But theres a problem, I think that we are starting to face now in the West, which is that the things that Christianity demands are quite difficult. Its quite difficult to love your enemies. Its quite difficult to be as welcoming to people who are outside your family, your clan, your nation, as to within.

And what resources do people have in the West now to make this case, to say the first will be last, the last will be first? Well, people are saying if you believe this, then youre a Nazi. People are starting to get fed up with that. What Christianity offers is the sense of mystery, the sense that this is rooted in an understanding of the cosmos, that it is greater than any human being can possibly comprehend. And it provides this immense wealth of writing and religious practice and devotion and art and philosophy that the lack of belief now in the West means that we are losing touch with.

And so I think that part of what drives the rise of populism is partly actually an expression of the way in which that incredible kind of wealth, spiritual wealth that exists in Christianity which animated people to become ascetics or to go to the ends of the world preaching the gospel, thats gone.

So, youre saying, loss of faith is leading to a loss of this larger Christian ideal.I think that in the wake of the Second World War, the fact that the Nazis were such a terrifying exemplar meant that actually the loss of overt Christian faith didnt really matter. And in fact, I think the two are interlinked. Devotional Christianity in the West falls off a cliff in the 60s, which is when people are starting to wake up to the Holocaust and the full horror of what the Nazis have done.

But I think now that impact is starting to fade, and so I do slightly worry where our moral fulcrum will be if we cant rely on the Nazis to be the boogeyman and weve lost touch with the overt Christian legacy. You know, will it start to fade and dissipate?

So, you sort of echo Voltaire, you really fear what would happen if god is completely gone from our world? You really think there is a need to invent a god.Im not quite as cynical as that. But what I do think is that an idea you said with this is my sense of what is good. My sense of what is good is Christian. And so, I dont want to lose that because I think those, essentially, are my values. So I want those values to be watered and sustained. I want the soil in which from which they spring to continue to have nutrients. And I think at the moment we dont have that.

Im going to yank you back 2,000 years. You make a radical argument that Christianity was revolutionary. It completely upended Antiquity. So is there nothing of Europes old faiths or moralities left? Or was it all upended by this newcomer from the east?In India, there is a kind of continuity. You can trace the transmission of philosophical texts. Whereas in the West, we do have a sense of fracturing. And I used to think that the fracturing was a socioeconomic one. That it was the collapse of the Roman Empire, that explained it. But I think now actually that it is Christianity that is the great rupture.

There is no equivalent to the coming of Christianity in India, not even the coming of Islam, because not everyone is converted to Islam. But in Europe, unlike in India for most of its history, from the end of the Roman Empire up really until the post war period, Europe has had a mono-culture. Its been Christian. There have been the odd population of Jews, but no one else really.

We just dont have the range of approaches and understandings of god that you have in India. Were not a land of many gods. For centuries and centuries, we just have the one god. The consequence of that, I think, is that we are separated from what existed before the coming of Christianity by a great cloud of dust particles.

Of course, we have the inheritance of the classical texts, we have the classical poets, we have the classical philosophers. Aristotle is hugely influential on the way that Christianity is constructed in the Middle Ages. Plato, in the Renaissance. But I think its almost impossible for us to get back to what Aristotle or Plato meant before the coming of Christianity. They have been Christianised, our understanding of the classical past has been Christianised.

What religion did the Greeks have? Religion is a deeply Christian category for the reasons that I explained at the beginning. The idea of religion as something separate from the rest of what people are doing is a completely Christian idea. Terms like ancient Greek or ancient Indian religion, those are highly anachronistic. Its like saying that Julius Caesar invaded France. You know what I meant, but its kind of very, very wrong. And thats really why I wanted to write the book, from an increasing sense of frustration that even the words I was using as someone writing in English were stopping me from getting back to what the Romans and Greeks thought.

I know you raised the point that the words heterosexual and homosexual bear a Christian imprint, yet on the other hand, what is permitted sexually today would offend most if not all believing Catholics. Tinder would offend a believer. Whats the catch? Why is this Christian or not pagan? It looks pagan to me.So youre quite right. As I began the book, I was thinking, well, essentially the whole Christian sexual morality in the West has gone. But then while I was writing it, the Harvey Weinstein episode happened. And what was interesting about that, and the whole Me Too movement, which followed it, was that nobody said, well, whats wrong with a very powerful man sexually abusing his social inferiors. And the Me Too movement depended for its effectiveness not just on women accepting its premises but men.

And the question, why do people take for granted that powerful men do not have the right to use their social inferiors in a sexual manner, is one that actually goes back to the very heart of the theme of Dominium. Because that was what the Romans took for granted. The dynamic in the Roman world was not between, as it is now, men and women. It was between those who have power, namely Roman free male citizens, and those who were subordinate to them. And essentially the Roman sexual universe was by our lights very brutal. It was a very Harvey Weinstein sexual arena.

A Roman man had the right to sexually use anyone who was subordinate to him: Slaves, social inferiors. He could just use their mouths, their various orifices, as receptacles for his excess sperm. And so, the Romans had this one word mayo for urine and ejaculate. This is how its seen. And so it casts those who have to receive the Roman males attentions in a rather unpleasant light.

Now, Christianity radically, radically changes that. Its there in the very earliest Christian texts: Pauls letters. And Paul is a Jew. So, he has an idea that the binary is male and female; god creates man and women separate. So, he brings that assumption to the table. But he also brings another novel assumption, which is that Christ came and suffered death out of love for humanity.

And so, what Paul does is to say that love, all you need is love. Love is the greatest animating force. And if we want to have a sexual relationship with another human being, then it must be true to the love that Christ has shown for humanity. So, what Paul does is to say that there can be only one way, one proper way, of having a sexual relationship, and that is you have to have a marriage that is monogamous.

