NAME:Joseph Kemmerly; Friday 11:00AM
USERNAME:joekemmerly
WEBSITE ADDRESS:Metaphysical Diversity
1. LIST ALL OF YOUR POSTINGS (copy and paste them or provide direct
links to each specific post)http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/10102http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9927http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9925http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9924http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9707http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9564http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9506http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9339http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9120http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9080http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9012http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/8799http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/8631http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/8473http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/84022. Attendance: How many times late? How many classes missed? (be
accurate)I was always on time and I never missed class. I sit in the middle of class and close to the front in your Friday 11:00AM class.
3. 1st Digital Film: Name and Describe (how long? how did you edit
it?
in what format? on what day did you show it?)My first digital film is entitled Outer Space by Joseph Kemmerly. I presented my film on October 7. I created my film using Pinnacle. I saved it onto a CD-RW as a MPEG. I also have my video streaming off the CSULB server. You can see it here:
http://www.csulb.edu/~jkemmerl/Movie1.wmv4. To read or not to read, that is the question: Be honest. How much
of
the following books did you read? Consilience? World Religions in
America? Meme Machine?I read all three books. It took me approximately two weeks to read per book.
5. Give an example of a "consilience" explanation to one specific
religious phenomenon (e.g., why do people worship snakes, etc.). Be
sure to choose your own example.I believe a religious phenomenon that can easily be given a “consilience” explanation is
phallic worship. Phallic worship is quite common amongst ancient religions. The phenomenon can found in Ancient Greece, Rome, and Native American religions. In ancient Greece, phallic worship took form in various gods within Ancient Greek mythology. One prominent example is
Priapus, who was the god of fertility and was depicted as having an unusually large penis.
Dionysus, the god of wine, is also considered to be a fertility god. In ancient Rome, there were various cults devoted to phallic worship. Specific examples include cults devoted to
Attis, a eunuch deity that symbolized life, death, and rebirth; as well as
Cybele, a fertility god who was the mother of Attis. The
Mandan Native American tribe had a ritual called the Okipa which was a phallic buffalo dance dedicated to the renewal of the buffalo herd on which the tribe survived.
The commonality that you can see in all of the above examples that I mentioned is that phallic worship is almost always associated with fertility. Fertility holds a lot of sociological importance within the groups mentioned. The Mandan relied heavily on the buffalo, not only for survival, but also for their way of life since they used the buffalo in everything from their clothes to their tools. So, the buffalo’s survival was of great importance to them. Worship of the god Dionysus in Ancient Greece also held sociological importance. Greeks would hold a festival called
Dionysia in honor of the god. This was considered a major cultural event where various tragedies and comedies were recited. Ancient Greeks would also use sculptures of Priapus to try to assist them in their harvest.
Sociological implications aside, the most important aspect of phallic worship is probably its connection with the innate biological need to reproduce. This can probably be seen the most explicitly in the god Priapus, a god with a large penis. His picture would be placed someone’s bed room as a way to assist them in producing children. The most important biological goals are survival and reproduction. Phallic worship was used in both instances. The Mandan performed phallic worship in the form of the Okipa in hopes of producing more buffalo which they needed to survive. Also, Phallic worship aided reproduction as seen with the Ancient Greeks with Priapus.
6. How can the theory of memetics help in understanding WHY certain
religions are more successful than others (in terms of popularity) in
the USA? Be sure to explain how memes are different than genes.Memes, which can be thought of as a cultural unit, are analogous to genes in that they have a vested interest in being spread into as many “hosts” as possible in order to survive and then propagate. They are different in that memes cannot be reducible to physical phenomenon, in other words, they can’t be measured by a microscope, while genes are measurable.
I believe the best way to explain religion in America via memes is to go back to the beginning of religion in America. America, itself, was founded on the ideal of religious freedom. Those that first came to America were English and Dutch who were seeking freedom to practice their own faith. These groups tended to be
Protestant in origin. This laid the ground work for religion in America and these people brought their own memes (namely their Puritanical values) with them. Protestant domination continued for quite some time until
migration patterns started to change about a century ago, when Catholics started to arrive. Eventually
people with other faiths started coming in as well. Even though America is
quite diverse today many puritanical memes still stick with us, especially regarding social prudishness. So religions that tend to express, for example, more sexually liberal views don’t have as much success in this country since the puritanical values (which are memes) of America’s founding still permeate our culture today.
