Amateur Psychology Moment: for Monday, April 25

Why is it I frequent mostly religious and economics blogs? Am I sucker for lost causes?!

The Invisible Meme

I have long been wanting to start a blog meme among believers and non-believers in which each “victim” of the mind-virus would answer the following:

1) Who are “Us”?
2) Who are “Them”?
3) What is the weakest argument used by supporters of Our Side?
4) What is the best argument deployed by Their Side?

This would hopefully take the focus off bashing the other guy and turn it toward a more humble footing. It could even be applied to the opponents in any contentious debate.

Unfortunately my blog doesn’t have the visibility (no one reads it) to start something like this. That said, my answers would be run thus:

1) Soft Atheists: those who cite that “(claimed) insufficient evidence” for God’s existence.

2) Theists: I think you know who you are - still wondering about James McGrath :)

3) Every evil perpetrated in the last 2000 years can be blamed on religion: I firmly believe that, while Hitler may have had religious thoughts, in the absence of those he would have found some other justification for his actions.

4) The argument from personal experience: Although what takes place in an individuals head is subjective and unreproducible (under controlled conditions) it is still a something that was perceived and affected that person’s life. (HT McGrath)

(originally posted at Pen & Parchment)

Good Question

Why aren’t millions of believers saying, “Yes, I know my god is real because the universe is intelligently designed and I believe that the [Bible, Koran, or Torah] describes him accurately. However, based on the actions of this god. I cannot follow or worship him because I am a decent human being.”
Guy Harrison on "Where Are the Moral Believers?"

What's the Matter With Republicans

If true this is revealing:

In fact, while roughly the same number of Republicans and Democrats claim to believe in God, the number of Democrats that accept evolution is double that of the Republicans

The Power of Self-Delusion

I was curious about the rumored doubts that C. S. Lewis expressed in A Grief Observed reflecting on the loss of his wife.

I came across this excerpt:

Meanwhile, where is God? This is one of the most disquieting symptoms. When you are happy, so happy that you have no sense of needing Him, so happy that you are tempted to feel His claims upon you as an interruption, if you remember yourself and turn to Him with gratitude and praise, you will be — or so it feels — welcomed with open arms. But go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that, silence. You may as well turn away. The longer you wait, the more emphatic the silence will become. There are no lights in the windows. It might be an empty house. Was it ever inhabited? It seemed so once. And that seeming was as strong as this. What can this mean? Why is He so present a commander in our time of prosperity and so very absent a help in time of trouble?

Is there a better expression of an experience where it is made clear that God is a creation of our own perception of our internal state. The shadow we took for a giant turns out to be an ancient oak tree when we are forced to approach it more closely. We create God in our image and find that he is not there when we actually need aid from outside ourselves.

The Light Shines a Little Brighter

Was listening to my 8 year old daughter read the story of Noah's Ark with my in one of those "Bible Stories for Children" books. When she got to the part where it becomes clear that God is going to drown hundreds of thousands of people and billions of animals, she wrinkles her nose up in an "Eew!" expression.

What a delightful age!

Finally, The Truth About Creation!

Three engineering students were arguing about who designed the human body. One insisted that the human body must have been designed by an Electrical Engineer because of the perfection of the nerves and synapses. Another disagreed, and exclaimed that it had to have been a Mechanical Engineer: “The system of levers and pulleys is ingenious.” “No,” the third student said, “you’re both wrong. The human body was designed by a Civil Engineer. Who else but a Civil Engineer would have put a toxic waste line through a recreation area?”

Thanks to Michael Shermer who claims to have picked it up from A Prairie Home Companion

What's the Point?

Went to fetch a book to read to the kids before turning out the light. I grabbed the "Children's Book of Bible Stories" or whatever because the kids stay focused on it and this is part of the Devil's bargain I seem to have made that we raise the children "within the church." I am not sure when the day will come when I am authorized to introduce some skepticism but I winced when, at the end of the partially-sanitized Jonah story, the book claims that "God was happy the he did not have to destroy the people of Nineveh." Imagine me saying, "I'm glad that my wife stopped running up the credit cards. Now I don't have to kill her!"