The Jews would have numerous wives. The Romans were monogamous, but they could kind of dump their spouses at regular intervals. Paul says no, it has to be monogamous. So a lifelong monogamous relationship. Something very, very odd. Theres nothing like this before. But more than that: the reason why this matters is that Paul says that the man who marries a woman is like Christ, marrying the church. So that gives an incredible sacral potency to every man and every woman in a married relationship.

These [Romans] are householders who, until they get converted by Paul, are taking for granted that they have the right to sleep with who they like. But Paul is now saying no, you are the image of Christ. Christ doesnt go around sexually forcing himself on the cullery maid or page boys. Only with your wife.

And likewise, it might seem sexist now, that the woman gets to be the church and doesnt get to be Christ. But actually, what Paul is doing is giving an incredibly potent sacral quality to the physical body of a woman. That a woman is not there to be sexually abused. Shes not there to be jumped on by a powerful male. And if thats true of an aristocratic woman, its also true of the lowest humblest woman in a Roman household.

The scale of this transformation cannot be over-emphasised. And its something that offers to women a dignity that no previous sexual dispensation had offered. And over the course of the first centuries of Christianity, this understanding of sex eats like a kind of acid through the understanding that the Romans previously had of how sex operates. And over the course of Christian history, the church imposes on believing Christians this sense that being a powerful male does not license you to have multiple wives and concubines. You have to focus on one.

And over the course of time, this further results in the idea that its the responsibility of a man and a woman to choose each other. And this gets enforced over the course of the Middle Ages by a succession of church cannons, which prescribed for instance that cousins cant marry cousins, second cousins cant marry all the way up to six degrees of separation. And the effect of this is to smash the power of clan lords patriarchs who feel that they have the right to marry one cousin off to another to keep things in the family.

So that by the time and Shakespeare comes to write Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare is writing this in London, which is by this point a Protestant city nevertheless, hes taking this Catholic idea and the bread of the medieval Christian church for granted. So the Montagues and the Capulets are clans and when Capulet wants to marry his daughter Juliet off to her cousin, he takes it for granted that he has the right to do this.

But who is it who facilitates Juliets right to choose her own husband Romeo? Its the friar. And this is so deeply embedded that when English settlers go to America they take it with them. And Puritan is now a dirty word. But actually, what Puritans are about are its there in the word its about purity. And part of that purity is sexual purity. And its not just repressive.

Within a marriage, Puritan men and women have as much sexual fulfilment as you possibly want. But outside it, you have purity by respecting the bodily integrity of, you know, your servant girl. You shouldnt go to prostitutes and things like that.

And so, for centuries, this was taken for granted in America and England. And its really only with the 1960s that that changes. But again, weirdly and paradoxically, it changes for Christian reasons because the 60s revolution is inspired by the last great overtly Christian convulsion in American politics, which is a civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King, who speaks of Jesus as being an extremist for love.

And Martin Luther King makes his appeal to White Americans in the name of love. And in the 60s, this idea that those who have been oppressed, the downtrodden, have a right to share in the universal love, its something that gets taken up by feminists, it gets taken up by gay rights campaigners. But that serves to kind of sever the link with doctrinal Christianity even if not with cultural Christianity.

Something that does cut the link not just with doctrinal, but with cultural Christianity is the idea that starts to bed down in the 60s, that love is not just spiritual, but physical. And then therefore, all you need is love means that you can basically have sex with anyone you like. And this becomes something that hippies over the course of the 70s and the 80s, in the West again, bed down.

But it turns out, as we see now in America, that this idea that free love is a great thing, have sex any way you want, actually turns out to be better for men than for women, because essentially, its licences for men to sexually harass their social inferiors. And thats what the Harvey Weinstein Me Too thing is all about. And, and, in a way, the perfect illustration of this paradox, a kind of moral Mobius Strip, is that when women go on their marches to protest against sexual harassment, many of them will wear red robes and white bonnets.

This is the uniform that theyve taken from The Handmaids Tale, a novel by Margaret Atwood, which then became a TV series: a dystopian satire set in a future America thats become basically fundamentalist Christian. And its drawing on the model of Puritan New England. But what is it that these women are demanding? Theyre demanding that men become Puritan.

Theyre demanding that they that they exercise sexual self-restraint, sexual continence, and that they respect a womans right to choose her own partner. And that is nothing if not the demonstration of the fact that Christianity is always going to come back. We in the West, we cannot escape, we cannot escape it. It always returns even if its not wearing an overtly Christian form.

Okay, final question, Tom. I follow you on Twitter. So, I know youre an ace cricketer.[Laughs] If youre relying on what I say about myself on Twitter...

How does cricket connect to Christianity?It doesnt at all. There is no link. The whole idea that cricket is somehow good for you and morally improving is a wholly bogus Victorian invention. Actually cricket emerges from gamblers and the spirit of competition. And I think thats what its basically turned to. So, I dont think that cricket has anything at all to do at all with Christianity.

Listen to the full interview.

Continued here:

Christianity gave women a dignity that no previous sexual dispensation had offered: Tom Holland - Scroll.in

According to Zen priest and climate scientist Kritee, part of our work in addressing climate change is to understand systems how they work, how were complicit in them, and how we can change them to work for the good. From the Spring 2020 issue ofBuddhadharma: The Practitioners Quarterly.

Following Hurricane Katrina, a New Orleans resident in a temporary shelter drops to her knees and screams, imploring journalists to help (September 1, 2005). Photo by Ted Jackson, The Times-Picayune/Landov

For the past decade, I have been researching the climate impacts of different food production practices, which is important because our global food system contributes more than a third of all human-generated climate pollution. Recently I had the opportunity to present my research to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which brought mebrieflya sense of empowerment in the face of the climate crisis. But my deeper truth is that I find myself working with intense climate grief.

