Metaphysical Diversity

Final Post

2005-12-20T09:32:00.000-08:00

I got an A in the class. This was probably one of the best classes that I've ever had.

Final

2005-12-10T12:08:00.000-08:00

1. YOUR NAME.

Joseph Kemmerly; Fri 11:00AM

2. YOUR USERNAME.

joekemmerly

3. List your attendance (how many classes missed? how many classes
were you late to?).

I was always on time and I never missed class. I sat in the middle of class and close to the front.

4. List the titles to each of the two movies, along with a synopsis
of their themes. I also want you to list the "format" that you used
for your two films.

My first digital film is entitled Outer Space by Joseph Kemmerly. This film had a number of images of space, stars, galaxies, etc. 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.wmv

My second digital film is entitled Social Evolution by Joseph Kemmerly. This film was about social evolution. Specifically, it presents theories about social evolution as to whether society evolves in a predetermined way or in a spontaneous way. I presented this film on December 2. I used Pinnacle again. Again, I saved it on a CD-RW as a MPEG. You gave me a B to B+. The video is streaming off the CSULB server. You can see it here:

http://www.csulb.edu/~jkemmerl/socialevolution3.wmv

5. Did you read all 5 books? (fully? skip-read? looked at the cover?
we had to read books?)

Yes, I read all five books. The first three took me approximately two weeks per book. The latter two were easier to read and took me about one week per book.

6. Give me a link to your field trip so I can access it for
reference.

http://metaphysicaldiversity.blogspot.com/2005/12/field-trips.html

Pass +

7. Also give me a link to your autobiography so I can cross-
reference items if I need to.

http://metaphysicaldiversity.blogspot.com/2005/11/autobiography.html

8. What grade did you finally receive on the midterm?

Here are your words from the email you sent me:

VERY GOOD WORK.

Solid B/B+ which puts you squarely in the "A" bracket.

nice.

8. What grade do you deserve in this class? Substantiate your answer.

I believe I deserve an A in the class. I had perfect attendance and was never late. I turned in all of the assignments on time and my assignments have consistently been high in quality. Also, I read all of the books that were assigned. I also posted on the message board regularly.

9. List any extra credit or other circumstances that may help your
overall grade.

I had perfect attendance and did very well on all of my assignments.

---------------------

Here's the "meat" (or, in my case, "tofu") of the test:

10. Explain Malcolm X's vision of Islam and why he was inspired to
convert to it.

Malcolm X believes in a form of Islam that would be considered foreign to most traditional Muslims. While he was in prison, Malcolm X joined a radical, militant group known as the Nation of Islam (NOI). The NOI believes that, before African-Americans arrived to the USA as slaves, Africans were Muslim and, therefore, should convert back to Islam as a way of retrieving their lost heritage.

Malcolm X was probably inspired to convert to his brand of Islam because of a combination of his own socio-economic conditions as well as the changing intellectual climate that would be a precursor to the 1950’s to 60’s civil rights movement. Malcolm X was appalled by what he saw around him and he thought that African-Americans have not progressed much since slave times and that they had to “liberate” themselves from the white man.

11. What are the three most significant factors motivating Malcolm X's
understanding of race relations (between blacks and whites).
Substantiate your answers.

I believe one of the first things that motivated, as I mentioned in the previous question, Malcolm X was his own economic conditions while growing up. While he was living in Harlem he experienced the dark side of life. He was involved in drug-dealing, pimping, and robbery as well as other things that would likely have a significant effect on one’s own world view, most likely making him pessimistic and cynical.

Malcolm X’s own experience growing up didn’t exist in a bubble, though. He saw his fellow African-Americans experiencing political discrimination and economic hardship as well. Seeing this phenomenon gave Malcolm X a sort of racial collectivist view where he thought that African-Americans should rise up and liberate themselves. This is where he developed an overtly antagonistic view toward those outside of his race, particularly towards Whites and Jews.

Another motivating factor is Malcolm X’s own distorted view of history. He subscribes to something similar to noble savage theory, that everything was going fine for Africans until the evil white man showed up and ruined everything. This line of thinking is found throughout his writing. He blames whites for all of the problems in the world including colonialism and imperialism; making him a sort of Noam Chomksy of his time.

12. Are there different versions of Islam? Detail your answers.

The two major schools of Islam are Sunni and Shia. The split began shortly after the death of Muhammad. The problem was that he didn’t appoint a successor so there was a lot of confusion regarding who lead be the leader of Islam. This debate led to a civil war within the Muslim world called the Fitna.

Sunnis follow a tradition that began with Abu Bakr, who was Muhammad’s father-in-law. Bakr, according to Sunnis, was the first Caliph or successor. They believe that Bakr along with Umar ibn al-Khattab, Uthman ibn Affan, and Ali ibn Abi Talib were the Four Righteously Guided Caliphs or those that Sunnis believe followed in the traditions of Muhammad. Modernly, Sunnis are the largest group within Islam.

Shia, on the other hand, disregard the first three Caliphs, but favor Ali ibn Abi Talib and believe that he was chosen by Muhammad. Within Shia Islam, the largest school of thought is known as the Twelvers. Twelvers are those who believe that the succession of Imams, similar to the Sunni Caliph, should go as follows:
1. Ali ibn Abu Talib (600 - 661)
2. Hasan ibn Ali (625 - 669)
3. Husayn ibn Ali (626 - 680)
4. Ali ibn Husayn (658 - 713)
5. Muhammad al-Baqir (676 - 743)
6. Jafar as-Sadiq (703 - 765)
7. Musa al-Kazim (745 - 799)
8. Ali ar-Rida (765 - 818)
9. Muhammad at-Taqi (810 - 835)
10. Ali al-Hadi (827 - 868)
11. Hasan al-Askari (846 - 874)
12. Muhammad al-Mahdi (868 - ?)