7. Describe how evolutionary theory (via natural selection as
first presented by Charles Darwin and later by Richard Dawkins) helps
in understanding human migration, cultural development, and social
identity. (Think of evolutionary psychology).Most of the events mentioned in the question can be reduced down to one motivating factor, self-interest. Migration patterns amongst primitive people, such as the
Native Americans, centered on where people can best find food and possibly shelter. These migration patterns were a matter of Darwinian survival.
Once people began to settle down and develop agriculture, the beginnings of culture arose because people now had the free time, due to increases in productivity, to develop culture. Once language was invented, it became one of the main catalysts for spreading culture. Within these cultures, ideas (ie memes) started to develop. Eventually the accumulation of culture/memes would form social cohesion and identity.
People would identify themselves as belonging to a specific culture and identify themselves within that group. For example, the ancient Romans looked toward others that were not of their culture as barbarians. Social identity and unity has survival advantages because it allows for a herd mentality where each individual is looking out for themselves and at the same time contributing to the group as a whole.
8. Describe the differences between Islam and Christianity. Be
specific. You may wish to use an outline format and references to
other websites.Christianity and
Islam are similar though they are quite different. Islam rejects the trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) that Christians believe in. Muslims believe Muhammad to be the last prophet and that all prophets are equal, while Christians reject that Muhammad was a prophet analogous to Jesus Christ. Christians can pray at any time of the day, while prayers in Islam occur at specific times. Christians have rites referred to as
sacraments (the number of sacraments varies depending on denomination), while Muslims have the
Five Pillars of Islam:
1.
Shahadah - The profession of faith in Allah
2.
Salat - Prayer
3.
Zakaah - The paying of alms
4.
Sawm - Fasting
5.
Hajj - The Pilgrimage to
MeccaSome examples of Christian sacraments (specifically within the Catholic and Orthodox traditions) are:
1.
Baptism – initial spiritual cleansing, usually with water
2.
Eucharist – memorializes the
Last Supper3.
Matrimony – immortal bond between man and woman
4.
Holy Orders – appointing of
priests5.
Confirmation – rite of passage, usually for adolescents
6.
Confession – confessing of one’s
sins7.
Anointing of the Sick – blessing for those that are seriously ill
9. Why is the notion of "race" biologically obsolete, yet
culturally viable? (hint: difference between "nature"
and "nurture"... or biology vs. sociology)The problem with the idea of race from a biological perspective is that there are more genetic differences
within races than between them. According to
this site, 85% of genetic variation exists within any local population. There simply is no single biological trait that reduces people down to any “race”. What we have instead is an aggregate of traits that we simply as a race, merely for the sake of convenience.
For example, it’s tempting to look at someone with pale skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair and label them as Caucasian. The problem with this approach is that someone who does this is making a
hasty generalization based on stereotypes. For instance, that person could have easily been labeled as Hispanic. Many people of Hispanic origin could theoretically have blue eyes (as a consequence of the European origins of many Hispanics) and they could have blonde hair and pale skin as well. There is simply no objective, universal standard to define race.
It’s important to note that past migratory patterns have influenced “race” as well, leading to “race” mixing. For example, the
migration of
Indo-Aryans during the second millennium BC significantly influenced the people of the
Indo-Iranian region. The racial differentiation that resulted may have inadvertently led to the creation of the caste system that is present in India today. Although,
recent studies suggest that the genetic differences are nominal. This goes to show that the sociological implications of race may play a larger factor than the biological/genetic aspect.
The notion of race, nevertheless, is still useful from a sociological perspective. The concept of race can be applied as a way to settle historical grievances, for example, reparations for slavery or affirmative action in the case of discrimination. Also, people will also tend to identify culture in ethnic terms. For example, the many of the
Basque people within Spain think of themselves as a unique culture and ethnicity, and, therefore demand independence from Spain. Also, many of the French-speaking population of
Quebec, who tend to be of French-Catholic origin, seek independence from Canada because they see themselves as ethnically and cultural distinct from their Anglo-phone counterparts, who tend to be of British-Protestant origin.
10. Susan Blackmore argues that religions serve as meaning
memeplexes. Why, then, does she argue that there is no real or
permanent "self"? How do her views dovetail with Buddhism?Blackmore believes that the concept of the “self” is itself a meme, what she refers to as the selfplex. There is no single component that we can reduce down to identify the “self”. Instead, we have a bunch of neurons that work in sequence that, when working together, form the function of consciousness. Much of what we think of as ourselves is nothing more than an aggregate of memes that we have acquired. According to Blackmore, the notion of a “self” permeates into many aspects of our existence. For example, when we want to show ownership we say, “I own a car.” If we want to express an opinion often times we will say something like, “I think the movie is awful.”