Im not alone. A growing number of climate scientists and activists report sleeplessness, anxiety, and even panic attacks. Many are overwhelmed by grief or anger. If I were not engaged in regular meditation and grief practices, as well as strategic actions with an ever-widening circle of ecodharma activists, I know I would be overwhelmed too.

In the past year, I have been in touch with a growing number of fellow dharma teachers who are waking up to the climate crisis and getting involved in climate action. This is due in large part to media attention brought on by youth-led school climate strikes, Sunrise Movement sit-ins, and Extinction Rebellion actions. While this is something to celebrate, I also think Buddhists can contribute much more radically to reducing suffering than they have so far. However, in order to do so effectively, we must bring not only our Buddhist understanding but also a systems-level view.

Averting a climate catastrophe will require enormous transitions, which raises important questions, such as: who will pay for the transitions? Will these transitions be consistent with democracy? And who will suffer the most if these transitions dont happenwill it be the poor and the racially marginalized?

A just transition must be democratic, fair, and equitable. We must therefore consider the ethical, moral, and spiritual underpinnings of such a transition and ask how each of usas well as our sanghascan assist in practical and concrete ways. We must also be willing to consider changing our own behavior, and that of our sanghas, in order to create a more just and sustainable society.

As bodhisattvas committed to relieving the suffering of all beings, we start by seeing relative reality, or suffering as it is. If we dont see the depth and extent of suffering, its very difficult to take compassionate action.

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At least a quarter of the worlds population is already facing an existential crisis. According to the International Labour Organization, approximately a billion people live on less than two dollars a day. More than two billion people work in informal sectors and have no work contract with their employers. These people and their families struggle every day to make ends meet. One sickness, birth, or death, one leaking roof due to an extreme rainfall event, or one failed crop due to a drought can throw them into crisis. They are already facing what those in the privileged Eurocentric world fear awaits them in the not-too-distant future: illness and death brought on by extreme weather events and forced migration due to a lack of basic resources, including water and food, as well as physical safety. They have done the least to usher in climate crisis, but they will suffer the most as the climate crisis deepens.

We cannot put off dealing with the current existential crisis faced by a quarter of humanity until after we have tackled the climate crisis. We need an integrated approach that makes enormous changes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also redistributing power and money and avoiding climate apartheid.

How do we do this? A just transition will require working through systems of separation, more commonly known as systems of oppression, which is another way of saying systems of domination, hierarchy, or superiority. Based on myths and lies, these systems purport that one group is more normal, superior, and/or powerful, and empower it to dominate another set of living beings. For example, patriarchy, class or caste hierarchies, and human domination over animals are all systems of oppression.

Most crucially, white people of European descent have power and supremacy over Black, brown, yellow, and Indigenous people all over the world. Globally speaking, this racial domination and associated neoliberal economic systems have helped primarily white folks to amass enormous wealth, steal land, and enslave people for hundreds of years. This concentration of power and wealth is systematically guarded through militarization, laws, trade deals, and media campaigns.

While we have made progress on some fronts, for the most part we take these systems of domination to be a given. Our hearts and minds have grown accustomed to a paradigm in which one human being has control over another. This is our default, and it has infected all parts of our psyche.

In Buddhism, through meditation and other transformative practices, we aspire to know states of heartmind that Buddha (the human being) embodied. These states of heartmind bring us close to reality as it is. When we see the absolute reality as it is, there is no individual human being, no separate entity. There is onlyinterdependent co-arising: I am you; you are me. I am a monarch butterfly that is going extinct, the Black woman whose five generations of family were lynched, and also Hitler and present-day fascists. All is me. Richest and poorest, we inter-are.

It is important to note that while Buddhism has devised many skillful practices to deal with the myth of separation in the consciousness of an individual practitioner, it has only just begun to grapple with systems of oppression. An individual cannot beat a system. To beat one system, it will require another system. Systems of oppression or separation must be replaced by systems of nonseparation or nonduality. The opposite of patriarchy is not matriarchy, where women are more powerful than men, but rather it is one of deep equality and solidarity. We are so used to systems of oppression that we have forgotten how to live in a way that is not separate. The top-down hierarchical systems that are rooted in exploitation and oppression must make way for systems and institutions that are rooted in compassion and sacred care of all beings. This requires more than words and good intentions; it must be backed by actions that redistribute power and wealth to those who are marginalized. Without this, societal healing and a just transition will not be possible.

While we need strategic and well-designed plans to redesign our economies, we also need spiritual and moral leaders who can penetrate hearts and minds. Their job is to embody genuine solidarity, interdependence, and friendship to help people wake up to the harm brought about by systems of domination and to see their complicity in it. Any legal policies involving redistribution of power and money will not be honored without changing the hearts of the oppressor and the oppressed.

Guided by the dharma, Buddhists can help our society disrupt the status quo, but in order to contribute to the transformation of the larger society, we also need to look at ourselves, as well as our sanghas. What do I mean? In an essay titled Revolutionary Suicide, African American pastor Lynice Pinkard challenges us as individuals and institutions to understand our own relationship with systemsof oppression:

To what extent does any one of us identify with the forces of domination and participate in relations that reinforce domination and the exploitation that goes with it? In what ways and to what extent are we wedded to our own upward mobility, financial security, good reputation, and ability to win friends and influence people in positions of power? Or conversely, do we identify (by putting our lives on the line) with efforts to reverse patterns of domination, empower people on the margins (even when we are not on the margins ourselves), and seek healthy, sustainable relations?