Modernly, the Shia school is significantly smaller than the Sunni school. Shia can be found mostly in Iran though they also have a significant presence in Iraq.

There are also a number of tiny schools of Islam. Many of them are quite militant such as Wahhabism and Salafism. Islam has also inspired or influenced a number of related faiths such as Yazidis and the Druze.

13. Why does Ken Wilber argue for a holistic or QUADRANT
understanding of religion and spiritual life?

Wilber finds the idea of a quadrant understanding of spirituality appealing because Wilber’s view of integral theory rejects the Cartesian mind/body distinction. So rather than seeing things in terms of mind vs. body, Wilber believes there are four quadrants to our existence and, rather than them being at odds with one another, they are seen as parts of an inter-connected whole. This allows Wilber to take a holistic approach to spirituality rather than a reductionistic one.

The Left quadrants represent the interior perspective. The Right quadrants represent the exterior perspective. The Upper quadrants represent the individual perspective. The Lower quadrants represent the collective perspective. Each of these is then divided into four quadrants.

Wilber believes the four quadrants are as follows. The Upper-Left quadrant has an interior-individual perspective that would fit into Freud’s concept of psychoanalysis. The Upper-Right quadrant has an exterior-individual perspective that would fit into B.F. Skinner’s behaviorism. The Lower-Left quadrant has an interior-collective perspective that would fit into hermeneutics. The Lower-Right quadrant has an exterior-collective perspective that would fit into Marx’s theory of deterministic social forces.

14. How would Edward O. Wilson critique Ken Wilber's transpersonal
psychology?

The problem with transpersonal psychology, from Edward Wilson’s perspective, is that it is not scientifically rigorous for his taste. Wilson would prefer techniques that used the scientific method. On the other hand, Wilber is more interested in non-scientific considerations such as spirituality.

Wilson’s own “consilience” technique for finding the truth would start off by using formal logic and mathematics. If math and logic isn’t sufficient then Wilson would move onto the hard sciences. Once Wilson got to the point where social sciences are necessary, such as psychology, he would most likely be more concerned with naturalistic phenomenon; rather then the supernatural phenomena that is found in transpersonal psychology. After all of those steps are taken then we should discuss spirituality.

Wilson believes in taking complex claims and reducing them down to simpler explanations. For example, if someone had an out of body experience Wilson would try to figure out a more rational explanation for the phenomenon as opposed to the mystical explanation that many others tend to give. Wilson would probably look for such things like a neurological issue that may be involved that would induce someone to think that the way they do regarding their out of body experience.

15. How would a Wilberian purview critique the actions of Osama Bin
Laden? Be sure to substantiate your answer.

I think Wilber would see Bin Laden as committing the Pre/Trans Fallacy. To be more specific, Wilber would say Bin Laden makes a mistake called the elevationist fallacy, where pre-rational material is mistaken for being spiritual. The problem with Bin Laden, or any fundamentalist, is that they take a pre-rational concept, like tribalism, and accept it as if it were absolutely divine.

Wilber would not approve of Bin Laden and would instead support religious pluralism. Wilber would not reject that there are genuine mystical experiences, but one has to move through personal levels of development to achieve the transpersonal. Fundamentalists don’t move through those stages. Instead, they force their own, narrower concept of the divine on others.

According to Wilber, a fundamentalist exists at the lower end of the “holarchy”, meaning they rank on a lower level on the spiritual continuum. This means that fundamentalists are indeed part of the whole, but are simply a lesser part than the more meaningful parts of the spiritual whole. Wilber, when describing the KKK and the Nazis, refers to those on this lower end of the spiritual continuum as having “a twisted case of arrested development”. (Wilber, One Taste, p.229)

16. How does the genealogical history of morality contribute to
religious diversity?

I believe that the root cause of religious diversity can be found in hermeneutics. What happens is that once a religion is founded the followers are trying to interpret morality from their holy book. The problem is that not everyone comes to the same conclusions. The disagreements lead to schisms within the religion and can even lead to the creation of new religions.

The best example I can think of would be Martin Luther and Protestantism. Martin Luther disagreed with the Catholic Church on the issue of indulgences, which were payments for the redemption of sins. This process was believed by Luther to be a corrupt practice. In response, Luther expressed his grievances through his pamphlets eventually leading to the Protestant Reformation.

So, Luther’s interpretation was different than the Catholic Church’s version of what it believed to be moral. So in response a schism occurred and new sect formed. There are a virtually infinite number of times that this can occur. Today, you can still find these splits occurring within Christianity in new religions such as Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

17. Given America's religious melting pot, what do YOU think is the
best way to approach American religious diversity? Explain your
reasoning.

Honestly, I think the best approach to religious diversity is Peter Berger’s “inductive option.” When I first heard of this I found it appealing instantly. The inductive option is a great idea because it allows people to be tolerant and open-minded, but not uncritical of religion.

The inductive option allows for the best of both worlds. We can be tolerant, but not to the point where we approve of such things as female circumcision. Also, we can be critical of religion, but not to the point where we dismiss all spiritual claims as per se nonsense. What this gives us is religious pluralism, where we are respectful toward those who differ from us yet, at the same time, we are not abandoning the whole project of religion altogether.