Blackmore believes that we hold onto the notion of a “self”, not because it’s true, but because it’s psychologically useful. She believes that there is no “I”, but merely someone believes, “I am who I am.” So, people, themselves, don’t exist. What exists, instead, are their actions and their consequences. Blackmore, herself, quotes a Buddhist monk who says, “actions do exist, and also their consequences, but the person that acts does not.” (Blackmore, Meme Machine, p.230)
This brings us to the Buddhist concept of anatta. Buddhists believe in the doctrine of anatta, no self. This is the idea that the self is merely a temporary construct. This is related to what Blackmore is saying because, according to Buddhism, there is no permanent self; we are merely in constant state of flux. In Buddhism, as opposed to Christianity, there is no immortal soul (or self). Buddhism says that, while there is no soul, we will be reincarnated and our actions and the consequences of those actions will affect our reincarnation.
11. Explain how a religious idea/ritual/practice gets transformed in
American soil. For ex: I described how circumcision evolved from a
religious ritual (from Egyptian to Judaic to Islamic) into a
routinely performed medical procedure. This is a tougher question
than you might suspect. Think before you leap. You want to describe
how a religious idea/ritual/practice CHANGES in a North American
environment. You can draw from ANY religion for your developmental
example. Be sure, though, that it is YOUR example.The best example that I can think of where a religious practice evolved when it reached modern America is the commercialization of Christmas. Believe it or not, Christmas was once a religious holiday. After the industrial revolution in America, when advertising began, Christmas evolved from the Old World traditionalist-religious practice to the American modern-commercial practice that we know it today.
The reason for the change of Christmas’ meaning is largely due to the increasing influence of commercial culture into ordinary American life. There simply is no equivalent in the old world. The influence of commercial culture, especially via advertising, has spread various memes of what the meaning of Christmas ought to be. Eventually the idea that Christmas is about gift giving had been so thoroughly ingrained into our collective mind that no one cares about its religious connotation anymore.
Many companies make a substantial majority of their income from people who are buying presents for Christmas. It was, after all, Coca-Cola that gave us the modern image of what we refer to as
Santa Claus (although, contrary to popular myth, Coca-Cola did not actually
invent Santa Claus). Gift giving during Christmas is no longer solely practiced by Christians. Modernly, it seems like everyone gives gifts. This could reflect upon religious pluralism, which is also an American trait.
12. Explain Peter Berger's concept of the "heretical imperative"
(hint: think of class lecture: deductive, reductive, inductive) and
how it applies to religious pluralism in general.The
heretical imperative can be defined as the necessity to choose (or not to choose) one’s religion in a pluralist society. Berger believes that we have three basic approaches to claims regarding religion. We can ignore all contrary evidence to our preconceived beliefs, which is the deductive option. The deductive option is problematic because if we reject new theological claims outright then we will never be open to new ideas and we will be in denial over what could very well be the truth. This leads to a sort of intellectual stasis where people will always retain their status quo beliefs. Those beliefs will never be challenged, but will simply be maintained as dogma.
Another option is to simply dismiss religious claims as superstitious nonsense and try to find a purely naturalistic explanation, which is the reductive option. The technical name for this metaphysical position is
eliminative materialism. This option is slightly more appealing than the previous one because it allows for some amount of skepticism. The problem with this option is that we don’t address religious claims based on their merits. If we are to dismiss all metaphysical claims as nonsense, then there are no true metaphysical claims. This leads to a bizarre paradox. Eliminative materialism is itself a metaphysical position, but eliminative materialists reject the truth of metaphysical claims so their position must also be not true!
This leaves us with a third option. We can take an open-minded, pluralist approach to claims so that we can pick what we like and dislike about religion, which is the inductive option. Berger believes that the inductive option is superior because of its pluralist nature. This option allows us to judge religious claims on a case by case basis. This position rejects the extremes of the previous two positions. In the inductive option, we are neither dismissing all religious ideas as nonsense nor accepting them as dogma. This is the best possible solution because it allows us to maintain our skepticism and, at the same time, maintain a sort of inclusiveness that is required in a tolerant, pluralist society.