She argues that this desire for upward mobility is killing us spiritually. It is like we all know that the tree of this civilization is rotting but we still want to climb to the top!

As Buddhists, we have taken vows not to turn away from the suffering of others, whom we come to know as ourselves. When we manifest with the full integrity of what we know to be true, we naturally find ways to help heal our world. Some of my Buddhist friends are actually putting their lives on the line to defend all beings. Even if we are not ready to put our lives on the line, we can ask important questions:

Who is in our sangha? If our sangha is not diverse, do we have relationships with Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) outside of our sanghas? Having these relationships often means working through the racial trauma lodged in the bodies of everyone involved. (I highly recommend Resmaa Menakems systematic exploration of the trauma suffered by both BIPOC and white people in his seminal book My Grandmothers Hands.)

Are we more invested in building large Buddhist temples, or are we open to directing the money to building movements and to those on the front lines of systemic change?

Are we divesting from pathways that concentrate power and investing in those that redistribute power? How can we share power? How can we break the status quo systems of domination within our sangha or other communities we inhabit?

Are we making more than the average median income in our society? Why do we want to have a standard of living above that of others in our state or country?

Could we hire the most marginalized in our society? What do we have to learn to be able to hire and retain those individuals?

These are not easy questions. I wrestle with all of them myself and face the fear of letting go of my own privilege, wealth, and assets.

It wont be easy, but as bodhisattvas in training, we must find the courage and compassion to step up both individually and as a community of practitioners to grapple with these questions. As we do, we might gain greater understanding of the mindset of those destroying our planet. And we might be able to say a much needed NO to too-big-to-fail oil and gas corporations (without othering and shaming individuals who work for them).

Given what is already happening, we do not have the luxury of assuming that we can deal with social and ecological issues after enlightenment. As we individually spend time on our cushions to face absolute reality as it is, we must also create awakened systems and beloved communities that can deal with present-day relative reality as it is without perpetuating trauma and harm.

Lions Roar is a nonprofit. Our mission is to share the wisdom of the Buddhas teachingsto inspire, comfort, support, and enlighten readers around the world. Our aspiration is to keep LionsRoar.com available to everyone, providing a supportive, inspiring Buddhist community that anyone can access, from curious beginners to committed meditators. Do you share our aspiration? We cant do this without your help.

Lions Roar reaches more readers like you than ever before. Unfortunately, advertising and other revenues are falling for print and online media. We know we have something deeply precious to share with the world, and we want to continue this important work. Can you help support our efforts now?

Lions Roar is independent, unbiased, not-for-profit, and supported by readers like you. Please donate today and help the lions roar echo for readers around the world.

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Why Bodhisattvas Need to Disrupt the Status Quo - Lion's Roar

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The ancient practice shocked Victorians, was embraced by psychologists and finally co-opted by celebrities.

Yoga, Alistair Shearer notes, in this erudite, scholarly and engrossing study, is not itself a religion. But when practised in the right spirit, it may gradually align the practitioner with "those eternal principles on which all true religion rests".

READ MORE:* Shakti: Rajorshi Chakraborti's funny, shocking and deeply thought-provoking novel* Book review: Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener* Book review: Combat Civilian by Gilbert Greenall

In much the same way as "mindfulness" has stripped Buddhist meditation of its spiritual or religious connotations to become a secular therapy for relieving stress and maximising efficiency, so yoga has long been stripped of its sacred associations. If the classic image of the yogi was once of the solitary contemplative in his Himalayan redoubt, it is now of lithe, sunkissed bodies enacting the "downward dog" at expensive retreats in the Greek islands or on the polished wood floors of the yoga studio with its aroma of incense, its New Age music and its air of cultivated narcissism.

As Shearer writes, yoga is now aUS$18 billionindustry, its rise no better illustrated than in an exhibition, Yoga: The Art of Transformation, held in 2013 at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, where tables for the opening gala were $50,000 a pop.

It is often said that yoga practices date from "5000 years" ago, but as Shearer points out, nobody knows for sure. There is no mention of what he calls "posture yoga" in the Vedic teachings, which date from roughly 2500BC to 500BC. But there are 900 mentions in the later Mahabharata, the great Sanskrit epic of ancient India, which includes the Bhagavad Gita, the most important text in what came to be known as Hinduism.

The seers of early yoga scriptures were interested in physical postures only insofar as they aided meditation and breathing.

Yoga was a physical practice only insofar as it served a spiritual objective. None of the great authorities, Shearer writes, saw the practice of yoga as a means to perfect the human frame, "but as a way to transcend its irksome limitations altogether". .

Shearer, who has written extensively on Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, provides a fascinating chronology of the changing attitudes towards yoga in the West. To the Victorians, Indian holy men were held to be objects of reproval.

A deeper understanding came with Swami Vivekananda, whose appearance at the first World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 galvanised popular interest in Hindu teachings. The Fabian turned theosophist Annie Besant, who saw Vivekananda speak in Chicago, would go on to publish a book on Maharishi Patanjali's yoga in 1907. In 1932, Carl Jung presented a seminar on kundalini yoga to the Psychological Society in Zurich, which, Shearer writes, was regarded as "a milestone in the Western understanding of Eastern thought".

Further enlightenment came with Aurobindo Ghose, the Indian nationalist turned mystic, whose teachings inspired the founders of the Esalen Institute in California the crucible of the so-called "Human Potential" movement in the 60s.

It is significant that some of the most popular forms of yoga today are the least contemplative. Shearer describes the "no pain, no gain" variation of Ashtanga yoga, popularised by K Pattabhi Jois and much espoused by celebrities such as Madonna, Sting and Gwyneth Paltrow, as "a sweat-based path for a nation of self-actualising achievers".