I think this approach is good from, both, a deontological and utilitarian perspective. From a deontological perspective, the inductive option gives people a large degree of autonomy over their own views and actions. Also, one can be critical of another without using force to change the beliefs of those that have differing views. From a utilitarian perspective, people benefit from worshipping as they see fit. If their beliefs are mistaken, then those who hold mistaken beliefs will have to fight it out in the market place of ideas. The inductive option is positive sum, as opposed to zero-sum, because no one is forcing their own views on others.

18. Explain why religion will not disappear, even as we become more
scientifically oriented?

Living in a scientific age, it’s very tempting to take an eliminative materialist view and say that religion is just superstitious nonsense and that everything can or will be explained by purely naturalistic phenomenon. Yet, I do not believe that most people hold this view. For instance, I don’t think people will ever let go of their belief in an afterlife even though there is no verifiable evidence that such a place exists. Why? I think there’s a psychological reason for this.

People feel comforted in believing in an afterlife because we have evolved in such a way that we fear death to the point where we are uncomfortable with the notion of nonexistence. Hence, people believe in an afterlife so that they can convince themselves that they will never really die.

Also, belief in the mystical is nearly universal among various cultures. Not all cultures, such as Buddhists, believe in deities, but nearly all cultures believe in something that “transcends” our current existence. Since this belief is so wide spread, it may very well be an integral component to humanity as a whole. Indeed, there is a field called the Evolutionary psychology of religion where psychologists, such as Steven Pinker, believe that religion may be a by-product of the human mind.

19. How would Ken Wilber argue against Wilson's inter-theoretic
reductionism?

Wilber would not like Wilson’s reductionism. Instead Wilber would prefer a holistic approach to an understanding of the world. So, Wilber uses what’s called integral theory, where the worlds of the physical and metaphysical are integrated. Wilber would say that reductionism can’t explain all aspects of existence because it would leave out abstract objects such as metaphysics, consciousness, and religion.

Since abstract objects can not be reducible to natural phenomena that would mean that abstract objects have no place in scientific inquiry. So, Wilber devised a non-reductionistic approach to account for abstract objects. By putting things, such as consciousness, into quadrants one can get a more holistic understanding rather than attempting to find it through purely reductionistic means.

Wilber would likely dismiss extreme reductionism as a form of scientism, where science is the only means of finding truth. Since the merits of scientism can’t be judged by science, science would then be insufficient as way of finding all known values. So, some values must exist outside of mere scientific values.

20. What was the most valuable thing you learned this semester?

I think the concept of the “biological imperative” that was described in class is useful. Evolutionary psychology is interesting, but I could never quite figure out how to incorporate it into predicting the behavior of other people before I came to class. With the concept of the biological imperative it’s extremely useful in predicting human behavior because if no one reproduced than no one would be here.

The biological imperative is an amazingly simple explanation that can achieve so much. Since the very reason why we exist is from reproduction and given that the process of reproduction as occurred over the whole of our collective existence, then this means that our will to reproduce is amazingly powerful. So people will then act to achieve reproductive success.

So, if you understand the concept you know that everyone’s highest goal, in the biological sense, is to achieve reproduction and people will go out of their way to achieve that end. The biological imperative explains, for example, why men cheat. They do so to maximize the amount of women they can reproduce with.

21. According to Stephen Jay Gould, why is it so difficult to know
the evolutionary "function" of religious belief? Hint: think
of "spandrels" (or unintended secondary effects).

It’s difficult to decipher the function of religion because the religious nature of human beings may have arisen as a result of the unintended consequences of our evolution. Human beings have larger and more complex brains than most species. Presumably, these large brains help our survival. We can use these large brains to solve problems encountered in nature such as devising tools that can aid in obtaining food.

As our brains get more complex, mankind’s capacity for abstract thought increases. One of the unintended consequences of this expansion of brain capacity is that we now have the ability to reflect on our existence. Since primitive man does not yet have the tools required to explain such things as the sun rising. Gods had to be devised to explain such seemingly miraculous events.

As I previously mentioned, evolutionary psychologists such as Steven Pinker believe that religion is a by-product of our mind and has no adaptive purpose. If religion arose in the human psyche as a mere accident than there may very well be no decipherable function to religious belief.

Field Trips

2005-12-03T12:35:00.000-08:00

Joseph Kemmerly 11:00 AM Fri

The Glory of Christmas @ the Crystal Cathedral

On November 26 I went with my family to the Crystal Cathedral to see The Glory of Christmas show. When we first arrived the first thing I noticed was the enormous Christmas Tree which had lots of lights, but I thought it could have used more ornaments. While I was waiting in line with my family we saw some of the animals that were in the performance entering the building. One moment that was amusing was when one of the camels was eating out of a garbage can. Not only did the camel eat the contents of the can, but it also started to eat the lining of the trash can. The animal caretaker had to pull the camel away from the can so it would stop eating.

At around 7:00 PM we were let into the cathedral. Once we found our seats we realized how good our seats were. We were only about six rows from the stage on the main floor. When I sat down I started to look around the cathedral. The cathedral’s internal structure had a system of blue bars that surrounded the ceiling. If you look straight up you realize just how large the structure is. My little brother commented that it reminded him of the Eiffel Tower.

Before the show started I read the program that we received. Apparently, this year is the 25th anniversary of the show. I also learned that the narration was done by Thurl Ravenscroft who was the voice of “Tony the Tiger” in the Frosted Flakes commercials!

The show began at 7:30 PM. At first there was an introduction given by Dr. Robert Schuller, who normally gives Sunday masses at the cathedral. Then began the prelude, where O Little Town of Bethlehem was performed. This is where we first see the ballet-like dancing. The next scene was the betrothal of Mary and Joseph. It was around this time when one of the dancers tried to do a flip. Unfortunately, he didn’t quite make it all the way and he almost landed on his knees. After that, my mother whispered to me that the dancing was a bit clumsy and I agreed.