Any way, as I read the Garden of Eden bit I found myself considering sitting down and tracing the different source threads in Genesis. Then I asked myself why... ? I realized that if I am looking for something to throw up to a Believer as a justification for rejecting Christianity (my opportunities to enter that debate are limited - I'm not that confrontational face-to-face) then I am wasting my time. The actual contents of the book on which Christians claim to base their belief is irrelevant. Sure, some theologians and Bible-thumpers might care, but 99.9% of Christians have no idea what the details of the Bible are and are familiar with only a handful of stories. Confronting them with contradictions would require that they had ever even heard of the thing being contradicted. Understanding and dealing with Christians then, when even possible, must be a matter of generic questions of Evil, Free Will, morality and maybe only a sprinkling of abhorrent God acts.

Bumper Stickers

Two Bumper Stickers in my parking lot at work. Next week I change offices and won't get to see them anymore...

"WWBD" (picture of hounds-tooth hat in background)

What-Would-Bear-Do? Paul "Bear" Bryant has finally ascended to the right hand of God the Father Almighty!


"God Did It" (airbrushed sunrise in background)

I can't help supplying the rest of the sentence: "... and He Has to Clean it Up!"

Post-Capitalism?

"When we see politics permeate every sector of life, we call it totalitarianism. When religion rules all, we call it theocracy. But when commerce dominates everything, we call it liberty."

Benjamin R. Barber

Interesting Op-Ed examining what happens after capitalism succeeds in fulfilling our basic needs.

Pillars

Just noticed that the citation from Luke 8:49-55 in my previous post lists the disciples whom
Jesus trusted to enter Jairus' house to witness a dead-raising and that they are none other than Peter, John and James - later identified by Paul in Galatians as "those reputed to be pillars." Nice tie in, Luke!

One could argue that Luke was working from Paul's letter, that he had personal knowledge, that the names of the pillars were generally known, or that these names were part of the legends surrounding the Jerusalem church that later circulated at the end of the first century. Not too hard to guess who will make which claim, right?

In any case, this is an interesting connection that I never hit upon before.

On Resurection

Just listened to a sermon including the claim that the idea of a person raising from the dead was so alien to the Jesus' followers that they would ignore the Jesus' repeated claims that he do just that - raise from the dead. The problem with this argument is that there are well-known cases in both the Jewish scriptures and Jesus' ministry of people coming back to life. In fact, in at least one case, the chief Apostles accompany Jesus when the miracle occurs. A quick search on BibleGateway.com reveals five cases of the dead raising prior to Easter.

1 Kings 17:19-23 Elijah raises the son of a widow at Zarephath

19 "Give me your son," Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?" 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this boy's life return to him!"

22 The LORD heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, "Look, your son is alive!"

2 Kings 4:32-35 Elisha raises the son of the Shunammite woman

When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. 33 He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the LORD. 34 Then he got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out upon him, the boy's body grew warm. 35 Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out upon him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

2 Kings 13:21 A corpse comes to life upon touching Elisha's bones

21 Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.

Luke 7:12-15 Jesus raises a widows only son

12As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry."

14Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" 15The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

Luke 8:49-55 Jesus raises Jairus' daughter

51When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child's father and mother. 52Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. "Stop wailing," Jesus said. "She is not dead but asleep."

53They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54But he took her by the hand and said, "My child, get up!" 55Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat.

John 11:38-44 Jesus raises Lazarus.

38Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39"Take away the stone," he said.
"But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days."

40Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

41So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."

43When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."

Even if none of Jesus' disciples were familiar with the Jewish scriptures (as if!) they would have witnessed Jesus raising at least three individuals from the dead. If you take these stories at face value, then the possibility of resurrection, especially when Jesus was involved, would have been very immediate and real.

There was further claim in this sermon that the Marys' and Apostles' assumption that Jesus' body would be found in the tomb was good evidence that the Resurrection was historical. A better interpretation is that it is actually evidence for the later addition to the story once Jesus return in Glory to overthrow the Roman occupation failed to occur. You see, the disciples more likely were very much expecting Jesus to be Resurrected and return to bring about a Messianic reign. When it did not occur, that was when they became disappointed. Some sort of appearances later (I'm betting on a series of visions, like Paul's) rekindled the ministry with a new purpose and direction and the empty tomb and Resurrection stories were added to the Passion narrative. Can't prove this but it demonstrates this bit of purported evidence can be explained with an equally (if not more) plausible series of events.