Then there is hot yoga invented by "the pony-tailed, waxed-chested" Bikram Choudhury a technique combining heat and vigorous activity. It's not unheard of for people attempting hot yoga "to vomit, break down and pass out, or lose bladder control in a room full of their fellow students". This too attracted the predictable celebrity following, and made Choudhury a multi-millionaire, before he fell to Earth after a Vanity Fair article accusing him of rape. (He has since denied any wrongdoing.)

In 2017, a survey in The Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies reported that yoga was the cause of more injuries than all other sports combined, with one in 10 practitioners developing musculoskeletal pain from their practice, and a third of those experiencing pain so severe they were out of action for three months.

Something for practitioners to meditate on, perhaps. Those adopting the determined sedentary position may find these statistics strangely vindicating.

The story of yoga by Alistair Shearer(C Hurst & Co, $50)

Originally posted here:

Book review: The story of yoga by Alistair Shearer - Stuff.co.nz

This article has a quick guide found here.

Quick guides provide a brief summary of the steps needed for completion.

Spiritual Enlightenment is a part of the Tales of the Arc miniquest series.

To begin, speak to The Assassin (Ling) on the island of Aminishi. She asks for help finding the monk, Yulong, but keeps her reasons secret. Ling suggests fighting the Acolytes of Seiryu on the northern portion of Aminishi to obtain clues.

Killing any monks of Aminishi will allow you to receive the three books. The books are The Path of the Monk, The Path of the Elemental, and The Path of the Dragon. The books have a 1/16, 1/32, and 1/64 chance of being dropped respectively. As you obtain the books, read them to progress in the miniquest. Be sure to save at least a few of the Spirit dragon charms you obtain, as you will need them later.

The three types of monk are the Sotapanna, Sakadagami, and Anagami. They require 90 Slayer to damage. All three types of monks are weak to Air spells.

Yulong in the Spirit Realm.

Once all three books have been obtained and read, return to the southern shore and speak to Ling. You must speak to Ling before you can interact with Yulong. Then, with a few Spirit dragon charms in your inventory, head to the centre of the island, near the Sakadagami. Interact with the dragon statue to be sent to the Spirit Realm. A Spirit dragon charm is consumed per minute spent in the Spirit Realm. Run to the southern shore of the island (where Ling stood before) and speak to Yulong. Charms aren't consumed while you're talking to him. You must decide to either tell Ling where he is or agree to keep him hidden.

Once you finish speaking to Yulong, return to the statue and exit the Spirit Realm. Run back to the beach and speak to Ling. Depending on your earlier choice, you will either reveal Yulong's location or keep it a secret. Ling admits that Yulong was not a target for her to assassinate, but rather a childhood friend and ex-member of the Death Lotus assassin. Finish your conversation with Ling to complete the mini-quest.

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Spiritual Enlightenment | RuneScape Wiki | Fandom

Individuals and groups seeking to establish political and economic hegemony over others have utilized religion as a means of dominating others since humanity saw its first sunrise.

This abuse of religion is certainly not rooted in real spirituality but in a desire for achieving secular social control over others.

The formula is actually quite simple: take a purely spiritual belief system that works to glorify God and bring individuals close to God, and then hijack it and declare that an individual or group is Gods representative on Earth and declare that the individual on Earth controls access to spiritual enlightenment.

Then declare that to oppose the secular will or to question the individual or groups hegemony is to oppose Gods will.

Middle Ages European Royalty called this Rule by Divine Right and declared that any political opposition to their rule or any questioning of their edicts constituted blasphemy.

Southern slave holders and northern racists used the strategy of Rule by Divine Right to achieve social control over African-American slaves and free African-Americans in the North before and after the Civil War and up into the mid 20th century.

Slaveholders utilized the Biblical teachings of Saint Paul that taught slaves in the Roman Empire to be obedient to their masters. They conveniently failed to add that the reason Saint Paul taught that was that in the ancient Roman system of slavery it was common for slaveholders to free their slaves for loyal service. Therefore, it behooved slaves to be hardworking and loyal slaves in Ancient Rome.

However, southern slaveholders rarely freed their slaves for good service, and they abused Christianity as a means of achieving social control over African-Americans in order to motivate them to stay subordinate.

Northern racists used much the same strategy, arguing that African-Americans were morally weak and lacked impulse control, and thus it was their Christian duty to assert that European-American Christians had to direct their Little Brown Brothers in correct Christian theology to curb the childlike African-Americans lack of emotional and impulse control.

Northern racists, of course, did not choose to acknowledge that much of the lack of impulse control was born of a quite natural negative reaction on the part of African-Americans before and after the Civil war to enduring systematic racial discrimination in their daily lives.

True Christian spirituality does not see color. However, southern slaveholders and northern racists coopted Christianity as a means of establishing social control over African-Americans.

Grady Atwater is site administrator of the John Brown Museum and State Historic Site.

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Religion can be manipulated to control others - Miami County Republic

Part 1

This piece will focus on how and why some Ashkenazic Jewsboth religious and (later) secularadopted the Sephardic pronunciation of Hebrew because they deemed it superior to the Ashkenazic one.

In the last two decades of the 18th century, concurrent with the rise of the chasidic movement in Eastern Europe, a pietist group was emerging in Germany. It was led by Rabbi Nathan Adler of Frankfurt. Rabbi Nathans followers regarded him as a man of God and a miracle worker. Under his influence they studied Kabbalah, demanded extreme standards of abstinence and self-purification, and conducted separate prayer service according to a special rite based on the prayer book of Rabbi Yitzchak Luria.

