Greetings, WesleyNexus Colleagues,
Sixty years ago, I was there.
It seems almost surreal to think about it now. I am referencing November 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I was enrolled at Perkins School of Theology at SMU, immersed in studies for my Masters in Sacred Theology, at the time of JFK’s highly publicized Texas visit. After breakfast that morning, I walked across campus to Yale Boulevard where there was an overpass spanning the Central Expressway, joining a small contingent of students to watch the Presidential motorcade pass by on its way downtown. In just a few seconds it was over, and I walked back to Bridwell Library to resume my research.
When I entered the lobby, the manager on the desk said “Kennedy has been shot.” Stunning
news. Immediately I walked back to my apartment and for the next 48 hours or so the grainy
black and white TV became our focus – as was the case with millions of others across the
country. Bill Holmes was pastor of Northaven Methodist Church, where I was also teaching an
adult class on Sundays. His sermon that Sunday (two days later) indicted the prevailing
atmosphere of hate in Dallas as an enabling factor for the assassination. It drew heavy
criticism in the press and brought threats on the lives of his family, so the FBI had them
evacuate their house for ten days while putting up in an undisclosed hotel. Watching the
aftermath of the event, including the murder of the accused assassin by Jack Ruby, made it
feel like we were witnessing a best-seller crime novel. I had met Police Chief Jesse Curry
several years previously when a small group of us SMU students were engaged in a series of
sit-ins trying to desegregate lunch counters and clothing stores downtown, and my impression
of him as a lackey for the business powers running the affairs of Dallas behind the scenes
was confirmed in my mind in those days.
Few of us could anticipate the long term consequences of the event, especially the reaction
when the Warren Commission Report was made public in September 1964. By that time I was
at the University of Chicago Divinity School in my graduate program, and the report did not
square with what we had observed on local news in Dallas the previous November. Rather
than settling the question “who shot Kennedy,” the Warren Commission Report in retrospect
became the initial trigger that caused millions of Americans to distrust the government, feeling
that the government was lying to us. That feeling only deepened when later we were
inundated with glowing reports about the success of the Vietnam war, and then came 1968
with the murders of MLK and RFK, followed by the police riots during the Democratic
Convention in Chicago. We were witnessing the rise of the John Birch Society, and eventually
the lies of the Nixon Administration – one thing after another – and now we are living in what
Marilyn McEntyre, professor at UC Berkeley, calls “a culture of lies.” Of particular concern is
the threat posed to science and to critical thought, in general, by current politicians and right-
wing religious leaders who promote the anti-science and anti-intellectual interpretation of the
Bible as a science textbook, or worse.
Through it all, the voice of the churches has been diminished by our own divisions, and those
in the younger demographic across all of the major faith groups continue to melt away.
Distrust of government has now morphed into the erosion of confidence in the basic
institutions of democracy, including the Supreme Court, the one institution that is supposed to
uphold “the law of the land.” Too many people in the American population appear spiritually
rudderless, so it is no wonder that many respond to conspiracy theories and go down the rabbit hole with cult-like devotion to demagogues. Some among us continue to draw strength
and hope from our congregations, but in other instances entire congregations are withdrawing
from the mainstream. How shall we come out of this strained scenario? We must faithfully do
what we can, whenever we can, joining with comrades in the faith, addressing issues
wherever we can. We still have one powerful tool in the secular order: the right to vote. And in
personal relationships, our modus is demonstrating the power of reconciliation and the
healing ethos of love. Through the storm, Christ is our one bastion of hope.
Maynard Moore
Contents:
IRAS December meeting: Friends or Enemies? Science and Judaism as Partners in Wonder
The Daily Update: Everything you need to know about AI in two minutes a day—written by a human
God on the Brain: The Nexus of Religious Faith & Mental Well-Being
Fundamentally Flawed Climate Change Paper Retracted
The Quiet Rise of Christian Dominionism
Evangelical Mike Johnson ‘Raised Up’ as House Speaker
Book Review: Religion that Harms
Reflections from the 2023 Kent Weaver Lecture
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FRIENDS OR ENEMIES? SCIENCE AND JUDAISM AS PARTNERS IN WONDER
Please join IRAS for its monthly science, religion, and society webinar
Thursday, December 14
5:00 Eastern, 4:00 Central Time
IRAS will host a live webinar featuring:
Presenter: Rabbi Dr. Bradley Shavit Artson, Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles
Respondent: Rev. Richard McCullough, clergy member (retired) in Baltimore-Washington Conference & former Chaplain at The American University
Presentation Overview: Rather than assuming science and religion are adversaries, we will explore how science and religion, properly understood, can offer complimentary pathways to enhance our humanity, augment our sense of wonder at the world and all it contains, and advance a human commitment to expand knowledge, foster healing, and repair the world.
