Turkey and Westernization

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I am reading another book by a Turkish author, this time a female, Elif Shafak. She is a popular novelist in Turkey though this particular book, Black Milk, is a memoir regarding “Writing, motherhood, and the harem within.” Earlier in my blogging life, I “held forth” re another Turkish author, Orhan Pamuk, especially his novel, The Museum of Innocence. My selection of these two authors arose from a day I was fortunate to spend in Istanbul last spring where I marveled at the beauty of their country, the kindness of their people, and the pronounced Westernization of their culture.

When I got home last spring, I quickly did some “Wiki-pedi (ing)” of Turkey and of course their famous leader from the early 20th century, Kamel Ataturk. I did further on-line reading this morning re Ataturk and am even more astounding at how he brazenly ruled that country and almost single-handedly decided to put in on the course of “Westernization.”  Incidentally, the novels of Pamuk in particular frequently allude to this transformation of his country and often evoke a sense of sadness over the loss that many people still feel in his country as a result of Ataturk’s iron-fisted, though apparently benign, rule. I think the psycho-social terms for these feelings include “anomie”, “unrootedness”, “alienation”, and “depression.”

Part of me pines for the days when a country’s leader could, by force of will (personal and political), shape the direction of his country. I think of the many good things that someone like O’Bama could do if he had the power. But that is because, of course, I’m a liberal Democrat; and if O’Bama had this power then so could the next fellow/fellow-ess. That is not the world that we live in any more. That kind of power is a thing of the past…other than in totalitarian countries of course!

Unfortunately, we are now left with a mess, a partisan political environment in which significant changes cannot be made.

Let me close with a quotation from Ataturk which reflect his pronounced Western viewpoint:

Humankind is a single body and each nation a part of that body. We must never say ‘What does it matter to me if some part of the world is ailing?’ If there is such an illness, we must concern ourselves with it as though we were having that illness.

Gosh I hope Rick Perry checks in here today.

Republican identity crisis

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It is fun to watch the Republicans re-define themselves even though that is not what they had, or have, in mind.  They have a real identity crisis on their hands and I hope I live long enough to see how it ends up.  They are now poised to nominate Romney and he is so foreign to their ideals.  And in their virulent hatred of him and what he represents, they have been forced to attack basic Republican ideals, i.e. standard “business” practices.

But re-definition is good for us all and is applicable to all political parties and all concerns.  As T. S. Eliot noted, “We wrestle with words and meanings” and one purpose in life is to “purify the dialect of the tribe.”

Now this is really mean-spirited of me.  But all of you….ahem, both of you…know that mean spiritedness is not above me—I just love the notion that extreme right-wing, bible-thumping, fundamentalist Christians might have to choose between Mitt Romney (a “Mormon”) and a liberal Democrat who happens to be a “black man.”  That will put them in a tough spot.  My money is on the liklihood they will vote for “the Mormon” over “the black man.”  Yes, that delimma will get their panties in a wad.

Much to do about nothing

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I have looked for years for this version of the 11th verse from Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching. It is translated by Witter Bynner:

Thirty spokes are made one by holes in a hub,
By vacancies joining them for a wheel’s use;
The use of clay in moulding pitchers
Comes from the hollow of its absence;
Doors, windows, in a house,
Are used for their emptiness;
Thus we are helped by what is not
To use what is.

Written in the 6th century b.c., this marvelous wisdom has volumes to speak to us, though these “volumes” are qualitative, not quantitative. It is only in our emptiness that we find our fullness, in our nothingness that we find our somethingness, in our death that we find our life.  And this death can take place long before the death of our body.

Nikos Kazantzakis

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Nikos Kazantzakis was the author of The Last Temptation of Christ, Zorba the Greek, and (my favorite) the autobiographical Report to Greco.  There are so many literary treasures in Greco that I do not know where to start.  But my favorite theme of his is the role of language in quelling the beasts in the human heart.  For example, he describes the alphabet as, “26 toy soldiers that guard the rim of the abyss”.  (That is my paraphrasing.)  Here he is noting that the advent of language, individually and as a species, is a huge step in developing an identity which then separates us from the beasts of the field.