R Adler was a very controversial figure in the Frankfurt Jewish community and was eventually excommunicated in 1779 and again in 1789. A booklet entitled Maaseh Tatuim was published anonymously in 1790 (a copy of which I have in my collection) that attacked the actions of Adler and his followers. Some of the chief accusations against Adler included the complaint that they introduced substantial changes in both the text and the conduct of prayers: praying in the Sephardic rite known as Siddur HaAri and (unlike the chasidim) also of using the Sephardic pronunciation in prayer.

The historian Simon Dubnow now doubted the existence of a direct link between the formation of Adlers circle and the emergence of chasidism, and most other scholars who have considered the question agree. Some reconsideration of this position is now required, as the scholarly world has recently revised its view of the spiritual nature of early chasidism and embarked on a new assessment of its religious and social features. The new approach studies the beginning of chasidism in the context of the religious awakening then taking place in the world of kabbalistically oriented pietistic groups active in 18th-century Europe. We are therefore justified in attempting a reassessment of the link between the different manifestations of religious pietism appearing at the same time in Eastern and Central Europe. The Frankfurt pietist circle and the chasidic groups in Eastern Europe were established at approximately the same time: the early 1770s; both trends looked to the same sources for inspiration and sought to create a new ritual expression for new spiritual currents; both used the Hebrew term chasidim; they recognized the power of charismatic leaders and their authority to innovate new practices and there was a striking similarity between the two in prayer rites and other customs as well as in the nature of their deviations from accepted norms in their respective communities. (Elior, Rachel: Rabbi Nathan Adler and the Frankfurt Pietists)

The Jewish Enlightenment Looks to Sepharad as A Positive Model

The literature abounds on the subject of the Reform movement in Germany, using Sephardic Jewry as a positive model of what progressive Jewry ought to look like. Interest in all things Sephardic was all the rage among the Wissenschaft crowd in Western and Central Europe.

Todd Endelman writes in his article, Benjamin Disraeli and the myth of Sephardi superiority:

From the late 18th century, Sephardim throughout Western Europe, as well as Ashkenazim, deployed the myth to promote their own cultural, political and social agendas The pioneers of Wissenschaft des Judentums and the leaders of the Reform movement constructed an image of Sephardi Judaism that stressed its cultural openness, philosophical rationalism, and aesthetic sensibilities in order to criticize what they disliked in their own traditions, i.e., its backwardness, insularity and aversion to secular studies. In France, Austria, Germany, Hungary and the United States, communal and congregational boards erected imposing synagogues of so-called Moorish design, assertive symbols of their break with the unenlightened Ashkenazi past.

Before the end of the century, the myth of sephardi superiority was widely disseminated and available for appropriation by Jews and their enemies alike In their battle against racial myths about Jewish deformities, Jewish anthropologists drew on the Sephardi mystique to create a counter myth of their own: that of the well-bred, aesthetically attractive, physically graceful Sephardi, a model of racial nobility and virtue. In their work, John Efron notes, the Sephardi served as the equivalent of the Jewish Aryanthe physical counterpart to the ignoble Jew of Central and Eastern Europe.

This Ashkenazic sense of inferiority was obviously something new. As Ismar Schorsch put it: There is little doubt that beyond the worldwide influence of Lurianic Kabbalah (of which Adlers group and the chasidim of Eastern Europe are one exampleJ.D.), the religious culture of Spanish Jewry held but slight allurement for a self-sufficient and self-confident Ashkenazi Judaism in its age of spiritual ascendancy.

In fact, until the 16th century, Ashkenazi culture enjoyed higher status than the Sephardi one, (perhaps since Ashkenazi Jews had not converted to any other religion, i.e., had not become Marranos). Around 1500, when the first scholarly Hebrew grammar books were published in Europe, the authors naturally took the language of Jews living in France and Germany, that is Ashkenazi Hebrew, as the basis of their work, and Sephardi was regarded as a curiosity. In the epoch making grammar book (De Rudimentis Hebraicis, 1506) of Johannes Reuchlin (1455-1522), Ashkenazi Hebrew was the living language. It was only in the 17th century that European Hebraic scholarsthe so-called Christian Hebraistsdecided in favor of Sephardi reading. It was accepted by the great grammar (1817) of William Gesenius (1786-1842) as well, which formed the basis of modern Hebrew linguistics. Since the 17th century, everyone considered the Sephardi usage to be the scholarly standard and used it exclusively. Jewish scholarship (Wissenschaft) was now committed to Sephardi, and it became the ideal for the initiatives of the Reform movements.

With the advent of emancipation in Central Europe, German-speaking Jews gradually unhinged itself from the house of Ashkenazic Judaism. Inclusion in the body politic sundered a religious union born of common patrimony. Historians have tended to focus on the institutional expression of this rupturethe repudiation of the educational system, the mode of worship, and the Rabbinic leadership intrinsic to Ashkenazic Judaismwith special emphasis on the Western tastes and values that propelled the transformation of all areas of Jewish life With surprising speed, German Jews came to cultivate a lively bias for the religious legacy of Sephardic Jewry forged centuries before on the Iberian Peninsula without which they would have cut loose from Judaism itselfenabled them to redefine their identity in a Jewish mode.

The author is an independent scholar of history and translator of Hebrew text. Please contact [emailprotected] Check out Channeling Jewish History on Facebook for daily updates in your inbox.

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Ashkenazim and the Sephardic Pronunciation of Hebrew - Jewish Link of New Jersey

Born on 18 February, 1836, Gadadhar Chattopadhyay, who came to be known as Ramakrishna later in life, hailed from a poor Brahmin family from Kamarpukur village, in the Hooghly district of West Bengal.

