Humanist and Atheist Chaplaincy

"The nonreligious population is exploding, and somebody has to minister to them. Harvard’s humanist chaplain is on the road, sharing a vision of the common good, hoping his message will resonate with theists and atheists alike." (Religion Dispatches, Oct. 30, 2009)

With millions of people identifying as "non-religious" or "non-theist" in the U.S. there is a growing and often unrecognized need for spiritual or emotional counseling of those that fall into this group. Greg Epstein is one who has stepped up. He is a "humanist chaplain" at Harvard University who has recently published a book called Good Without God: What a Billion Non-religious People Do Believe (William Morrow, 2009) which discusses the reality of an atheistic spirituality.

I've been curious about this relatively new distinction people oftentimes make between 'religion' and 'spirituality.' When I ask people about the difference between the meaning of the two terms they usually retort that religion has something to do with institutions, social gathering, doctrine, dogma, etc. whereas spirituality has more to do with a personal, individual pursuit of meaning and truth. Thus, on this distinction, the notion of an atheistic spirituality would make sense, I suppose. Atheists can consider themselves spiritual but not religious; they have a personal quest for meaning and truth but not one that involves a particular institutional affiliation, doctrine, or belief about God, deity, divinity, or the like.

Since atheists do often consider themselves spiritual persons, then it is crucial that the spiritual service of chaplaincy address their particular needs as well. Thus, we must have chaplains that are trained and prepared to meet the emotional and spiritual needs of atheistic worldviews and lives, chaplains that can make that modern/post-modern distincition between religion and spirituality when working with atheist persons.

I like the idea of the work that Greg Epstein is doing. This kind of activity needs more public attention. This is an area of chaplaincy that is not much talked about but is crucial for servicing the spiritual needs of a now significant population of the U.S. and the world.

Read a review article of Epstein's new book at Religion Dispatches.

(Above image from Religion Dispatches.)

Prayers and Meditations of World Religions Course

I just started teaching/facilitating a class at Unity Church of Peoria, IL called "Prayers and Meditations of the World's Religons." The aim of the course is to introduce church-goers to some of the more prominent and representative contemplative expressions of faith in order to facilitate deeper interreligious understanding and perhaps transform ourseves and our own prayer practices.

Last night the first class met and, while we didn't actually read or pray any prayers yet, it was a wonderful and lively discussion of what prayer and meditation is, the diversity of prayer and contemplation in the various world religions, what mysticism is and its central role in the forming and development of religious traditions, the strengths and weaknesses of language and conceptions, etc.

Anyway, though I've facilitated the class before at other Unity churches, I'm very excited about how this particular incarnation has begun and look forward to the promising fruitful conversation that will come about.

If you happen to be in the central Illinois area come and join us for some stimulating and intriguing discussion and reading of the prayers and meditations of the world's religions. We meet on Wednesday evenings from 7-8:30pm at the Unity Church of Peoria.

Peace.

Common Tables "eLerts"

Common Tables, an organization that promotes and facilitates grassroots-style interfaith dialogue, has come out with a new feature called the "eLert." It's essentially a mass email list that sends people an email notification that brings attention to significant holidays from all the major world religions as they occur, along with a brief explanation.

Sign up for Common Tables' "eLert" here.

The Conservative Bible Project

Through the wonderful blogosphere essay forum, Religion Dispatches, I've been made aware of a particular group of conservative Christians called "The Conservative Bible Project." Interestingly, according to this community (founded by Andy Schlafly, also founder of Conservapedia), apparently the English translations of the Bible have become too liberalized and must be re-written, re-translated, and edited so as to free it from its progressive-liberal bias.

Although most scholars and practitioners alike find this project to be a bit of a joke, I somewhat find this to be a fascinating project. I think it lifts up some very pertinent and significant questions about biblical translation and interpretation and the Bible's relation to politics. As Joseph Laycock and Thomas Fabisiak write in their Oct. 21, 2009 essay in Religion Dispatches, "Is Schlafly a profoundly cynical politician, attempting to manipulate religion in a way that would put Machiavelli and Karl Rove to shame? Or does he truly believe that the Bible has been tainted by 'liberalism' for over a thousand years?" They have a point.