I’d like to share a note of his from the preface of Report to Greco:

THREE KINDS OF SOULS, THREE PRAYERS:

1. I am a bow in your hands, Lord.  Draw me, lest I rot.

2. Do not overdraw me, Lord.  I shall break.

3. Overdraw me, Lord, and who cares if I break?

 

 

Self discovery

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God this video is good! Thandie Newton, who I’d never heard of, nailed everything I know about identity in a simple 14 minute video. In a nutshell, she describes the fictional nature of our “self” and advocates losing our self in order to find ourself. Hmm. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?  (You will probably have to cut-and-paste this link.)

<http://www.ted.com/talks/thandie_newton_embracing_otherness_embracing_myself.html&gt;

The origin of religion

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I don’t know how everything started. It must have been an incredible experience to realize, just shortly after we had washed off the primordial ooze, to recognize that we were here on this really strange, dangerous, and beautiful world, that we were all alone…and that our life would end long before we were ready for it to happen.

I imagine that we first had the notion of god as we sat around the campfire, gnawing the last vestige of flesh from the bone of the day’s prey, grunting a song or two, crudely “discussing” the latest raid on the neighboring tribe. Someone wandered aloud…crudely again, “How did this all happen? How did we get here? Where will this all lead?”

To make a long story short, someone looked up into the heavens and was stirred by what we call today “the glory of God’s handiwork”. He then noted…and it would be a “he” as women were disposable property at the time…”Well, there must be a god up there.” Someone answered with enthusiasm, “Yes, Yes, Yes.” (Later that would become a resounding “amen” in some circles.”)

Someone else then posed the question, “Well, what must we do to appease him? He is really powerful and we have done some really shitty things in our lifetime. What must we do to appease him and earn his forgiveness?”

Someone else then suggested, “Well, we should jump over the fire three times.” So in a matter of weeks there was a lot of jumping over the fire each night as the validity of this experience was proven in that the success of hunting forays increased dramatically, no savage beast killed any of the children, and none of the neighboring tribes raided the campfire and carted off the women and children.

But before too long the first theological dispute arose. Some suggested that spiritual valor was proven by jumping the highest over the camp fire. Others said, “Oh no. The greatest spiritual valor lies with those of us who can jump over the fire so low that we drag our feet through the flames.” So pretty soon the tribe was divided and eventually split, each side of the debate seeing no reason to debate something that was so clearly apparent to all reasonable human beings.

Well, this could go on and on but I must cut to the chase. I am so pleased that we have come so far that in our culture we have a Christian tradition and at this time of the year we can all offer praise and gratitude to Him, each in our own way. And none of us have to get our feet burned!

Book review: Carolyn Briggs

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I just finished reading Carolyn Brigg’s book, “This Dark World: A Memoir of Salvation Found and Lost”. This is the story of a young woman’s conversion to fundamentalist Christian extremism and how that she eventually became disenchanted and left that faith for what some would call “secular humanism.” This is one of a growing genre of books by people who have left fundamentalism and adopted a more open-minded faith or have eschewed faith altogether.

What I admire most about this book is its description of how social pressures and manipulation are used to “convert” people, especially young people, into the fundamentalist fold and how those same pressures are used to keep them there. Religion of this genre is not about the Spirit of God leading but about “group think” and the powerful human need to belong. And it is important to “belong” to various social groups…and certainly to the human race!…but this social belonging must not be confused with mature spirituality.

I have noticed that many readers of this blog are evangelical Christians. When I made this discovery I was really surprised for I assumed that the beliefs I’m promulgating would be anathema to them. I’m pleased to learn that this is not the case. My heart still lies with evangelical Christianity though I can never go back. I don’t need to and don’t want to. But I’m pleased to see how that an open-mindedness and humility is springing up in the evangelical faith here and there. So, my dear evangelical brethren and sisters, I strongly recommend that you read this Carolyn Briggs book. It does not have to shake your faith but it will bring your attention to the social pressures and manipulation that are often the bedrock in your churches. It is possible to see through those “social pressures and manipulation” and still maintain the rudiments of your faith.

