Language “Calming the Savage Beast”

Shiva vs Vishnu (Republicans vs Democrats!)

I am now admittedly “recycling” material. And, I really have not “run out of soap” it is just that some of the “stuff” I felt important a year ago appears even more important today. For example, Jonathan Haidt’s Ted Talks discourse re “The Moral Roots of Liberals and Conservatives” (http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind.html) appears even more relevant today. And, yes, part of me would, admittedly, like to trot this stuff out with Haidt’s reassurance that “liberals (are) good, conservatives (are) bad”. But, that just is not the case…and actually I’m very proud of that. The “good vs bad” issue is merely another version of a basic dimension of human evil, that tendency to bifurcate our world into “us” vs “them”. Haidt describes this as a tribal “need to be right” which is a problem that “literarylew”, with all of his moral superiority (wink, wink…again), is not immune to. Haidt emphasizes in this lecture that the conservative/liberal conflict embodies the eternal conflict between the need for stability vs. change. We must have both. If either, predominates our civilization is in deep “do-do.” The Vedas offered the polarity of Shiva as opposed to Vishnu, Shiva being associated with generation and destruction (change) and Vishnu being associated with preservation, with Brahma (the Creator) sometimes embodying all three roles in himself.

Rush Limbaugh’s Specious Objectivity

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I occasionally venture into the dark side, just to recall how it used to be when I had my head so squarely up my backside and thought I viewed the world with objectivity. And it is abysmally dark in there; no light can get in for the light of day would crush the smug world of certitude. And, of course, I’m talking of my occasional venture into Rush Limbaugh’s radio show.

Let me illustrate. Earlier in the week he noted re one issue, “Now, liberal media won’t pick this up because it is not part of their narrative.” Implicit in that observation is that he does not have any “narrative” that he has subscribed to, a narrative for which he “cherry picked” information that would support bias. He thinks he is being objective and is reporting the news as it “really is” while “all those liberals” have an agenda. He vividly illustrates the smugness of those who feel they grasp reality in an objective fashion and seek desperately to maintain the status quo and repudiate anything which threatens the narrow prism through which they view the world. He even noted how the liberals “bend and shape the news, pushing their liberal agenda” without any suspicion that he has an agenda of his own which he is pushing. This is a classic example of the projection that Karl Jung wrote about, ascribing to others the faults that one is actually plagued with him/herself.

Rush proudly announced that he lives in “realville”, not in the “fantasy world” that liberals live in. Well, he does live there but his “realville” is the smug world view that once championed slavery, saw nothing wrong with the corporate excesses of the late 19th century, opposed giving women the right to vote in the early 20th century, vehemently opposed the civil rights movement in the 1960’s, and basically demands that our country lives in the past. His “realville” is merely a version of a template that he and his ilk daily impose on their world, a template that I describe as “the way things are.” They wake up daily and know assuredly that “this is the way things are” and do not consider that their viewpoint is very subjective…as is the case with all of us… and does not definitively describe reality. And their “way things are” is imposed in a tyrannical manner on the whole of their world, including those nearest and dearest to them.

They cannot have the humility to become aware of their own subjectivity, their own inner experience, and know that they can have a confidence in that subjective reality but not with the arrogance they once had. When their subjectivity is recognized, and experienced, they can respect their reality but at the same time recognize that other people have their own subjective world and that many times that subjective world is very different from their own. This is the phenomena of “difference” and “difference” is what makes the world beautiful and exciting.

But, one’s discovering one’s subjective world is a spiritual enterprise. And by “spiritual” I am here not talking of Spiritual (in the sense of God and such—that is relevant but must wait for discussion on another occasion). By “spiritual” I mean becoming aware of the complexities and ambivalences and ugliness of the human heart. Or, to put it differently, I referring to opening up to consideration of an unconscious dimension to the human heart. I am encouraging one to allow the “Spirit of God” (if I might employ that notion) to open up the heart and follow the advice of Shakespeare and allow that Spirit to make that heart “full of penetrable stuff,” no longer “bronzed o’er” with a culturally imposed template of how the world is.

Conservatism is a valid and critical dimension of any culture. But when its extremes are allowed to have undue influence, and the moderates are intimidated into submission, darkness will rear its ugly head. But the real evil is when these moderates do not have the courage to stand up and vote for their convictions, to vote for what they feel is the right, and therefore not worship the false god of “Re-electability.”