Some of the more interesting scenes occurred when the angels appeared. The angels were held up by two cables that were attached all the way at the top of the cathedral. When the angel Gabriel appeared and “flew” over me, one of the first thoughts that came to me was that if the cables broke and she fell on me then that would seriously hurt.

My favorite part of the whole event was the use of live animals. Luckily, we were sitting so close that we could actually smell the animals as they came onto the scene. Some of the animals include sheep, lamb, llamas, and donkeys. My favorite animals were the camels which the three wise men rode in on. One of the amusing problems of using live animals was that they would actually defecate during the show. How they solved this problem was ingenious. They had people dressed as though they were part of the scene clean up the mess. For example, in one seen where everyone was dressed in shepard’s outfits the cleaners were also dressed as shepard’s and they hid their pooper-scoopers underneath their robes. In fact, I didn’t even notice until my mother pointed it out to me.

The best singing was done during a scene called the Adoration where all the people are rejoicing over Jesus’ birth. At this scene, the performers seemed to be especially good. Although, one of the weakest parts of the singing was when small children were doing the singing. Of course, you can’t expect children to perform at the same level as a fully grown adult, but why use them at all? My guess is that everyone thinks its “cute” when they sing. Unfortunately, a child sang Silent Night, which was not done very well.

Towards the end, the wise men arrived to give gifts to Jesus. I could smell the incense as the wise men were arriving onto the scene. Then, O Come All Ye Faithful was sung. After the gift giving, the angels came out again and a very good rendition of Hark the Herald Angels Sing was performed. At the end, the narrator described in brief the life of Jesus and the impact of Christianity on the world. Then, Joy to the World was playing as all of the actors left the stage.

Overall, my family and I enjoyed the performance very much and I would recommend everyone go and see it. It’s especially good if you get close up seats. That way you can really experience everything from the smell of the animals to the scent of incense. The cathedral, itself, is an impressive structure as well. The funny thing is that the Crystal Cathedral is neither crystal nor a cathedral. The structure is glass and there’s no bishop so technically it’s not a cathedral. Nevertheless, it’s quite fun.

Trinity Christian City International

On December 3 I went to Trinity Christian City International. I live very close to this place and I’m glad I have an excuse to check it out. In fact, I see it every time I drive home from CSULB. The place is so enormous that it almost looks like a castle; complete with a gate and everything. Of course, the irony of this is just delicious. Once you look at it you realize, “Oh, so this is what happens when you give those people money.” At night, you can see all of the white colored Christmas lights which stands out if you are driving on the 405 South Freeway. What’s funny is that there’s a sign that says “Happy Birthday Jesus” instead of “Merry Christmas.”

I went to the place at a little after 11:00 AM. There were not many people there at all. When I entered the compound, I parked next to a manger scene. The first place I walked to was a garden with a fountain down the middle of it. The garden was fairly large and I found it pleasant. After looking at the garden, I entered the main building.

What I saw inside was shocking. The interior looked even more like a palace than the outside. Just about everything inside was made out of marble and had gold trim. I don’t know if the gold was real or just painted as a color. Again, it makes you think that they don’t practice what they preach. They talk about giving, but they use the money for creating something that looks like a mansion.

Once I got inside I continued touring. I looked around the first floor and saw a cardboard cutout of Benny Hinn. After looking at that, I made my way to the Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh Gift and Book Shop. There were a number of other customers in the shop as well. I looked at the books to see what they had in stock. A number of books were what I would expect to see in a Christian book shop such as books about the Bible and the life of Jesus. Although, there were a number of books that I did not expect to see at all. There were a number of books about “biblical economics” and “faith-based finances”, when I saw these books I giggled a little bit because even if Jesus were alive today I doubt I would take investment advice from him.

A number of books were on politics as well. I think that just about all of them were from a conservative political perspective. There was a book about Condoleezza Rice and a book authored by Alan Keyes. When I made my way toward the back end of the shop I noticed that there were some Hanukah-related merchandise which I thought was kind of nice at first. At a closer glance I realized that this was actually somewhat disturbing. There were a number of books at seemed sympathetic to Jews and Israelis, but there were also a number of books that were critical of Islam such as one entitled Islam Revealed and Christian Jihad, which was a book that was somewhat sympathetic towards the Christians during the Crusades. Why the discrepancy? I believe there’s a political motivation involved.

When I left the bookstore I looked up and noticed that at the ceiling of each floor you can see paintings of angels on them. I went up the stairs and saw a marble statue of an angel with a sword on top of a guy in chains. It was a cool statue, but it was pretty violent for something that’s supposed to be Christian. I stopped at the second floor because I think the third floor is reserved for special events. On the second floor was the bistro, which I didn’t eat at. Toward the back I saw some event room that was shut off. Next to the entrance of the room was a sign that said that it is illegal to disturb a religious ceremony.

After looking at all that I left. I didn’t see the Virtual Reality Theater of “The Revolutionary”. Overall, the place is actually quite nice, but there’s a problem with that. I think it’s the hypocrisy that’s involved. TBN preaches charity, but practices extravagance.