And I might add, “social pressures and manipulation” is not the exclusive domain of evangelicals! It is present in any grouping, “spiritual” or otherwise. In fact, Ms. Briggs wrote a very insightful article several months ago about the same sort of pressures being very apparent at a gathering of atheists. See the link provided below:

(http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/culture/5283/waiting_for_lightning_to_strike%3A_a_wobbly_agnostic_among_the_atheists)

Note re Christopher Hitchens

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-I was so sorry to see Christopher Hitchens go. He fought a brave fight and did
so even before he had cancer. Yes, he was arrogant very often, especially in
regards to those of us who deign to have faith. He was brutal to Mother
Theresa. He shouldn’t have been. But I forgive him, I know that Mother Theresa
does, and so does his Source.

I admire someone who “fights the good fight” and Christopher did indeed. I only
know what I’ve read, but he seemed to have a pretty good ride on “this old
merry-go-round.”

Let us all be humble. Christopher needed to heed this advice more than he did.
But, God have I ever been so arrogant so much of the time. And I might add, I
have been so arrogant with my “humility” which is to say that I wasn’t being
very humble. As T.S. Eliot noted, “The only wisdom we can hope to acquire is
the wisdom of humility. And humility is endless.”

“Teach us to pray”

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T.S. Eliot declared that, “Prayer is more than an order of words, or the sounds of the voice praying, or the conscious occupation of the praying mind.” He recognized that prayer is not a perfunctory performance “because it is what Christians do”. You know, “Wind me up and watch me pray and therefore I’m a Christian.”

Prayer is a mystery and I’m not for sure how to define it. I think it always starts as a “perfunctory performance” but at some point in one’s life it needs to go beyond, to become more of a meditative enterprise.

I love what Shakespeare had to say about prayer in Hamlet. Hamlet’s step father, Claudius, is on his knees praying and lamented, “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words without thoughts never to heaven go.” Shakespeare recognized that when we merely throw words around, when we trot out the usual “prayer” verbiage, when we are consciously choosing our words so that we “pray right”, then our prayers “never to heaven go.”

I recently started reading Thomas R. Kelley’s book, A Testament of Devotion, and he noted the following re prayer: We pray, and yet it is not we who pray, but a Greater who prays in us. Something of our punctiform selfhood is weakened, but never lost. All we can say is, ‘Prayer is taking place, and I am given to be in the orbit.’

This is an overwhelming notion that I am presenting here. And I don’t have it figured out. And I don’t think the right thing to do is to wait until I have it figured out. The right thing to do is to pray and always remember what the Apostles asked Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.” (See Luke ch. 11))

Ostentatious displays of faith

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I’m afraid the world has not heard me! I discoursed several weeks ago about the “Tebowing” phenomena and, low and behold, it continues! Can’t ya’ll listen to me????? I mean, am I a mere voice “crying in the wilderness?”

Tim Tebow is making a show of his faith. He is not doing this because he is a bad guy. He is not a bad guy. He has faith and I commend him for that. But he is doing “Tim Tebow” because that is all he knows and that is what he was rewarded for when he was a child. Faith, as it was presented to him, is about showmanship. If you will indulge me a bit of a leap, I quote Shakespeare who once noted, “When love (i.e., “faith”) begins to sicken and decay, it useth an enforced ceremony.”

Tim needs to learn that faith is first and foremost a private matter and does not need ostentatious displays before screaming throngs…and a national tv audience…whose concern at the moment is not religion. Sure, a public affirmation of faith has its place. Yes, he can affirm his “faith in Jesus Christ as his personal savior” in public venues, when appropriate. But to do so during a sporting cheapens his faith and does it great disservice.