I also share Laycock and Fabisiak's connection of this project to The Jefferson Bible. For those who are unaware, America's 3rd president, Thomas Jefferson, felt that the Bible had been abused, corrupted, and misappropriated by Christians for so many years that he set out on a project where he excised all the supernatural passages out of the New Testament, or those that referred to miracles of some kind. After his cut and paste venture, all that was left was largely those pericope's of Jesus' teachings and parables. The connection to Schlafly is striking. The question becomes, "Is Schlafly attempting a conservative version of the Jeffersonian editing enterprise?"

Probably not exactly. Jefferson's pursuit was totally personal and wasn't published until years later, whereas Schlafly's project is aimed at being very public, political and geared toward dispelling a certain category of infestation -- "the liberal."

Check out Laycock and Fabisiak's essay at Religion Dispatches.

There also a write-up of the project by Rachel Weiner in the Huffington Post.

(Image from Religion Dispatches website; it's a section of the Conservative Bible Project's Bible translation, which translates "Pharisee" as "Liberal.")

Comic Book Bible

Legendary comic book author R. Crumb has put out a comic book version of the book of Genesis. Even though comic books, and R. Crumb's in particular, have largely been considered to be rather irreverent and quick to make jabs, people are saying that this take is rather sensitive to the content of the Bible and not as tasteless as one might expect.

Gabriel Mckee of Religion Dispatches writes a review of the comic, just put out October 19, 2009.

Buddhism's Prominence in America

A friend turned me on to this article at the Buddhist Channel about Buddhism and its place in today's American society and culture. Andrew Lam briefly outlines the roots of Buddhism in the U.S., its development up to now, and its impact and presence in here in the States. All this from his own Buddhist perspective, of course.

It's a concise but intriguing article. Check it out here.

(Image from Buddhist Channel website.)

A Pagan Republican Comes Out of the Broom Closet

Interesting story about New York City councilman, Dan Halloran, is a neo-pagan devotee, practicing the beliefs and rituals of the religion of the early people in Northern Europe. Normally, this wouldn't be too big of a deal or make news, but rather than being associated with the political progressive-liberal parties he's a Republican.

Read the story by Sarah Pike at Religion Dispatches.

Image also from Religion Dispatches.

Contemplative Leadership: Realizing Human Potential and Improving the Human Condition

The Merton Institute for Contemplative Living is holding two contemplative leadership events in January:

"The Merton Institute for Contemplative Living invites leaders from all sectors of society to the Contemplative Leadership Retreat held January 14-16, 2010, and the Contemplative Leadership Conference held January 17-18, 2010, at the Duncan Conference Center in Delray Beach, Florida. Both programs address the leadership crisis found throughout the guiding institutions society

Contemplative leadership evolves from living in right relationship with self, others, nature, and God. These relationships are the source from which a leader's awareness, influence, and vision flow. They serve as guides for a leader's ethical behavior, engender trust within the organization, and provide a platform of meaning and purpose on which the group or organization's mission manifest." (Religion & Ethics Newsweekly)

More information at the Merton Institute's website.

Image from Merton Institute's website.

Barbara Ehrenreich’s Bright-Sided Explores the Dark Side of Positive Thinking

"A new book reveals the historical roots and conservative uses of the positive thinking movement, showing how it encourages victim-blaming, political complacency, and a culture-wide flight from realism." (Michelle Goldberg, Religion Dispatches)

Bright-Sided: How The Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America is a recently published book by Barbara Ehrenreich that traces the origins, development, and ethically dubious uses of the so-called positive thinking movement. She largely speaks against this movement, arguing that this message has been used to blame completely innocent victims of disasters and diseases, inhibit social and political activism, and, in some instances, exploit people for profit. She takes a hard-nosed look at the darker facet of this movement of positivity that exists in circles from conservative Christians (e.g. Joel Osteen and prosperity gospelers) to New Agers (e.g. The Secret) and corporate America.