Second Movie (updated)

2005-12-02T15:49:00.000-08:00

Someone complained that my movie was blurry, so I saved it a higher resolution. Again, my movie is here:

http://www.csulb.edu/~jkemmerl/socialevolution3.wmv

Second Movie

2005-12-02T13:37:00.000-08:00

I have my second movie streaming off the CSULB server. You can see it here:

http://www.csulb.edu/~jkemmerl/socialevolution3.wmv

Critiques of Ken Wilber

2005-11-30T09:59:00.000-08:00

Here are some criticisms of Ken Wilber:

http://www.kheper.net/topics/Wilber/

Here's a site with lots of stuff on Ken Wilber. There's even an
article entitled The Cult of Ken Wilber here:

http://www.kheper.net/topics/Wilber/Cult_of_Ken_Wilber.html

Here is an even larger collection of criticisms:

http://www.integralworld.net/readingroom.html

One Taste

2005-11-25T08:59:00.000-08:00

Ken Wilber, author of One Taste, is a board member of the integral institute.

http://www.integralinstitute.org/integral.html

From the site:

Integral Institute is dedicated to the proposition that partial and piecemeal approaches to complex problems are ineffective. Whether addressing individual and personal issues of meaning and transformation, or increasingly complex social problems such as war, hunger, disease, over-population, housing, ecology, and education, partial and fragmented approaches need to be replaced by solutions that are more comprehensive, systematic, encompassing—and integral.

Accordingly, there are four main goals for the Institute:

1. Integrate the largest amount of research from the largest number of disciplines—including the natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, neurology, ecology), art, ethics, religion, psychology, politics, business, sociology, and spirituality.

2. Develop practical products and services from this research—which can be used by individuals in their own development, or by groups, businesses, national and international organizations.

3. Apply this integrated knowledge and method of problem solving to critical and urgent issues—especially the serious political, health, educational, business, and environmental problems facing humanity. This integral approach to problem solving is employed by the Institute’s own members; by forming alliances with other organizations; and by training organizational leaders, managers, and change agents in the Integral Approach.

4. Create the world’s first Integral Learning Community—with national and international communities of Integral Practice, as well as with Integral University.

Integral Institute functions as the world’s premier site for integral research and applications; as a generator of consulting services, seminars, and conferences; as a network of the most influential integral theorists from around the world; and as an open organization for disseminating and applying integral methods to complex problems in a wide variety of fields, personal to professional.

The mission of the Institute is to assist people and organizations along integral, comprehensive, balanced, and sustainable lines in order to dramatically improve the quality of life on this planet. Integral Institute’s founding belief is that by helping individuals, companies, organizations, governments, NGOs, and communities to become integrally informed, they can more effectively chart their courses and make wiser and saner decisions today and in the future; develop successful, breakthrough strategies to help solve their problems; and more successfully mobilize their resources to implement desired solutions consonant with integral sustainability.

Because Integral Institute specializes in integral operating systems (IOS) that can help any organization reorient itself in a more balanced and comprehensive fashion, I-I serves as an “organization for other organizations,” helping them design operating systems that tap into and utilize previously neglected potentials in individuals and organizations.

Integral Institute is also pioneering the world’s first Integral Learning Community, previews of which are presented in Integral Naked, but the more complete form of which can be found in the launching of Integral University. (See Integral University for more information; see Bulletin Board for late-breaking news on IU.)

By assisting people in various settings to become more balanced and comprehensive in their decisions, Integral Institute believes that it can assist a collective increase in wisdom and basic sanity for the planet and future generations.

Wilbur is also an author for beliefnet.com. In this article he asks in Which Level of God Do You Believe In?

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/153/story_15318_1.html

Autobiography

2005-11-15T13:57:00.000-08:00

Autobiography

By:

Joseph Kemmerly Fri 11:00AM

Religion has had a significant impact on my life and world view. Although, I think my views on religion are part of a larger intellectual evolution that I have undergone during my life.

Childhood

At first, my parents tried to raise me as a Catholic. Well, it was mostly my father who took me to Church on Sundays. My mother seems, for the most part, indifferent to religion. I dreaded going to Church on Sunday mornings and I was grateful when we missed mass, whatever the reason that might had been.

I went to a Catholic elementary school called St. John the Baptist in Costa Mesa. I enjoyed school there for the most part, except for being teased often times. Every Friday, the entire school would attend mass before we started our regular classes. Unlike going to mass on Sunday, I enjoyed going to mass on Friday because I found considerably more enjoyable to sit and listen to a priest, even if he was boring, than go to class and concentrate on difficult subjects like math.

When I was in the eighth grade, we had to pair up with first graders when we went to mass on Friday. I never quite understood what the point of this was. Nevertheless, I was lucky. My first grade buddy had a speech impediment and he had to go to speech on Friday mornings to help him with his problem. So I didn’t have to deal with the hassle of having a first grader by my side.

After the eighth grade, I was glad to leave St. John the Baptist. It’s not that it was a bad school, but after approximately eight years I really got sick of it.

During this time, I did not give too much thought to religion. Perhaps this was because I was too young to understand the gravity of theological issues. My critical thinking skills were virtually non-existent as well. I wouldn’t experience any sort of existential doubt until later years.

High School

I went to high school at Mater Dei, a Catholic high school in Santa Ana. I despised high school. It was difficult for me both academically and socially. Freshman year, surprisingly, was not as difficult for me as the later years would become.

Sophomore and Junior years were a disaster. I was struggling academically. I don’t know why I found it so difficult, but for whatever reason I was stressing out. Every so often the school would send out “progress reports” to tell parents how well their students were doing. At one point I got a progress report that said that in half of my classes I was getting D’s and F’s!

I was having a difficult time socially as well. I started to withdraw more and become more introverted (more so than I already am). At this point I started to develop a “sense of self” that I was uncomfortable with. Whenever I looked into the mirror, I didn’t like what I saw. I felt really awkward.

