Happy New Year!

I hereby declare that this Winter Solstice for the Northern Hemisphere (at 12:49 pm EST) marks the International Year 13,526.000.

World Religion Review

I recently graduated from a two year interfaith ministry program. I've decided to publish articles based on the journal entries I kept during the program (we wrote a reflection paper for each class/topic we covered).

I act here as a religious critic, reflecting upon my encounter with these different traditions the way a movie critic reviews movies or a food critic reviews restaurants. My intention here is not to present the final word on any movement, or even to offer in depth analysis of each movement right out of the gate, but rather to give my "first impressions"[1] having studied these traditions in brief and having worked with instructors coming from these particular traditions.[2] I do this in the hopes of encouraging critical thinking and dialogue regarding different religious traditions. The articles for this series are meant as opening statements--the beginning of a discourse.

Notes:

[1] I entered the program after graduating college with a B.A. in Philosophy and Religion and having already studied many of these traditions before. Depending on the tradition, I already came in with a greater or lesser background. That being said, I don't consider myself to be an expert in any of these traditions. Thus, I am presenting my "first impressions."

[2] For each tradition, we had an instructor (or instructors) from that tradition (Rabbis for Judaism, Sufis for Sufism, a Lama for Buddhism, etc.). Thus these traditions weren't being presented to us from people outside the respective traditions that merely studied them academically, but from people who really believed in the things they were teaching about and knew their own tradition from the inside-out.

"Yeah, But It Makes Sense, Right?"

Lots of things "make sense," in the absence of actual data.

Places to Hide

The individual, as will to power, seeks to maximize itself as a field of influence. To this end, it will employ even seemingly contradictory strategies--even flickering between them. For example:

"Selfishness": "I don't have the power to end all the suffering that exists in the world, but at least I can make my own life worthwhile."

vs.

"Altruism": "I don't have the power to make my own life worthwhile, but at least I can contribute something positive to the world."

Interview with Stuart Hameroff

Check out my interview with Stuart Hameroff:

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Interview-with-Stuart-Hame-by-Ben-Dench-091110-895.html

Changing Color

If we could easily and safely alter the melanin levels in our skin--which we might one day be able to do by taking genetically engineered retrovirus shots just as people take flu shots today--it may allow us to better adapt by latitude. If you live closer to the equator, darker skin would be preferable--to protect from too much UV light penetrating the epidermis. If you live closer to the poles, lighter skin would be preferable--to allow for enough UV light penetrating the epidermis so you can produce enough vitamin D. You could change your skin color whenever you move or go on vacations to other latitudes, and maybe even based on season and how much time you spend outside.

"Jablonski and Chaplin plotted the skin tone (W) of indigenous peoples who have stayed in the same geographical area for the last 500 years versus the annual UV available for skin exposure (AUV) for over 200 indigenous persons and found that skin tone lightness W is related to the annual UV available for skin exposure AUV according to^[14]

where the skin tone lightness W is measured as the percentage of light reflected from the upper inner arm at which location on humans there should be minimal tanning of human skin due to personal exposure to the sun; a lighter skinned human would reflect more light and would have a higher W number."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_skin_color#Environmental_factors

This could also theoretically be used to change one's skin, hair, and eye color based on mood and aesthetic preference--just as people dye their hair or wear cosmetic contact lenses today.

With everyone changing colors whenever they please, think how much more difficult it would be to be a racist!

Psychologists, Physicians, Massage Therapists, and Prostitutes

Why would anyone want to be a psychologist? Perhaps because it's a way of being intimate without really being intimate. You get to really get inside someone, without yourself in any way being exposed. Not unlike a doctor. Or a massage therapist. Or a prostitute.

A prostitute is probably the most interesting, and perhaps the least obvious, corollary. In a sense, it's the most equitable, because unlike doctors or massage therapists who have access to your body while themselves remaining clothed, prostitutes physically give themselves to their clients. But the same intimacy structure is preserved psychologically--like with the psychologist--in that the prostitute's needs, desires, fantasies, etc., are not at issue in the interaction. The prostitute becomes a blank slate and then enters the psyche of the client--reflecting the clients desires.

This is related to the pattern of vicarious living--the production of a false, social self--in that the practitioners of these four professions are able to gain intimacy/homonomy by repressing their genuine desires/thoughts/feelings/reactions/etc. Yet the pattern of vicarious living contains the seed of the pattern of non-commitment in that the one-way nature of these interactions allows the practitioners to remain closed-off to their clients--and thus the autonomy of their bodies and/or psyches remain unviolated as they pick through the bodies and/or psyches of their clients.