The Trap

One of the annoying things about attending church when you are an ex-Christian is that all your old habits of action and thought come back all too readily.

When I first decided to join the choir at my wife’s United Methodist church, I had to decide whether I would “pretend” to be a believer or not. When the first opportunity to participate in the Eucharist (notice the effortless use of Episcopal terminology) came, I decided NOT to take communion and had to stand there in the choir loft and let all the other singers squeeze past me. That was going to look odd if it happened every month. I was attending this church to not only provide my children a united parental front (my wife and I had already settled on the fact that the kids would be raised with church, with me or otherwise) but also to do some soft networking in preparation for the coming Generational Crisis. Anyway, it was then that I decided that I was in for the proverbial pound rather than pretending I could limit the cost to a penny. I started tithing, taking communion, and reciting the Apostle’s Creed and Lord’s Prayer. I had been a devout Episcopalian (oxymoron?) from the ages of about 14 to 20, so I knew and was comfortable with all the “moves” required during a liturgical worship service.

Perhaps activating those long quiet mental pathways have caused other disused parts of my brain to re-awaken. It all started this past Palm Sunday. The choir has been all psyched for Holy Week, with big plans for a Maundy Thursday service, three pieces on Easter itself, brass instrumentation, etc… I arrived at the church for the early service assuming that such an important Sunday (again, that Episcopalian outlook) would call for everyone to sing during both services instead of the usual one. Instead, I found that no one else got this message. Then I thought, “Hey! That is a dinky little anthem we’re doing today!” A little let down, I took my place in the choir loft, did the Creed and Confession and waited through the “announcements.”

Now, normally I find the idea that the service comes to a screeching halt so they can announce a bake sale before proceeding to the Prayer’s a little weird. But on Palm Sunday they have something special in mind… They have the instructor for the new Aerobics Class come to the lectern and speak! It goes Hymn, Apostle’s Creed, Confession of Sins, Hand Bells, Aerobics, and Lord’s Prayer. As they used to sing on Sesame Street, “One of these is not like the others. One of these things just isn’t the same.”

After church my wife and I bemoan the fact that it is almost impossible to maintain an worshipful atmosphere when the minister tells Bama jokes and encourages people to leave the sanctuary during the final hymn if they have anything important to do before Sunday School starts!

“Wait a minute,” you say, “aren’t you an Atheist?” What the hell am I doing complaining about the worship service when I view its basis as a pack of delusions? Now you see my dilemma. By choosing to become a crypto-skeptic I am being sucked back into thinking like a Christian. I find this a little annoying, but I also realize it is something I will have to learn to live with. This is why I have come to think of myself as an ex-Christian rather than a simple Atheist – can’t escape my upbringing. Still trying to squelch the urge to leap to my feet during sermons to scream, “That just isn’t true!!”


P.S.: For those of you who are thinking, “Perhaps it is really God trying to get through to you but you are just too stubborn to acknowledge His Call”. Yeah, right. As I like to say, God knows where I live if He wants me. And He presumably knows what it will take to reach me. Hell, He put out for Thomas. I think I deserve no less.

Sweet Charity

The Rev. Franklin Graham, as quoted by Katy Pownall, AP:

"I want to help people physically, I want to help them with their hurt, with their pain, but I want to do that so I can tell them about God's son, Jesus Christ. The conversion we do is through persuasion, through reasoning. ... They will receive material help from us regardless.''

Forget everything you have been told about Christian Love. There are Christians out there doing wonderful works out of a pure desire to help their fellow man, but the credit goes to Human Nature not the the influence of Religion. This quote exposes the twisted logic of evangelism which, starting with Paul, has lied, deceived, tricked and eventually tortured people into Believing. Another notch on the crucifix!