During this time, I started to have doubts about all of my previous beliefs, religious and otherwise. I guess the problem I had was, to use the technical name, the problem of evil. How could all of these bad things be happening to me if there was a God that was omnipotent and a God that had the capacity to rid the world of evil? This problem would confound me for a while after the middle of high school.

Thankfully, my senior year of high school wasn’t nearly as bad as my previous two. My grades got better during the last year. I was also having less difficult of a time socially. Despite some improvements, I look back at my high school time with resentment. I don’t think it had anything to do with the fact that I went to a Catholic high school. A lot of students wanted to attend a public school, but the fact that it was religious didn’t bother me so much. I think I most likely would have experienced the same problems at any other high school.

Early College

I went to Orange Coast College immediately after high school. Orange Coast College, though difficult at times, was a considerably better experience for me than high school. One of the first things that I thought was bizarre about going to a secular educational institution was that I didn’t have to wear uniforms! Since elementary school, I had been wearing uniforms every day to class. There was a sense of freedom I had as a result of being able to wear what I wanted to wear. Although, the funny thing is that I retained some habits that I still have to this day. For example, I still tuck my shirt into my pants, usually when it’s cold. We were forced to tuck our shirts in at all of my previous schools and I never quite got over the fact that I can do essentially anything I want with my clothes.

It was around the time when I began attending Orange Coast College that I began to develop an intellectual curiosity that led me to want to know more about the world than what I was learning in my classes. I don’t know if there was a specific event that sparked this curiosity in me. Perhaps coincidentally or perhaps not, but this was around the time when 9/11 occurred. Again, I don’t know if this specific event caused me to think about the world differently rather than a more intellectual event in my personal development, it could very well be a coincidence.

Present - Ethics

Nonetheless, I began doing my own personal research regarding ethical and religious issues. There were two classes that I took at Orange Coast College that were the catalyst for my intellectual development, Ethics and Logic. In Ethics, especially during the first week of the course, we learned about the various schools of ethics such as Kantian-ism, Utilitarianism, Existentialism, etc. My sympathies regarding ethics tend to lie with Kant. It’s not so much that Kant’s ethics are the best, because there not, but it simply seems the least absurd ethical philosophy relative to all others.

Utilitarianism seems to obviously absurd to me. One could easily use utilitarianism to justify slavery. I know that there are fairly complicated arguments in favor of utilitarianism such as the distinction made between act and rule utilitarianism, but nonetheless utilitarianism seems absurd to me almost at face value. Existentialism leads to many absurd conclusions as well, which is ironic since existentialists tend to believe that the world is valueless and absurd.

Regarding religion, there’s the Divine Command theory of ethics. Divine Command theory doesn’t make much sense to me. If God can create morality by divine will then can God break the moral rules that he created or does he have to follow his own rules as well? If God has to obey his own rules, how could God be omnipotent? If God can break his own rules then is it okay for God to kill and steal? This is sort of like asking, “What happens when an immovable object meets an irresistible force.”

Kantian-ism is relatively better than the rest. His categorical imperative appeals to me because it takes the concept of the rational will of others into consideration whereas the others tend to be more based on consequences. Plus, Kant seems to be more sympathetic toward individual autonomy relative to other ethical systems.

Present – Logic

My logic course also had an influence on me. This course sparked my interest in the idea of Truth. How do we come to know truth and what constitutes truth? In class, I learned about the distinction between formal and informal logic.

I was particularly interested in the study of fallacies. Once I learned about them, I realized how often one encounters them. It’s especially fun to catch someone resorting to fallacies in political debates. The study of fallacies led me to wonder how it is we know when something is true or not.

My favorite tool for determining truth is to use Carl Sagan’s Baloney Detection Kit. This includes various tools such as the scientific method, Occam’s Razor, as well as formal and informal logic. I find this especially useful in the face of various religious claims.

Conclusion

My intellectual endeavors, both inside and outside of class, have had a considerable influence on my religious beliefs. When I encounter religious claims, I try my best to run them through Carl Sagan’s Baloney Detection Kit. Regarding religion and ethics, I am not a big fan of the divine command theory of ethics, instead preferring a more secular, Kantian approach towards ethics.

My own theological views are constantly evolving, even as I type out this autobiography. I am not a big fan of the idea of a personal God due to the problem of evil. In fact, I tend to think of myself as a weak agnostic. I am open to the idea of religious claims being true, but I doubt they can be known. This is a position I find comfortable because it allows for me to be pluralistic towards religious claims and not dogmatic.

Malcolm X

2005-11-15T11:36:00.000-08:00

I have finished reading Malcolm X.

This is said to be the official website of Malcolm X:

http://www.cmgww.com/historic/malcolm/index.htm

Here's some info on him:

http://www.cmgww.com/historic/malcolm/about/facts.htm

FAST FACTS

Birth name: Malcolm Little
Nickname: (early years) Detroit Red, Big Red
Name change: Malcolm X; El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz

Birth date: May 19, 1925
Birth place: University Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska

Death date: February 21, 1965
Death place: The Audubon Ballroom in New York
Burial location: Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York

Parents: Earl Little and Louise (Norton) Little
Siblings: (in order of birth) Ella, Earl and Mary (half-siblings from
Earl's previous marriage); Wilfred, Hilda, Philbert, Reginald and Yvonne
Married: Betty (Sanders) X; on January 14, 1958
Children: Attallah, Qubilah, Ilyasah, Gamilah, Mallak and Malikah

Hair color: Reddish brown
Eye color: Brown
Elementary school: Pleasant Grove Elementary School in East Lansing,
Michigan

Occupation: Civil rights activist
Nationality: American
Religion: Islam
Famous tagline/quote: "By any means necessary."

