Oh, Javier, you will understand my sorrow better than anyone. My daughter and I want to visit Guadalajara soon - I am eager to see you again and catch up.
More specific comments at a later date when I can make the time. For now, how about another reference for you and your readers who is also a fellow Substacker, George Lakoff?
I believe each of the following titles are quite relevant to your investigation. I ordered them in the sequence of reading that I recommend from top (1st) to bottom (but the first two would be a good start to finding a way to understand our relatives as well as current national and international anti-democratic movements).
Moral politics: how liberals and conservatives think. Lakoff, George, author. 2002; Second edition.
The political mind: a cognitive scientist's guide to your brain and its politics. Lakoff, George. 2009.
The all new Don't think of an elephant! : know your values and frame the debate. Lakoff, George, author. 2014.
Whose freedom?: the battle over America's most important idea. Lakoff, George. 2006; 1st ed.
The little blue book : the essential guide to thinking and talking Democratic. Lakoff, George; Wehling, Elisabeth. 2012; 1st Free Press Trade paperback ed.
Your brain's politics : how the science of mind explains the political divide. Lakoff, George, author; Wehling, Elisabeth, author. 2016
Thank you, and indeed I've been planning to go back to Lakoff. I've been talking to a colleague about the art of persuasion and Lakoff is one of the key writers. More soon!
May 5, 2023·edited May 5, 2023Liked by Karen Christensen
Karen, you may have just convinced me to upgrade. ;-)
Quick reference now, preferably before your talk with Uncle Dean. View the documentary or read the book, "The Brainwashing of My Dad: How the Rise of Right-Wing Media Changed a Father and Divided Our Nation--And How We Can Fight Back," by Jen Senko. Sorry to say that each still remain on my To Do list, but it's one of many books and other research to be done related to the topics of self and community viewed in part through the lenses of fixed/closed versus growth/open mindsets/neuropsychology with others from various fields.
Thanks, I've ordered a copy. I'm also reading the surgeon general's release on loneliness, which I feel sure ties in - we are vulnerable when we are lonely.
Thank you Karen for a stimulating statement on far-right religion.
Since I've published some contributions on Muscular Christianity of the mid-19th century, I continue to keep an open dialogue with far-right Religious fundamentalists in my extended family.
It's not easy to break through the brick wall, but I still believe in the idea --which delivers some future hope -- that "we are spiritual beings by nature, who just happen to be having a human experience."
A deceased mentor of mine, Thomas Berry (1914-2009) always defined himself as an "ecologian" -- an earth theologian -- who believed we must work to bridge the mysterious "disconnect" between the human and the divine. (Is Life actually a Miracle?) He "believed" evil was "entropy" or "decay," in simple terms.
Churches need to care more about all life of the earth, as much as they care about the life of the fetus/zygote. Sadly, that's not happening.
That's one serious call to bring all religions together; to accomplish the Great Work that needs to be done.
I'm now staring at just one of my mentor Tom's book, "The Great Work." Another former colleague, John Haught, wrote the books "Religion and Science" and "The Promise of Nature" which talk about "evolution" and "creation" -- being the exact same thing -- since it's really about the "God of Novelty." Berry often repeated that thought about "evolution" and "creation" being the exact same thing at conference presentations. Do some, or most Christians, reject evolution? They seem to always talk about the Creation. Have they ever used the words "God of Novelty?"
All of us -- Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc., need to develop some "new" thinking --- a new vocabulary --- we need a new "religious" vocabulary in order to talk with the "other" about the meaning of life. That's just a short version of the long work ahead, the Great Work.
Haught used to criticize Berry for not having an "Eschatology." A what? Another new word?
They conversed, but they talked and communicated about vocabulary. Haught criticized Thomas for NOT having an eschatology which is: that part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind. In other words, they were both concerned about man committing "suicide" on earth -- a grave sin for Christians, but Thomas was primarily concerned about the future of man's life on earth, not man's soul in a so-called afterlife. Why?
He often told me -- when I asked him about the afterlife, he would pause for a very brief moment, and say-- once again: "as far as the 'afterlife' is concerned, if you've not got there yet, you'll never get there."