The Real God of Congress–Getting Re-elected

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The following is a copy of a letter I will send to one of my state’s senators, Mark Pryor:

I was disappointed with your vote on the gun legislation earlier this week. I have no doubt that you are a good man, a “good ole Arkansas boy” like I am, like your wonderful father raised you to be, but I feel strongly that you have surrendered to the god of, “What will get me re-elected?” I know as well as you do what the right thing to do was but you caved in as many good men and women did. If I’d been in your position, it would have not been easy to “do the right thing,” as the pressure must be immense. But the real pressure comes down to that God that most of Congress bows to, “What will get me re-elected?”

But, I will not vote for you again. And a lot of friends of mine will not vote for you again. I don’t know who we will vote for but it will not be for you. I will even vote for a Republican if he/she demonstrates conviction and ability to thwart that demon of “re-electability.” We need people who believe in something and “re-electability” is absolutely nothing.

The best example I have seen of this courage was demonstrated by a Republican governor last fall. Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey jeopardized his entire political future to accept the assistance of President Obama in the aftermath Hurricane Sandy, right on the brink of the Presidential election. He has not been “crucified” yet…at least not fatally. But many in his party vehemently oppose him as he did not bow to political pressure on that issue and was seen on video and in photo’s “palling around” with the man Republican extremists hate with a passion. I will never forget the demonstration of courage that Governor Christie offered.

I hope that you serve out your term with more integrity than you demonstrated on this issue. And, given your parentage, I know that you have it in you. I know the pressure is immense but we pay you to handle that pressure. And you know what the right thing to do is. Let me re-emphasize that I’m sure you are a good man. You would have to be given who your father is. But good men and women do not always do “good” things. But you and your colleagues are in a position where “the good” needs to have priority in your motivations, not something as lame and immature as re-electability.

My Venture into the Dark Side

Top Ten Secrets to a Happy Marriage

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Marriage is not a piece of cake. A pastor from my youth, displaying his keen wit, once noted, “I didn’t know what happiness was until I got married. Then I rmembered.” Each of us marries a fantasy and as the work of marriage begins the fantasies begin to crumble until at some point we are met with the reality of who we are and who we are married to. That is the point at which many marriages dissolve, one or both parties decided to go back to the supermarket shelf and pick out another model.

Here is a favorite poem of mine about marriage, written by Wendell Berry, and describing the “work” of marriage::

How hard it is for me, who live
in the excitement of women
and have the desire for them
in my mouth like salt. Yet
you have taken me and quieted me.
You have been such light to me
that other women have been
your shadows. You come near me
with the nearness of sleep.
And yet I am not quiet.
It is to be broken. It is to be
torn open. It is not to be
reached and come to rest in
ever. I turn against you,
I break from you, I turn to you.
We hurt, and are hurt,
and have each other for healing.
It is healing. It is never whole.

A few weeks an Indian friend of mine produced a facetious Top Ten Signs of a Happy Marriage an challenged me to produce one of my own. My wife and I have produced one and it includes a degree of facetiousness. Here are our TOP TEN:

1. Let not the sun go down on your wrath…too often!
2. Have happily married friends; osmosis is relevant.
3. Get a life! Both of you!
4. When she talks, “listen”, don’t merely “wait.”
5. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
6. Remember, “Don’t sweat the small stuff. And it’s all small stuff.”
7. Experience new things together.
8. If you have kids, remember they don’t belong to you alone. Remember, you still have a life also. And your kids need to see that.
9. Talk to each other. Share your thoughts.
10. Must have two lovely dachshunds

Ludwig is our 12-year old dachshund who recently had laser surgery to correct a back injury. Thus the short hair on the side.

Elsa is Ludwig’s 4 year old sister. She too is a critical key to the marriage success.

Gender, Politics, and Sexuality

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One of my dear cyber friends that I’ve met through blogging is a woman whose blog is NeuroResearchProject.com. I will refer to her here as “V.” She works in the field of neuroscience and is obviously a prolific reader and blessed with a “curious mind” and I would add, “heart.” One of the many interests we share is the subject of gender and politics, certainly including the realm of “sexuality.” She and I are in accordance with the notion that power is a basic dimension of this intrinsically human realm. And, I might add, I think that power is a basic human issue and is relevant to every dimension of the human experience. If we draw the breath of life, we exercise power in some fashion, even if perhaps it is merely with our “powerlessness.” But that is a dangerous note to make as it easily “blames” the powerless for their lot and does not immediately address the tyranny of those who exercise “real” power in the “real” world. Here I share with you the observations of “V” re this subject and invite you to check out her excellent blog. Her observations refer to a couple of things I had noted to her in earlier correspondence. I also close with a very fascinating poem by a Palestinian woman about the exercise of power in the sexual act.