Malcolm X was a member of the Nation of Islam. Here's their website:

http://www.noi.org/

Web sites that I used

2005-11-07T18:09:00.000-08:00

If you guys are still redoing your midterm and are interested hear are
some sites that I used:

http://en.wikipedia.org/

Wikipedia is good, but you might want to take some of the articles
with a grain of salt.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001461.html

Infoplease.com has some useful stuff on religion.

http://plato.stanford.edu/contents.html

If you want philosophy then the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is
useful.

Mid-Term (Updated)

2005-11-03T13:05:00.000-08:00

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/10102

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9927

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9925

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9924

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9707

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9564

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9506

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9339

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9120

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9080

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/9012

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/8799

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/8631

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/8473

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/religiousdiversity2/message/8402

2. 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.wmv

4. 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 Mecca

Some 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 Supper
3. Matrimony – immortal bond between man and woman
4. Holy Orders – appointing of priests
5. Confirmation – rite of passage, usually for adolescents
6. Confession – confessing of one’s sins
7. 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+

Bahai

2005-11-02T20:10:00.000-08:00

The Bahá'í Faith sees religion as being constantly revealed through
various prophets (such as Jesus, Moses, etc.). It's tempting to see
this as a "combination" of religions, but Bahá'í is a distinct faith.

The official website is here:

http://www.bahai.org/

Here are the principles of the Bahai faith:

"The Bahá'í Faith recognizes the unity of God and of His Prophets,
upholds the principle of an unfettered search after truth, condemns
all forms of superstition and prejudice, teaches that the fundamental
purpose of religion is to promote concord and harmony, that it must go
hand-in-hand with science, and that it constitutes the sole and
ultimate basis of a peaceful, an ordered and progressive society.

"It inculcates the principle of equal opportunity, rights and
privileges for both sexes, advocates compulsory education, abolishes
extremes of poverty and wealth, exalts work performed in the spirit of
service to the rank of worship, recommends the adoption of an
auxiliary international language, and provides the necessary agencies
for the establishment and safeguarding of a permanent and universal
peace."

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

2005-11-02T19:38:00.000-08:00

When one refers to Mormons, they are usually refering to the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

http://lds.org/

An FAQ about their beliefs can be found here:

http://mormon.org/question/faq/category/questions/0,8789,895-1-16,00.html

Mormons are a very new Christian religious movement founded by Joseph
Smith. Most Mormons settled what is now modern day Utah. They were
known for practicing polygamy, this practice has largely been
abandoned (except by some fundamentalists).

Scientology

2005-11-02T19:24:00.000-08:00

Joseph Kemmerly Fri 11:00AM

This post is about Scientology.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology

Scientology is a cult/religion (depending on your perspective) that is
quite controversial. It was founded by L Ron Hubbard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Ron_Hubbard

Scientology has a number of celebrity adherents, including Tom Cruise.

Scientology has a large number of rather complicated pratices and
beliefs. See here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_beliefs_and_practices

The movement has a number of detractors. The internet has many
Scientology parody sites. The best one I can find is here:
http://www.clambake.org/

Weekly Post

2005-10-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

Joseph Kemmerly Fri 11:00AM

I am currently reading World Religions in America and this weeks post
is dedicated to religions that have been founded in this country.

http://www.tfccs.com/

The first one is Christian Science.

You can find out about Christian Science here:

http://www.tfccs.com/aboutthechurch/

Here's a preview:

The Church was founded by Mary Baker Eddy with a healing mission that
embraces all humanity. In the early 1870s, Eddy began to widely share
her principles of spiritual healing for the benefit of others. After
publication in 1875 of Science and Health, her primary work on
spirituality and healing, readers began meeting to discuss the ideas
and share their healing results. Then, in 1879, Eddy established what
became The First Church of Christ, Scientist.

The second one is Theosophy:

http://www.theosophical.org/theosophy/index.html

Here's an FAQ on Theososphy:

http://www.theosophical.org/theosophy/faqs/index.html

Here's a preview:

What is Theosophy?

To answer that question, we need to distinguish between modern
Theosophy and ancient or timeless Theosophy. Timeless Theosophy, also
called by many names such as the "Wisdom Tradition" and the "Perennial
Philosophy," is a tradition found in human cultures all over the world
and at all times in history. It is the basis of the inner or mystical
side of many philosophies and cultures. Modern Theosophy is a
contemporary statement of that tradition as set forth through the
Theosophical Society.

What does this Wisdom Tradition teach?

The three basic ideas of Theosophy are (1) the fundamental unity of
all existence, so that all pairs of opposites—matter and spirit, the
human and the divine, I and thou—are transitory and relative
distinctions of an underlying absolute Oneness, (2) the regularity of
universal law, cyclically producing universes out of the absolute
ground of being, and (3) the progress of consciousness developing
through the cycles of life to an ever-increasing realization of Unity.

What specific doctrines do Theosophists believe in?

The Theosophical Society is nondogmatic, and Theosophists are
encouraged to accept nothing on faith or on the word of another, but
to adopt only those ideas that satisfy their own sense of what is real
and important. Theosophy is a way of looking at life rather than a
creed. Modern Theosophy, however, presents ideas like the following
for our consideration, and many Theosophists hold these ideas, not as
fixed beliefs, but as a way of looking at life that explains the world
as they experience it:

* reincarnation,
* karma (or moral justice),
* the existence of worlds of experience beyond the physical,
* the presence of life and consciousness in all matter,
* the evolution of spirit and intelligence as well as of physical
matter,
* the possibility of our conscious participation in evolution,
* the power of thought to affect one's self and surroundings,
* the reality of free will and self-responsibility,
* the duty of altruism, a concern for the welfare of others, and
* the ultimate perfection of human nature, society, and life.