Most accounts say that the saint was given the title of Paramahamsa (a Sanskrit religio-theological appellation honor bestowed to Hindu spiritual tutors who have attained enlightenment) by his Vedantic guru, Totapuri, a naked monk from Punjab.

In the 19th century Bengal, the transcendent guru became the leading figure for resurgence of Hinduism during a period of strong spiritual crisis and severe collapse of humanism. He was known for his kindness, devotion and adored for his nonconformity.

Ramakrishna was known to breakdown complex spiritual folktales in the most coherent custom for the benefit of his disciples. The yogis preaching engrossed the atheist Narendranath Datta who turned into his most wekk-known disciple, Swami Vivekananda.

On Ramakrishna Paramahamsas 184th birth anniversary, here are some interesting facts about the visionary master of the 19th-century:

-- He went to school till the early age of 12, but discontinued as a formal education did not interest him.

-- At the age of 23, he got married to five-year-old Saradamoni Mukhopadhyay, who later came to be known as Maa Sarada.

-- When Saradamoni came of age and joined the sage at Dakshineshwar, Ramakrishna had already entered the reclusive life of a hermit.

-- Apart from being well-versed in the Puranas, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata Purana, he was devoted to Goddess Kali.

-- His chief disciple Vivekananda established the Ramakrishna order, which eventually aided the spread of mission posts across the globe. The Mission formed the fundamental core of a universal spiritual movement known as the Ramakrishna Movement or the Vedanta Movement.

-- As per the existing chronicles, Ramakrishna asked Vivekananda to look after the welfare of the disciples and asked him to "teach them" after his death.

-- Ramakrishnas disciples believed he was an avatar or incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

-- Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa suffered from clergyman's throat, which steadily matured into throat cancer and he breathed his last on August 16, 1886.

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Ramakrishna Paramahansas Birth Anniversary: Interesting Facts About the Indian Mystic - News18

I was born in a household that supported the Labour party. For three years, I was a senior advisor to Britains most successful Labour prime minister, Tony Blair. Capitalism was a dirty word in my social circles. Conservatism was seen as uncool and stuffy. Yet I knew I harboured an inner hypocrisy: my parents, as with so many British Muslims, bought their own home thanks to Margaret Thatchers capitalist and conservative policies. With the passing of time, experience of travels, reading, reflections, and conversations with conservatives, my views have progressed to grasping why, for five reasons, modern conservatism and liberal Islam are more aligned than we know. And combined, can save Western civilisation from internal and external threats.

First, the prophet Mohamed, the founder of Islam, was a capitalist. In seventh-century Mecca, a city of trading and commerce for Arabia, he was a fund-manager for the Lady Khadijah. He represented her stocks and assets in the markets of Mecca, Damascus and others parts of the Levant. His success in increasing her profit margins with honesty and integrity led her to proposing marriage to Mohamed. Islam is the only religion, therefore, to be instituted by a businessman.

Mohamed struggled with the clamour and chaos of commercial Mecca. It was during his spiritual retreats in Mount Hira that the divine voice inspired the poetry and passages that became the Quran.

Shall we teach you a more profitable and ever-lasting trade? asks God in the Quran, again and again. The parables with trade are many. When in the year 622 Mohamed migrated to the city of Medina, the first action he took was to create a mosque for his community of believers. When the land was offered as charity, he refused and insisted on buying it as private property. Unlike Platos Republic, Islam has always honoured property rights, a fundamental difference with Marxism or socialism. Mohamed then went to the market with his companions and they traded freely with others. When a famine hit Medina, some lobbied him to fix prices: he refused. Supply and demand should not be interrupted.

Second, Islam was and is an inherently conservative faith and civilisation. The Burkean adage that we must change to conserve has been the hallmark of Islam since its beginning. Wherever Muslims conquered, the governance and social structures were conserved. The Umayyad caliphs from Damascus and into Spain ruled as the Romans did with law, taxes, and imperial expansion. But with Muslims, Jewish people thrived as viziers and senior officials. Early Muslims protected the pyramids of Egypt as symbols of knowledge and civilisation. Euclids principles informed the architecture of new mosques. The great Al-Farabis tenth-century philosophy revived Plato and Aristotle, but al-Farabi was also a musician, botanist and mystic who deeply influenced the prodigious Rabbi Maimonides. In India, the Muslim Moghuls honoured Hinduism and initial emperors even included Hindus as people of the book. Under the Ottomans, Constantinople remained a Christian-majority city until the nineteenth century. Islam did not seek destruction and revolution, it merely sought to inject the spirit of one God into existing ways.

Britains most important conservative philosopher, the late Sir Roger Scruton, defines conservatism as an attitude, an inheritance, a respect for custom and convention, and love for freedom and civilisation. Muslim history and belief naturally reflects that vision. Granted, there were periods of hostility and imperialism, but we must never forget that in the ancient world the unwritten code was conquer, or be conquered.

In that ethos, Islam sought to conserve, rather than abolish.

Third, it was in that spirit of creating and conserving civilisations, Ibn Khaldun in the fourteenth century, penned his 1377 book al-Muqaddimah on history, sociology and economics. Ronald Reagan and Boris Johnson have both cited Ibn Khaldun. Mark Zuckerberg recommended Ibn Khalduns book. He was the first thinker to analyse the workings of an economy, the role of technology, foreign trade and specialisation in economic surplus, and the role of government in the economy. Four centuries before Adam Smith, Ibn Khaldun argued that the division and specialisation of labour serves as the basis for any civilised society. The principles of modern capitalism were, arguably, pioneered by Ibn Khaldun with his writings on production, supply, cost, consumption, demand and utility. Muslims were a trading people: Mohameds business ethics and charity, compassion, and giving to the travellers and orphans were in tandem with profit. Adam Smiths important first book The Theory of Moral Sentiments went in conjunction with his The Wealth of Nations. Only in the Marxist caricature and amoral cartels of corporatism is capitalism corrupted. At its core, for Ibn Khaldun and Adam Smith, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, ethics and enterprise went together.