The Christian denomination with which I'm affiliated, Unity, finds its historical roots in the New Thought movement, which combined a healthy dose of American Pragmatism with Transcendentalism's spiritual tenor. New Thought is centered firmly in the positive thinking movement, and is in fact where the current movement finds its beginnings. All in all, Ehrenreich does make valid points about the ethical difficulties with some aspects of the positive thinking movement. I don't believe that everyone who gets cancer is solely responsible for contracting that disease due to their "victim" mentality or negative attitude. I don't believe that those who are killed or harmed by tsunamis or hurricanes had it coming to them because of the mental atmosphere that they harbor. I don't think reality is that simple; I believe cause and effect is not just linear but multi-faceted and multi-layered. Of course, in order to enact any real social change it must not stay confined to our inner attitude but become an engaged activity cultivated in relationships and society.

Sure, Ehrenreich makes some good points about the pitfalls of positive thinking. However, I'd argue that any personal or social change that is to be enacted must have its conception and origin in some feeling of optimism or "positivity" of sorts. As reviewer, Michelle Goldberg, states, "How else could Gandhi believe that he could get the British to leave India, or Martin Luther King convince himself and his followers in the possibility of winning racial equality? Barack Obama became president in part by imbuing millions of individuals with the wild hope that they could change the world." (Religion Dispatches) This all requires a seed of optimism and positivity, which is what all good religion has at its heart - a very real and acute sense of hope.

Read Goldberg's review essay at Religion Dispatches.

Patheos Launches Interfaith Dialogue on Religion and Education

Patheos.com, one of the world's foremost online forums for global dialogue on issues of religion and spirituality, recently launched a "Public Square" examination of the challenges and issues facing religious education from the perspective of the world's seven largest religious traditions.

To read a review of the recent dialogue forum see this article of the Religion News Service.

To find out more go to Patheos.com.

Journal of Inter-religious Dialogue Releases Its Second Issue

The Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue has just released its second issue of peer-reviewed scholarly articles called "Engaging the Taboo: Gender, Sexuality, and the Body in Our Religious Traditions." This topic is very crucial in today's milieu and is an extremely important issue to be dealt with within and among the religious traditions of the world.

The Journal offers a novel way of establishing long-term dialogue and collaboration between religious communities and individuals with a compelling and scholastic methodology.

The Journal is available to read online in a free web platform.

Is God 'Out There' or Only Found Within?

This Friday on Unity.FM Rev. Dr. Thomas Shepherd's program "Let's Talk About It" will feature an interesting topic: "Praying to the Ceiling - Is God 'Out There' or Only Found Within?"

"Let's Talk About It" always has interesting themes for its programming, but this one promises to be extra intriguing, in my opinion. As a Unity student in the Unity movement I'm certainly of the belief that God is most certainly found within. The living Christ is fully present within every human being as the Divine Ground of Being, and, as such, is God immanent.

However, since God is not relegated to being present only within one individual, but is present in every individual, God is also found outside of myself in the being and life of others. I can encounter God not only through the Christ innate in myself but also in my interactions and relationships with others. The back-and-forth movement of inter-relatedness discloses God as Being, Life, and Love in my relationships with other human beings.

The Christ in me is fully God, but this presence is not all of God, it doesn't exhaust God's being. This leads me to a decisively panentheistic (all-in-God) viewpoint: God is fully in all creation, but God is also equally beyond creation. God is both immanent and transcendent. Faith in this experiential truth, for me, leads me to claim that I find God "in" myself and also "outside" myself. That is, I experience God as being part and parcel of myself, my own subjective awareness, but also not limited to me as subject -- experienced as object or that-to-which-I-relate.

I'm looking forward to hearing what Rev. Dr. Shepherd and his guests have to say about this fascinating and important topic of theology for the Unity movment.

Listen on Friday Oct. 9, 2009 at 4pm CST to "Let's Talk About It" on Unity.FM.

Unity Leader Mindy Audlin and Voices of Peace

Mindy Audlin, host of the Unity.FM program The Leading Edge, recently brought together 21 world-renowned spiritual leaders who share a passion for peace-building. The transcripts of these interviews are now available as an e-book with proceeds benefiting organizations such as The Global Peace Project.

Learn more about the Voices of Peace project.

Read a brief essay written by Mindy concerning these efforts at Unity.FM.