What practices do Theosophists follow?

All members of the Theosophical Society decide what practices and
manner of living are appropriate for them, but many Theosophists
follow a certain regimen of life that is implied by Theosophical ideas
like those above. They meditate regularly, both to gain insight into
themselves and as a service to humanity. They are vegetarians and
avoid the use of furs or skins for which animals are killed. They do
not use alcohol or drugs (except under a doctor's order). They support
the rights of all human beings for fair and just treatment, being
therefore supporters of women's and minority rights. They respect
differences of culture and support intellectual freedom. Theosophists
are not asked to accept any opinion or adopt any practice that does
not appeal to their inner sense of reason and morality.

Weekly Post

2005-10-18T10:47:00.000-07:00

Joseph Kemmerly Fri 11:00AM

I am currently reading World Religions in America and this weeks post is dedicated to religions that have been founded in this country.

http://www.adventist.org/

The first one is the Seventh-Day Adventists.

You can find a list of there religious beliefs here:

http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/fundamental/index.html

The second one is the Jehovah's Witnesses:

http://www.watchtower.org/

A brochure that lists their religious beliefs can be found here:

http://www.watchtower.org/library/rq/index.htm

My video is online

2005-10-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

I uploaded my video onto the CSULB server, but the quality is really
crappy and not nearly as good as everyone saw it in class last week.
I'm not sure what happened.

http://www.csulb.edu/~jkemmerl/Movie1.wmv

Combating Memes

2005-10-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

Joseph Kemmerly Fri 11:00AM

This weeks post of mine is devoted to combating memes.

http://www1.tpgi.com.au/users/tps-seti/baloney.html

One way to fight back against memes is to use Carl Sagan's baloney detection kit. This is based on the ideas proposed by Sagan in his book entitled The Demon Haunted World. In the book, he proposes a number of ideas like trying to detect logical fallacies and use of the scientific method.

http://www.skepdic.com/

The Skeptic's Dictionary is a site devoted towards skepticism that's setup in a dictionary style. On the site, you can look up all sorts of various topics ranging from the supernatural and paranormal to hoaxes and pseudo-science.

Cultural Evolution

2005-10-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

Cultural Evolution is an important topic in the book, The Meme Machine.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spencer/

Herbert Spencer is considered one of the first to notice that there
was such a thing as cultural evolution. Spencer, not Darwin, coined
the term Survival of the Fittest. He is considered to be one of the
founders of Sociology. Spencer believed that cultural evolution led
to greater interpersonal cooperation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Comte

August Comte is the founder of Sociology (he also coined the term
sociology). He also proposed one of the first theories of social
evolution. He believed that societies went through three stages:
theological, metaphysical, and positive.

Richard Dawkins and Memetics

2005-09-28T18:42:00.000-07:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins

Richard Dawkins coined the term meme in his book, The Selfish Gene.
He wrote the foreward for The Meme Machine. He is an ethologist and
outspoken atheist.

http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/MEMES.html

This article describes memetics as "the theoretical and empirical
science that studies the replication, spread and evolution of memes".
The article lists Dawkins' three characteristics for a successful
replicator which are the following:

copying-fidelity: the more faithful the copy, the more will remain of
the initial pattern after several rounds of copying. If a painting is
reproduced by making photocopies from photocopies, the underlying
pattern will quickly become unrecognizable.

fecundity: the faster the rate of copying, the more the replicator
will spread. An industrial printing press can churn out many more
copies of a text than an office copying machine.

longevity: the longer any instance of the replicating pattern
survives, the more copies can be made of it. A drawing made by etching
lines in the sand is likely to be erased before anybody could have
photographed or otherwise reproduced it.

Freud vs. Westermarck

2005-09-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

Joseph Kemmerly Fri 11:00 AM

Consilience mentions both Sigmund Freud and Edvard Westermarch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freud

Freud is definitely the more famous of the two. He tried to explain how the unconcious mind works dividing the unconcious into the id, ego, and sugerego. The article briefly mentions his views regarding religion. Freud takes a pessimistic view of religion describing it as an illusion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edvard_Westermarck

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westermark_effect

Edvard Westermark was an antropologist, philosopher, and sociologist from Finland. He is famous for observing a phenomenon that is now known as the Westermark Effect, that is when two people grow up with each other they both tend to be naturally unattracted to each other sexually.

Freud believed the opposite of Westermark. Freud believed that members of the same family feel sexual attraction to one another naturally so incest taboos have to be created as a way to counteract this phenomenon. Modernly, most believe that Westermark has won the debate because the scientific evidence is on his side.

Weekly Post

2005-09-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

Right now I am on Chapter 9, which deals with social sciences. Here's
an article that discusses the social sciences:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_science

This article mentions when the social sciences consist of:
Anthropology, Communication, Economics, Education, History, Geography,
Linguistics, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology. The
article also mentions how some social sciences overlap with the
natural sciences, such as Sociobiology. There is also a very brief
mention of there being an attempt to find consilience between the
various sciences.

I also found an article that discusses a topic where religion and
science overlap:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/origin_belief

Origion beliefs are explanations about how the universe and human life
came to be. There are science based explanations, such as the Big
Bang and biological evolution. There are religion based explanations
as well.

First Week's Links

2005-09-09T16:10:00.000-07:00

I posted links on the Religious Diversity Yahoo group to two Wikipedia articles. One is on Religious Pluralism and the other is on Comparative Mythology.