Presenter’s Background: Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson (www.bradartson.com) holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean’s Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles. Rabbi Artson has long been a passionate advocate for social justice, human dignity, diversity and inclusion. He wrote a book on Jewish teachings on war, peace and nuclear annihilation in the late 80s, became a leading voice advocating for GLBT marriage and ordination in the 90s, and has published and spoken widely on environmental ethics, special needs inclusion, racial and economic justice, cultural and religious dialogue and cooperation, and working for a just and secure peace for Israel and the Middle East.
A member of the Philosophy Department, he is particularly interested in theology, ethics, and the integration of science and religion. He mentors Camp Ramah in California in Ojai and Ramah of Northern California in the Bay Area. He is also dean of the Zacharias Frankel College in Potsdam, Germany, ordaining Conservative rabbis for Europe. A frequent contributor for the Huffington Post, the Times of Israel, and a Contributing Writer for the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, he has a public figure Facebook page with about 80,000 likes. Rabbi Artson is the author of 12 books and over 250 articles, most recently Renewing the Process of Creation: A Jewish Integration of Science and Spirit. Married to Elana Artson, they are the proud parents of twins, Jacob and Shira.
The IRAS webinar is FREE, but registration is required:
https://starisland-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NoNwPslpQhuyn0S9b2R0iQ
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Want to better understand the rapidly developing field of AI and its impacts? A United Methodist college student of journalism and mass communications launched an AI newsletter last May to help lay persons better understand this rapidly developing technology. The Daily Update presents both the promising and the potentially perilous developments in AI in a quick, easy-to-read format.
Check out The Daily Update here: The Daily Update (beehiiv.com)
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God on the Brain: The Nexus of Religious Faith & Mental Well-Being
The Virginia United Methodist Foundation has made available videorecordings of all the sessions from the faith-and-science symposium “God on the Brain” which took place in September at Randolph-Macon College. The symposium featured keynote speaker Dr. Andrew Newberg, who pioneered the use of brain imaging technology in the neuroscientific study of the impacts of spiritual and religious practices on the brain. Workshop sessions included the topics of anxiety and depression; self-care; mindfulness; social connectedness; and dementia-related caregiving.
To watch the recordings for free go to https://vaumfoundation.org/2023/10/10/recordings-of-the-2023-fox-endowment-symposium-on-faith-science/
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Fundamentally Flawed Climate Change Paper Retracted
WesleyNexus previously reported in our October 2022 Newsletter that top climate scientists had appealed to Springer Nature to retract a “fundamentally flawed” paper. The retracted paper claimed to provide “a critical assessment of extreme event trends in times of global warming” and concluded that available evidence does not support the prevailing interpretation of climate change. After a year of post-publication re-review and a thorough investigation, the paper has been retracted over the objections of the authors.
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The Quiet Rise of Christian Dominionism by Keri Ladner in The Christian Century [excerpt]
In the United States, Protestantism has historically been underpinned by [such] postmillennial beliefs. Christians, acting as God’s agents in history, are called to improve the state of society. Laws to protect workers’ rights and strict regulations on child labor, the push for the abolition of slavery, the civil rights movement—these are all fruits of postmillennial beliefs. Jerry Falwell wanted to prepare America for the end of the world. Ted Cruz’s evangelical backers want to take America over. The postmillennial reforms envisioned by Christian dominionism, however, are considerably different from this trajectory very much different from Falwell’s version of dispensationalism. Dispensationalists and dominionists share many political goals. Their differences present themselves in eschatological terms. The public-facing dispensationalists who formed the religious right (President Reagan, the darling of the religious right, was a firm believer in the battle of Armageddon). Dominionists, on the other hand, seek to take over the world. In the words of George Grant, a dominionist who wrote The Changing of the Guard: Biblical Principles for Political Action:
“It is dominion we are after. Not just a voice. It is dominion we are after. Not just influence. It is dominion we are after. Not just equal time. It is dominion we are after. World conquest. That’s what Christ has commissioned us to accomplish.”