I remember an office mate (stop me if I have told this story before) who was involved with church affiliated youth home. She really cared for those children and worked tirelessly. One day, after enlisting some assistance (or was it a donation?) from another co-worker, she thanked him for his support. His reply floored me. He said, "Anything to stop another abortion." He didn't give a rat's ass about those abandoned and abused kids. There was no Love there. All he was interested in was scoring points with Jesus.

70-80% of the US population considers itself "Christian." Almost half of these are what George Barna calls Notional Christians - they like the idea of God and being Christian but it has no real impact on the way they live their lives. Fair enough. Intuitively, that feels right. He divides the rest into Born Agains and Evangelicals by what they claim to believe (Biblical accuracy, belief in Satan, etc) - as good a method as any, I suppose. The elite group is the Evangelicals at a mere 7% of those surveyed and adhering to the strictest set of beliefs. I am pretty sure that my Mr. Holier-Than-Thou, above, made the cut. My point here is that if Mr H-T-T represents the most "serious" group of believers , than it is time for sensible people to re-examine the special status we routinely grant Faith in our public discourse and start calling a spade a spade.

Alternatively, Mr Barna may be ideologically blinded and his precious little Evangelicals (along with the "Reverend" Franklin and "Saint" Paul) represent the group farthest away from what their Creator intended. If this is the case, all those Notional Christians were right all along in demonstrating that love and compassion do not require absolute adherence to the Nicene Creed. Of course, if that is the case, what exactly do we need Religion for?

The J-C Bomb

Christians and Jews
Judeo-Christian
Christian and Jewish

How many times have we heard these phrases used as if the two were perfectly compatible and complimentary, especially when contrasting Us against the Muslim Them. Or the Mormon. In light of Mitt Romney’s Presidential campaign, this article by Richard John Neuhaus is making the rounds in the blogosphere. In it Rev Neuhaus uses some formulation of these stock phrases but, more specifically, writes the following:

Some have suggested that the LDS is a Christian derivative much as Christianity is a Jewish derivative, but that is surely wrong. The claim of Christianity is that its gospel of Jesus Christ is in thorough continuity with the Old Testament and historic Israel, that the Church is the New Israel, which means that it is the fulfillment of the promise that Israel would be "a light to the nations." The Church condemned Marcion’s rejection of the Old Testament, and she never presumed to rewrite or correct the Hebrew Scriptures on the basis of a new revelation. On the contrary, she insisted that the entirety of the old covenant bears witness to the new.

On what planet does Christianity not replace/supersede/obsolete Judaism? Only with eyes squinting nearly shut can you claim that Jesus (threw out the Jewish divorce laws) or Paul (threw out any reasonable interpretation of the Law completely) were only fulfilling the Torah. Ask a Jew if Christianity fulfills the Torah and see what answer you get.

Now, there are plenty of liberal “Christians” out there who view Judaism as an equally valid way of experiencing God. Unfortunately, the Rev Neuhaus’ Catholic Church and your average Evangelical are sending these Episcopalians to the same Hell they have reserved for the Jews. It is disingenuous in the extreme to adopt beliefs that invalidate 80% of what it means to be Jewish and denies them salvation and at the same time complain that Mormonism is too radically different from Christianity to remain a part of it.

The Judeo-Christian alliance works only so long as the Jewish participants don’t get too uppity and point out that their partner is only using them as a loincloth to cover their “anti-Semitism”. Or, were there ever any Jews in the alliance to begin with? Are people who like to drop the J-C bomb desperately trying to cling to the idea that their religion is based on anything more than a failed Galilean insurgent rabbi and a frustrated Cilician hanger-on.

Wondered Through a Bookstore

Some random thoughts on walking through a Books-a-Million store this afternoon (Southeastern chain bookstore).

- the Christian Fiction Section - giggle giggle

- "Christianity for Dummies" - double giggle giggle

- Christian Living/Inspiration/Bibles - the religion books take up two whole aisles. If I were a Christian I would not necessarily be encouraged. Do they really want to get into bed with the marketing dept? Old Question, I guess.

- the Social Science section - Why are there two sections, one for Women's and Gay studies and 20 feet away another on "traditional" topics.