Think about that for a few years. --- I'm still thinking, 16 years later.
And – I’ve arrived at an answer, for another time.
It's great fun to think about the joyful aspects of it all.
Karen, as a Canadian evangelical, I have looked at demise of the American evangelical movement with dismay, even grief. I recall speaking with an American Christian student who asked me why Canadians don't care about politics. "We talk politics all the time," she said. Somewhere around the rise of Jerry Falwell, American evangelicals fearing (and being told constantly) that the US was going to hell in a handbasket, began to organize. Rather that going it alone, they joined whatever sympathetic political forces were out there - from Tea Party to Trump. Having decided that only politics could save America, they hitched their star to extremist champions who seemed most in line with their desire to remake America into a Christian nation (it never was). Their vision of picket-fence society governed by a Christian social contract ignored the way it actually was in the so-called golden days - blatant racism, hate, cruelty. Social media and Fox have certainly helped feed the evangelical fallacy. I have evangelical friends even here in Canada who are avid Fox watchers and are appalled that I like CNN and MSNBC. I asked a friend in the US why he supported Trump. He said he despised Trump's morals but Trump would get them a supreme court that could turn things around.
None of this has anything whatsoever to do with Christianity. The biblical message is that we turn the world around by sharing the gospel and the love of Jesus who consorted with "tax collectors and sinners" because his compassion led him to believe that he could win such people. The Christian efforts worldwide in education and medicine were sponsored by the love of Christ, not by vicious political agendas. I am grieved.
Canadians always seem to do things better. Maybe it's countries that get too much of a taste of power that end up with citizens all too ready to lose their minds!
An engaging and intelligent article about the aptly-named "dark side of religion" with a personal and family tie-in. A reminder that one can't choose one's relatives.
Dear Karen, I hope you can at some point. You are welcome
Very interesting. Certainly captive by the religions.
A loving hug for your memories.
Oh, Javier, you will understand my sorrow better than anyone. My daughter and I want to visit Guadalajara soon - I am eager to see you again and catch up.
I subscribed, Karen.
More specific comments at a later date when I can make the time. For now, how about another reference for you and your readers who is also a fellow Substacker, George Lakoff?
George Lakoff’s FrameLab Newsletter on Substack (FrameLab http://georgelakoff.substack.com).
I believe each of the following titles are quite relevant to your investigation. I ordered them in the sequence of reading that I recommend from top (1st) to bottom (but the first two would be a good start to finding a way to understand our relatives as well as current national and international anti-democratic movements).
Moral politics: how liberals and conservatives think. Lakoff, George, author. 2002; Second edition.
The political mind: a cognitive scientist's guide to your brain and its politics. Lakoff, George. 2009.
The all new Don't think of an elephant! : know your values and frame the debate. Lakoff, George, author. 2014.
Whose freedom?: the battle over America's most important idea. Lakoff, George. 2006; 1st ed.
The little blue book : the essential guide to thinking and talking Democratic. Lakoff, George; Wehling, Elisabeth. 2012; 1st Free Press Trade paperback ed.
Your brain's politics : how the science of mind explains the political divide. Lakoff, George, author; Wehling, Elisabeth, author. 2016
Note that there may be some more recent editions.
Thank you, and indeed I've been planning to go back to Lakoff. I've been talking to a colleague about the art of persuasion and Lakoff is one of the key writers. More soon!
Karen, you may have just convinced me to upgrade. ;-)
Quick reference now, preferably before your talk with Uncle Dean. View the documentary or read the book, "The Brainwashing of My Dad: How the Rise of Right-Wing Media Changed a Father and Divided Our Nation--And How We Can Fight Back," by Jen Senko. Sorry to say that each still remain on my To Do list, but it's one of many books and other research to be done related to the topics of self and community viewed in part through the lenses of fixed/closed versus growth/open mindsets/neuropsychology with others from various fields.
Wishing you well, Roscoe
Thanks, I've ordered a copy. I'm also reading the surgeon general's release on loneliness, which I feel sure ties in - we are vulnerable when we are lonely.