To read the full article, go to https://www.christiancentury.org/article/features/quiet-rise-christian-dominionism
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Evangelical Mike Johnson ‘Raised Up’ as House Speaker by Jack Jenkins [excerpt]
After weeks of turmoil, House Republicans elected Rep. Mike Johnson on Wednesday as the new speaker of the House, an act the Louisiana congressman suggested was ordained by God. “I believe that Scripture, the Bible, is very clear: that God is the one who raises up those in authority,” Johnson said in his first speech after being elected speaker in a 220–209 vote. “He raised up each of you. All of us.” Among other things, Speaker Johnson has repeatedly rejected many broadly held interpretations of the separation of church and state. Johnson, an evangelical Christian, peppered his remarks with religious references. He recounted the history of how the motto “In God We Trust” was placed in the House chamber—a rebuke of communism, which many associated with atheism—and highlighted the Declaration of Independence’s use of “Creator.” He also noted the presence of Moses on the wall of the House chamber. In a later speech on the Capitol steps, Johnson framed his leadership goals by citing Romans 5:3–4. “I was reminded of the Scripture that says ‘Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope,’” he said. “What we need in this country is more hope.” Johnson has continued to voice support for conservative Christian viewpoints while in office, even hosting a podcast with his wife, Kelly, a licensed pastoral counselor, aimed at providing an “analysis of hot topics and current events from a Christian perspective.”
For the full article, go to https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/october/mike-johnson-house-speaker-evangelical-congress-bible.html
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Religion that Harms – a Book Review by Morganne Talley in The Christian Century [excerpt]
Drawing on both research and personal experience, therapist Laira Anderson explores the trauma caused by high-control religion (HCR). She explains the neuroscience behind psychological concepts such as complex post-traumatic stress disorder in an understandable way without sacrificing depth or quality. This makes the discussion holistic in a way that helps readers with religious trauma better understand the physical and mental implications of their experiences. Anderson makes connections “between domestic violence and dynamics of power and control within HCRs,” highlighting the ways in which such groups isolate members from outsiders and create dependence on the new religious community and leaders. Leaving these systems can be difficult because life outside them is unknown, but the people who do leave experience mental and physical symptoms similar to those of people who leave violent domestic relationships. It is especially complex to leave and heal from high-control religion because “much of what we now consider abusive and harmful behaviors were first learned as spiritual practices, hierarchies, and disciplines, which were seen within the religious system as essential for living a godly life.”
When people go through an intense event or have similar experiences repeatedly, neural pathways are formed in the brain from both the event and the response to it. These well-worn pathways cause people to have similar reactions to similar events in the future.
For the full article, go to https://www.christiancentury.org/review/books/religion-harms
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Reflections on the 2023 Kent Weaver Lecture
The second annual memorial program to honor the service of WesleyNexus’ long time treasurer Kent H. Weaver took place at the Metropolitan Memorial campus of National United Methodist Church on October 21st. The featured speaker was Dr., Catherine Keller, the George T. Cobb Professor of Constructive Theology in the Theological School and Graduate Division of Religion of Drew University. Dr. Keller teaches courses in process, political, and ecological theology. Her writing encourages us to see the ecological and environmental crises of our time through the lens of religion, science, feminism, and philosophy. Her lecture, “Earth Matters: Generation, Motivation, Eco-civilization,” began with a word about the danger of persons making absolute truth claims in theology, but at the same time called out the casual nihilism that pervades our culture. Her alternative is a theology in process – a theology that is built upon an open-ended interactivity. “To live is to step with trust into the next moment,” even though this step into our spiritual path takes seriously a world of uncertainty. Thus, divinity itself – that which we name “God” – is discerned as a spirit of becoming. She referenced the work of Dr. John Haught to show that the universe itself, our home, is unfinished, is itself in process, and in which God’s divine purpose is inexhaustible. The tragic aspect of the current crisis is that the generations that will suffer most from our ecological crisis have done the least to cause it.
This is the context in which we live and work, pursuing the mandates that confront us in the current ecological crisis. According to Keller, this crisis us real: denial could lead to catastrophe. But that would be giving in to what she identified as the secular nihilism that pervades our culture. Even if we accept the prescient analysis of the best climate science, we do not surrender to a fate of species self-destruction. That would interpret the present perilous context as apocalyptic, and apocalypse does not translate into the end of the world. And even though each year in the current trajectory narrows possibilities for recovery, our call, in process” is to awaken a “collective possibility.” She discounted a shallow optimism, calling instead for a recovery of Christian hope. Dr. Keller addressed the current generational divide and how we might find new motivation across generations to arrive at a vision of eco-civilization.
The Memorial Lecture was recorded and within the next few weeks should be available on the WesleyNexus website.