- more Social Science section - Why is it that half the titles in the "traditional" SS section belong in the Politics section.

Gospel Truth?

A follow up to my previous post.

James, "the brother of the Lord," was no Christian.

The only conclusion that can be drawn from the actions of James as portrayed in The Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles and other early church writings is that the understanding of Jesus held by the Jerusalem church was radically different from that we have from Paul and have inherited as Orthodoxy. James' ruling in the Council of Jerusalem was, in effect, that Paul's Gentile converts must keep the same Noahide Laws that uncircumcised "God Fearers" had been required to keep for years. James was maintaining the status quo vis-a-vis Jew and Gentile. There was no "equality in Christ." He still considered himself and all the other members of the Jerusalem church as fully Jewish. He makes a point of how zealous his followers are for the Temple. When Paul arrives in Jerusalem, James even forces Paul to make a public show of visiting the Temple. Does this sound like a "Christian" church as we know it or more like a sect of Judaism.

One might argue that James was not one of the Apostles and that members of Jesus family did not understand his mission: But Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor." (Mark 6:4). Now Peter is portrayed as such a muddled wimp in both the Gospels and the Epistles that one would not expect him to prevent a power play by a relative of Jesus. But what about the "Pillar" John? It strains credulity that James would have been allowed by the Holy-Spirit-led "True" Apostles to rise to the leadership of the group had he not been a long time follower of Jesus.

Now, we have a brother (or cousin, if you are Catholic) of Jesus chosen to lead the Home Church. What happens when James is murdered by the Chief Priests? Who takes over as head of the Jerusalem Church? Is it one of the Apostles? No? Perhaps they were all busy being martyred somewhere. Actually, the church chooses cousin Simeon, another relative of Jesus, as the second Bishop of Jerusalem. They keep it in the family?! Very curious and not at all what one would expect given the Universalist Theology that Paul is selling in Asia and Rome.

This all raises a question: Who would understand Jesus intentions better - those who knew him his entire life and followed him in his ministry? Or, Paul who never met Jesus and even claims to have spent the first three years as a Christian in Arabia, avoiding those who had known Jesus personally?

Gospel Truth

The minister at the church I attend has been saying some things in about the Bible that I found a little hard to swallow so I sat down and read the four Gospels, Acts and the "credible" Epistles. Haven't caught the guy in any fabrications - for now - but found it interesting.

• The writing in the Gospel of John is terrible! I couldn't have forced down one more "I am with the Father, I came from the Father, You do not know the father because you do not come from the Father...".
• The parables are dense on purpose. Jesus was not trying to teach anyone with those parables. He told his disciples that he uses parables so that the people will not understand. Then he goes off and teaches the disciples the Truth plainly but in private. No wonder the Gnostics all believed there were secret teachings. The Synoptic Gospels state quite plainly that they existed. Now, one might argue that the Apostles shared the True Teachings they had learned directly from Jesus but we don't have any reliable records of these.
• I like Paul's letters. The voice is so personal. They provide a link to a flesh and blood personality from 2000 years ago. Not that I take everything he says at face value, but at least the writing is less academic than the Gospels and Acts.

Lead Like Jesus?

I saw this book on a co-workers desk and had to wonder what a book with this title would be like. Here's the rough outline I plan to send to my publisher:

How to Lead Like Jesus
by Scott Ferguson author of Cooking with Buddha

Step 1: Be God Incarnate - It really impresses 'em at staff meetings if you can turn the coffee in to mocha. Rising from the dead may be best saved for shareholder meetings.

Step 2: Surround yourself with 12 guys who are completely clueless about your goals and strategy. You can probably round up at least twelve from Sales.

Step 3: Speak in parables to maintain the pristine state of those you hired in Step 2. Can you imagine the memos?

Step 4: Assign a PR guy in Damascus to try and straighten it all out after you "retire".

** Okay, I haven't actually read Lead Like Jesus. It is by the same author as The One Minute Manager. Since I barely held my lunch through three chapters of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and only by some miracle actually finished Who Moved My Cheese, I think I would rather spend my money (and time) on a double latte half-caf while writing snarky blog entries.

(Originally posted on myspace)