The inductive approach best suites
religious pluralism because if people are open minded regarding religious claims people will be more tolerant and understanding one another. They won’t immediately dismiss claims that are contrary to their own beliefs and, at the same time, they can study religious claims based on their merits as opposed to dismissing them all before giving them any serious consideration.
13. Take ONE new religious movement (any religion founded after the
16th century CE) and describe, in brief, its influence in North
America. Use hypertext when necessary.The
Christian Science Church was founded by
Mary Baker Eddy. When Eddy was on the brink of death she had a sort of religious revival that she described as her “Great Discovery.” She believed that she was miraculously healed and had the ability to heal others. In Eddy’s youth, she studied the Bible. More controversially, she was also influenced by other ideas that were popular during her day, particularly
alternative medicines such as
allopathy,
homeopathy, and
hydropathy.
When the Christian Science Church was first founded, in the later 1879, the Church gathered a lot of followers in its early years. At some point the in late 19th century the Church fell out of fashion. Times were changing as people began to become more skeptical of claims regarding spiritual healing, instead preferring more modern, practical medicine. Around the time of the 1960s and 1970s, the Church made a big comeback due to renewed interest in the notion of spiritual healing.
There is a lot of
controversy surrounding Christian Science’s practices of faith healing. There was one infamous case where parents were charged with murder or manslaughter because they let their children die of a curable disease. The parents decided to simply rely of “faith healing” instead of using traditional medical treatment.
The Christian Science Church’s influence can still be found today. They influenced other new faiths, such as
Theosophy. Mary Baker Eddy founded the famous publication known as
The Christian Science Monitor. Faith healing and alternative medicine, both integral aspects of Christian Science, are practiced by many today. These two practices raise many controversies about the connection between faith and science that are still relevant to this day. Christian Science, as well as other faiths, defend their practices on the grounds of religious freedom while skeptics believe their practices are dangerous and instead should rely on established medical treatments.
14. How would Nietzsche describe the "death" of God and the rise of
new religions?Nietzsche would likely think of the “death” of God as an end to slave morality. People in the past had to invent the concept of a God has way to explain the world and give meaning to our existence. In recent times, as society progresses and people become more educated, people have begun to adopt a more skeptical view towards previously established religions. Modernly, people can choose what religious idea they can believe in and not simply go along with the crowd.
People are no longer predestined to follow any specific organized religion. Despite the doubt that’s increasingly brought on by modernity, people still need to hold onto the idea of a God. Why? It’s because people still find comfort in the idea of an objective purpose to our existence. Many people are not comfortable with the idea of a world without meaning.
If there were no purpose, no light at the end of the tunnel, we would be forced to deal with reality as it is. That means we would have to take responsibility for our actions now, as opposed to an after life. If there were no after life, then that means that when you die you have nothing to look forward to other than getting shoved into a whole in the ground. The existential horror brought that this brings on is simply too much for some people to handle.
The ultimate implication of the absence of God, according to Nietzsche and other existentialists, is that we would have both think for ourselves and take responsibility for our actions. The new religions arise so that we can attempt to maintain a sense of purpose and ease our mind of the existential terror of a world devoid of purpose.
15. How does Stephen Wolfram's "new kind of science" support Stephen
Jay Gould's notion of spandrels or unintended
consequences/complexities? Hint: think of how complexity is the
result of simpler computational-like programs.It’s bizarre to think about at first, but it is indeed the case that complexity can arise from simplicity. There are many examples of this phenomenon. Nobel Prize winning economist
Friedrich Hayek argued that market economies work, not by top-down central planning, but by the decentralized order of individual actors working independently. Complex market economies are the results of the simple actions of many individuals.
Another example of simplicity leading to complexity is the English language. No single individual sat down and wrote the English language. The English language as we know it today developed over time,
since the fifth century, and became diversified as it got spread out across the various English speaking countries (USA, Canada, UK, and Australia). Each of these countries has their own unique dialects. For the English language, there is no equivalent to the French academy or the Spanish academy which actually decides what goes into their respective languages. In English words get coined spontaneously. For example, there is no French equivalent to the word e-mail.
The most famous example of going from the simple to the complex is
biological evolution. Humanity has evolved from apes that evolved from simpler animals and on and on. Eventually you come to realize that all of the diversity of life that you see around us is the result of the evolution from incredible simple unicellular creatures to what we see today.