Thank you Karen for a stimulating statement on far-right religion.
Since I've published some contributions on Muscular Christianity of the mid-19th century, I continue to keep an open dialogue with far-right Religious fundamentalists in my extended family.
It's not easy to break through the brick wall, but I still believe in the idea --which delivers some future hope -- that "we are spiritual beings by nature, who just happen to be having a human experience."
A deceased mentor of mine, Thomas Berry (1914-2009) always defined himself as an "ecologian" -- an earth theologian -- who believed we must work to bridge the mysterious "disconnect" between the human and the divine. (Is Life actually a Miracle?) He "believed" evil was "entropy" or "decay," in simple terms.
Churches need to care more about all life of the earth, as much as they care about the life of the fetus/zygote. Sadly, that's not happening.
That's one serious call to bring all religions together; to accomplish the Great Work that needs to be done.
I'm now staring at just one of my mentor Tom's book, "The Great Work." Another former colleague, John Haught, wrote the books "Religion and Science" and "The Promise of Nature" which talk about "evolution" and "creation" -- being the exact same thing -- since it's really about the "God of Novelty." Berry often repeated that thought about "evolution" and "creation" being the exact same thing at conference presentations. Do some, or most Christians, reject evolution? They seem to always talk about the Creation. Have they ever used the words "God of Novelty?"
All of us -- Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc., need to develop some "new" thinking --- a new vocabulary --- we need a new "religious" vocabulary in order to talk with the "other" about the meaning of life. That's just a short version of the long work ahead, the Great Work.
Haught used to criticize Berry for not having an "Eschatology." A what? Another new word?
They conversed, but they talked and communicated about vocabulary. Haught criticized Thomas for NOT having an eschatology which is: that part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind. In other words, they were both concerned about man committing "suicide" on earth -- a grave sin for Christians, but Thomas was primarily concerned about the future of man's life on earth, not man's soul in a so-called afterlife. Why?
He often told me -- when I asked him about the afterlife, he would pause for a very brief moment, and say-- once again: "as far as the 'afterlife' is concerned, if you've not got there yet, you'll never get there."
Think about that for a few years. --- I'm still thinking, 16 years later.
And – I’ve arrived at an answer, for another time.
It's great fun to think about the joyful aspects of it all.
The miracles of life all around us.
Karen, as a Canadian evangelical, I have looked at demise of the American evangelical movement with dismay, even grief. I recall speaking with an American Christian student who asked me why Canadians don't care about politics. "We talk politics all the time," she said. Somewhere around the rise of Jerry Falwell, American evangelicals fearing (and being told constantly) that the US was going to hell in a handbasket, began to organize. Rather that going it alone, they joined whatever sympathetic political forces were out there - from Tea Party to Trump. Having decided that only politics could save America, they hitched their star to extremist champions who seemed most in line with their desire to remake America into a Christian nation (it never was). Their vision of picket-fence society governed by a Christian social contract ignored the way it actually was in the so-called golden days - blatant racism, hate, cruelty. Social media and Fox have certainly helped feed the evangelical fallacy. I have evangelical friends even here in Canada who are avid Fox watchers and are appalled that I like CNN and MSNBC. I asked a friend in the US why he supported Trump. He said he despised Trump's morals but Trump would get them a supreme court that could turn things around.
None of this has anything whatsoever to do with Christianity. The biblical message is that we turn the world around by sharing the gospel and the love of Jesus who consorted with "tax collectors and sinners" because his compassion led him to believe that he could win such people. The Christian efforts worldwide in education and medicine were sponsored by the love of Christ, not by vicious political agendas. I am grieved.
Canadians always seem to do things better. Maybe it's countries that get too much of a taste of power that end up with citizens all too ready to lose their minds!
An engaging and intelligent article about the aptly-named "dark side of religion" with a personal and family tie-in. A reminder that one can't choose one's relatives.
My mother read it (I didn't know she was a subscriber, or maybe someone sent it to her), and fortunately approved.