You said: “we sure did not like what had preceded our reign.”
That’s an interesting statement. In his Psychology Today article, “Why Men Oppress Women”, Steve Taylor said the oppression of women stems largely from men’s desire for power and control, which we talked about in earlier conversations—the power issue. Power and dominance increases dopamine and can hijack the brains reward center. I think men tend to have a disadvantage because of testosterone and one of its by-products called 3-androstanediol which increases dopamine. In his book “How Power Changes the Brain”, Dr. Ian Robertson states that too much power, thus too much dopamine can lead to gross errors of judgment, egocentricity, and lack of empathy for others.

Back to Taylor’s article, he states that the same need which, throughout history, has driven men to try to conquer and subjugate other groups or nations, and to oppress other classes or groups in their own society, drives them to dominate and oppress women. Since men (not all men) feel the need to gain as much power and control as they can, they steal away power and control from women. Taylor’s comment compliments what Dr. Robert Sapolsky observed during the years he spent with the Savanna baboons in their natural habitat. When lower ranking males were bullied by higher ranking males, they usurped authority by dominating the females in the troop, sometimes abusing them. He found that this social/cultural dynamic was not fixed; that it was learned behavior and could change dramatically (far less aggression and oppression). http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/peace_among_primates

You said: “Misogyny was underway but we were compelled by biology to desire them.”
Taylor goes on to say that even the former isn’t enough to explain the full terrible saga of man’s inhumanity to woman. That many cultures have had a strong antagonism towards women, viewing them as impure and innately sinful creatures who have been sent by the devil to lead men astray and has featured strongly in all three Abrahamic religions. As the Jewish Testament of Reuben states:

“Women are evil, my children…they use wiles and try to ensnare [man] by their charms…They lay plots in their hearts against men: by the way they adorn themselves they first lead their minds astray, and by a look they instil the poison, and then in the act itself they take them captive…So shun fornication, my children and command your wives and daughters not to adorn their heads and faces.”

Taylor says this is linked to the view—encouraged by religions—that instincts and sensual desires are base and sinful. Men associated themselves with the “purity” of the mind, and women with the “corruption” of the body. Since biological processes like sex, menstruation, breast-feeding and even pregnancy were disgusting to men, women themselves disgusted them too.

He further states that in connection with this, men have resented the sexual power that women have over them too. Feeling that sex was sinful, they were bound to feel animosity to the women who produced their sexual desires. In addition, women’s sexual power must have affronted their need for control. This meant that they couldn’t have the complete domination over women—and over their own bodies—that they craved. They might be able to force women to cover their bodies and faces and make them live like slaves, but any woman was capable of arousing powerful and uncontrollable sexual impulses inside them at any moment. He concludes by saying the last 6000 years of man’s inhumanity to woman can partly be seen as a revenge for this.

Source: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/out-the-darkness/201208/why-men-oppress-women

And now the poem that I promised:

This evening
a man will go out
to look for
prey
to satisfy the secrets of his desires.

This evening
a woman will go out
to look for
a man who will make her
mistress of his bed.
This evening
predator and prey will meet
and mix
and perhaps
perhaps
they will exchange roles.

By Maram al-Massri

In Praise of Jimmy Carter

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Jimmy Carter is still going strong as he approaches his 90^th birthday! He is incredible! And, he appears more lucid and coherent and “together” than does “literarylew” on occasion! Though I would not deign to “pile on” and diminish his presidency, the real work of his life has taken place in the 33 years since he lost the 1980 election to Reagan. And, I know this loss must have been a devastating experience for him. He must have suffered immensely. And, to make it worse, his presidency is often described as “ineffective” or as a “failure.” But, he is holding his head high and is doing very important work with the Carter Foundation and with Habitat for Humanity. In a video clip I will post here, he discusses with Jon Stewart his work in Africa in almost completely eradicating the Guinea worm.

I have suffered disappointment and even failure in my life. And, I never just completely caved in and wallowed in despair…too long. I too have pulled myself up from the floor and persevered. But, if I had been in a position like Carter’s and had suffered an ignominious defeat at the hands of the American people, I don’t know if I could have gotten up off the floor.