This complexity can lead to all sorts of unintended consequences. One notable example of this phenomenon is the
human appendix. The appendix developed at some point in our human ancestry long ago. Modernly, no one is sure whether the appendix even has a function. The appendix doesn’t seem to be helpful to our survival at all. It is merely a value-neutral, unintended consequence of our evolution. Oddly enough, having an appendix can actually be a liability; such is the case when one gets
appendicitis.
Another example is
tonsils. Tonsils have no significant purpose. They do absolutely nothing that adds to our survival. Nevertheless, they developed and they are still with us to this day even though they don’t do anything. Unless, you get tonsillitis, then they become a liability.
16. Why does religious "diversity" almost always start with its
founder? Explain in detail your answer.I think that much of the reason why religious diversity begins with the religion’s founder has to do with
hermeneutics, which is a fancy way of saying
interpretation. When religions get started, their founder goes out and spreads memes to their disciples. Once, the founder dies its up to the disciples to figure out what the original intent of their founders teachings were. The disciples will look into their holy book to try and interpret what the original message was. The problem is that different people can often get different interpretations even though they are all looking at the same text. This problem can lead to various splits and schisms.
One of the best examples I can think of is Christianity. When Jesus died, it wasn’t until as much as hundreds of
years later that people started to write down various accounts about his life. Another problem is that the accounts of his life often contradict other accounts. So, when it comes to interpreting what he did and what he wanted, many people will end up disagreeing. Eventually, the various Christian denominations will start to form as they disagree with what other denominations have to say regarding Jesus and his teachings.
Ultimately, everyone tries to revisit the original text and the original teachings. Again, the problem is people get different interpretations and people will disagree. This phenomenon is called the
hermeneutic cycle. Hence, diversity arises as a result of these disagreements in interpretation.
17. How does Edward O. Wilson view theology? How would
a "consilience" approach in general explain supernatural claims?Edward Wilson seems to hold theology in low regard, at least he does when it is attempted to be used as a means to acquire knowledge. Edward Wilson prefers to use the scientific method as a way to obtain knowledge about the natural world. Wilson’s goal is to fuse knowledge across the various disciplines as a way to explain all phenomena in the simplest terms feasible. He does, however, put theology on the bottom of the epistemological totem pole. Instead he starts with fields where few rational people would disagree with its conclusions, such as mathematics, then he moves into the hard sciences to the soft sciences and then, finally, theology.
A “consilience” approach to explaining supernatural phenomenon would start, not in theology, but with fields of study whose methodology can be universally agreed upon. The first areas to start would most likely be Mathematics and formal logic. At this stage, it’s important to arrive at a conclusion that is universally acceptable. For example, no rational person would dispute that 1 + 1 = 2. Regarding supernatural claims, it’s important to produce an argument that is logically
valid at this stage. This means that if the
premises are true then the
conclusion must also be true.
Next, one would move to the hard sciences such as Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. At this stage, one would ask if any supernatural claim could be explained by events that exist in the natural world. For instance, many people use to believe (and some still do) that God created all of the creatures as they are directly. The problem is that you don’t need to explain the way creatures are today using God. You can simply use evolution (a combination of biology and genetics). Also, some people believed that the Earth was created only a
couple thousand years ago. This despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary the Earth is
four and half billion years old. This was measured using Geology, Astronomy, and Paleontology.
Next, we would move into the soft sciences such as Economics, Psychology, and Sociology. At this point, we want to know whether supernatural phenomenon can be explained by some aspect of human nature. For example, in the field of Psychology
Sigmund Freud once described the idea of God as a sort of longing for one’s father. Sociologically, one could take the view of
Karl Marx, that religion is inherently untruthful and subjugates people. There’s also a relatively new field of Economics known as the
Economics of Religion that analyzes religion using economic assumptions like rational self-interest, markets, and preferences.
Then, after all those steps are completed, we elect for a theological conclusion. At this point, it’s a sort of intellectual anarchy. When it comes to religious beliefs it seems like anything goes. People who are otherwise totally rational can believe things that seem like utter nonsense to others. For example, a Christian trying to explain the concept of the trinity to people other faiths might have a difficult time since many would be confused by how three different entities can be the same god. Also, many people might laugh at the
Jains for their radical respect of living organisms.
17a. Is this MIDTERM your own work?Yes, and I hyperlinked all of the sources that I used.
Update: Score B to B+