Fourth, conservatism, as Scruton reminds us, was an outcome of the European Enlightenment and a bulwark against the excesses of liberal individualism. When the disciples of Rousseau and Voltaire overthrew the French monarchy in 1789, and cast away religion and tradition, it was Edmund Burke who warned against the pursuit of unknown, untested, and unrealistic ideas in the abstract. He coined the term terrorism to predict rightly the disasters of the French revolution. This commitment to the natural order, to convention, custom, and preserving our inheritance mattered for conservatives. For Burke this was the partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born.

The sharia, as taught by the earliest Muslim jurists such as the eleventh-century Imam al-Juwayni, and preserved and practised for ten centuries, has as its higher aims or maqasid to preserve life, provide security, allow for worship, protect the family, and fully uphold property laws. These maqasid, tried and tested, are fully aligned with natural law conservatism. Free from abstract ideology inspired by the French revolution, be it Marxism or political Islamism, we find a harmony in the forces of Islam and conservatism if understood historically.

Fifth, it is not an accident that these great ideas were pioneered and applied in Britain. A century before the French, the English beheaded King Charles I and then hastily re-instated the monarchy after learning the lesson of Oliver Cromwells own attempts at a new dynasty. Neither is it an accident that the oldest political party in the world, the Conservative party in Britain, understands that Burkean balance of monarch, merchants, the masses and clerics. From this island, the English charter of liberties spread around the world. Absent of this understanding, in Turkey, Libya, Iran, Egypt and Iraq, monarchies have been destroyed and political disorder, extremism and economic imbalance reign supreme. There are deep and valid reasons why Britain stands as an attractive model of a constitutional monarchy for many Muslim nations today, including Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and others. American presidents cannot dispatch a Prince of Wales in the way Britain can and then command immense prestige for doing so. The soft power of conservatism still sways billions of people.

Conservatism as a body of thought, as an inheritance, is now at risk in Britain, its natural home. And if it withers here, it will elsewhere too. For us, for our children, for the future of civilisation, we must ensure that we ward off the growing threats to this great tradition. And Muslims at home and abroad should be our natural allies.

The danger to conservatism is internal and external. Many in the Conservative party and conservatism more broadly wish to parrot on about policies on roads, police, schools or housing. While these are important, without understanding the ideas underpinning society we risk becoming bureaucrats and apparatchiks. We are pruning the trees while the soil is being poisoned. What makes us unique is our thoughts and heritage, not budgets and bureaucracy. Worse, the arrogance of some from within the conservative tradition, when it comes to issues of class, sexism, racism, keeps at bay many millions of our natural allies among women and ethnic minorities as well as family and faith-loving conservatives. These traits arrogance and ignorance must go, or we risk negating our very essence.

Then there are several external threats. Across university campuses, there is the return of the 1970s alliance of the Red-Greens, the Islamist-Marxists in Iran. That alliance in Iran that toppled the Shah, only for the Greens to then eradicate the Reds. In Britain, for almost 25 years now, this Islamist-Marxist alliance has been wreaking havoc in northern towns, communities, campuses and civil society organisations. They both seek utopias: a caliphate for Islamists, and communism for Marxists, or socialism in the first instance. George Galloway can go from Tower Hamlets to Bradford because of this alliance. Labour can dismiss the Jewish vote and widespread fear of anti-Semitism because it knows it has the Islamist-Leftist bloc in over 30 constituencies at work. This same bloc intimidates Jewish students on campuses in more than 20 campuses. Our allies across the Middle East are threatened with revolutions and extremism by the very same Islamist-Leftist alliance of resistance. Anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Semitism are their hallmarks.

Along with politics, comes a culture of repudiation of the past. They roundly condemn every element of past slavery in the West, but will be silent on slavery in China, India or the Ottoman Empire. They dismiss Greek and Roman philosophers as dead white men, they wish to uproot the patriarchy, but are silent on south American dictators or Stalins mass murders. Wilberforce led attempts to ban slavery; Victorians began to honour children with education and protection; Disraeli and other Tories extended the vote and established the first foundations of the modern welfare state. The West did nothing right in the past; all must be repudiated, and a new world of liberation created. And for that new moral framework, a culture war is underway.

Identity politics is the new culture war. Where Martin Luther King taught us to judge by the content of our character, now a new generation seeks to hate all white, middle class straight men for their privilege. Gay, female, transsexual, Muslim, black, non-binary and other characteristics are the central features of identity. And to make it all worse, there is a constant allegation that white men and whiteness are powerful, and all other groups are victims at an intersection where grievances merge. The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray masterfully unpacks the inner contradictions of this new craze. Their sworn enemy is anything remotely conservative, yet their entire provision to think freely, blaspheme, offend, rebel, subvert, and confront are all freedoms provided by the men and patriarchy they despise: Whigs, Liberals and Tories. Who will explain to this generation that they owe it to their future progeny to preserve the best of the West, and stop the behaviour of this self-destructive cultural suicide bomber?

Unless conservatives understand our heritage, have the confidence to defend and advance it, cherish the best of the West then we allow the Islamist-Leftist alliance to grow and culture wars spread further. Conservatism is about much more than only winning elections. Love for our people, love for our country, love for our music, art, history, books, cuisine, landscape, architecture, churches, temples, synagogues, mosques, and monarchy. From love stems the greatest defence for all that is worth defending.

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Profiting from the Prophet - Reaction