But his life is a demonstration of faith, an embodiment of the New Testament observation that “Faith without works is dead.” And though he has dissolved his ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, I’m sure his faith is very “Baptisty” even today. (And, I might add, so is mine!) I conjecture that he has found that his traditional Southern evangelical faith can withstand the scrutiny of a critical, intelligent mind and has even flourished as a result.

God appeared to me after this interview and told me that in a short time Jimmy will cross the river Styx and will find a very handsome golden mansion awaiting him. And those streets will be embellished with an additional layer of gold. And the angels will fete him as will the other humans who have preceded him into that celestial domain. And he is going to give Jimmy a real hearty “Atta-boy.”

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-april-9-2013/jimmy-carter-pt–1

An Astronaut’s Cosmic Vision

An Open Letter to the Clergy re the “Nones”

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Polls about religion have revealed a new category in religious affiliation in America. A recent poll said that 20 per cent of those polled now select the box “none”, up from 2% in the ‘50’s and 7% in the ‘70’s. (See http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-03-25/opinions/38008236_1_nones-protestants-agnostics)

Now, having “been there and done that”, I know how much of the religious establishment, especially the clergy, will respond. They have at their disposal a time-told, self-serving contrivance. It goes like this: They will shake their head… perhaps grimace…look very pious, and then lament, “See, the Bible said it would be like this in the last days, that mankind would forsake God and turn to their wicked ways. Satan’s enticements would prove too alluring and they would opt for mammon over God’s will.” Their constituents will respond in kind, taking great comfort in knowing that they are the ones who are true to the faith, that are holding on firmly to “the faith once delivered unto the saints.”

But, they should take the advice of Shakespeare and “lay not that flattering unction to your soul.” Why not consider the possibility that the “nones” are making a valid choice in voting with their feet that what mainline Christendom offers does not pass the smell test anymore. Here is my open letter to the clergy on this matter:

Dear clergy and religious establishment:

Perhaps it is merely that what you offer now is merely pap, some watered down version of spirituality which is designed mainly to make you and the rest of your club feel better about itself, to perpetuate your own individual and collective ego needs. Sure, you purvey a spiritual tradition which has a rich heritage and contains valuable truth, but you present it in an immature and selfish manner so that anyone looking on, having one eye and half-sense, can tell that it is all about you. For example, in some circles you passionately take pride in “preaching Christ and him crucified”, but to any astute onlooker you use those words and the rest of the gospel merely to work your crowd into frenzy, to reinforce their preconceptions about God, and allow them to walk away still stuck in their own moribund religiosity. You facilitate the fulfillment of the scripture about people “having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.”

Some of your worship services appear to be a mere carnival and others like a funeral service. Some are so dull and boring I would just as soon go home and watch paint dry. This is because there is no life there though there is often a lot of frenzy and hysteria…or for those of another persuasion, refrigerator-cold tedium. But it is merely a show, described by The Bard in Julius Caesar, who noted that, “There are no tricks in plain and simple faith; But hollow men, like horses hot at hand, Make gallant show and promise of their mettle.”

So, you hear about the “nones” and once again you get all worked up about how awful the world is and once again you can whip your crowd into a frenzy. It is so exciting for them to know that “the world” is going to hell in a hand basket but YOU are holding forth for the truth, that the world is lost in darkness and will not hear the truth YOU offer. But, my dear friend, consider the possibility that YOU are the one lost in the darkness of a sterile pseudo-gospel and instead of offering life to your flock you are offering more darkness. For, remember the wisdom of W.H. Auden, “The divine and the demonic speak the very same language.”

Now, I have been cruel but I “would be cruel only to be kind.” The gospel you offer in such an immature and self-serving manner speaks of a Savior that covers you regardless! God’s grace covers us all, regardless of the paltry nature of our faith. And, whose faith is not paltry? But it is the Object of our faith that matters. But the sterile message you preach, that turns people into “nones”, has no life in it and repels anyone seeking spiritual sustenance. The people in your flock hunger for “soul food” to alleviate the pain of the stresses and strains of modern-day life, not the sterile pap, the “gospel-eze”, that you trot out each week. Spiritual hunger will not be sated with your canned Christian version of “well-worn words and ready phrases that build comfortable walls against the wilderness.” (Conrad Aiken) I fear many of you were described by a friend decades ago when he wrote, “You heroes of spiritual contraception who have long since despaired of rebirth.”

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