Violence is the main obstacle to human development. There is an intrinsic link between violence and religion, patriarchal gender violence being the most pervasive expression of religious violence. Mitigating violence therefore requires overcoming the patriarchal mindset, especially in religious institutions. The mission of this independent newsletter is to provide a commented digest on current research and emerging issues related to human solidarity, ecological sustainability, and both religious and secular non-violence. The U.N. "Millennium Development Goals" (MDGs) are used as a point of reference.
SOLIDARITY
SUSTAINABILITY
SUBSIDIARITY
SOLIDARITY is defined by Merriam-Webster as "unity (as of a group or class) that produces or is based on community of interests, objectives, and standards." Solidarity is not simply an emotional feeling of empathy. It is a mindset that leads people to making decisions based on both individual interest and the common good. Depending on the situation, common good may apply at the local, national, regional, or global level. It always entails the practice of social justice.
Question: What incentives would motivate secular institutions to practice human solidarity?
Answer: The resolution of social justice issues; e.g., the Solidarnosc trade union in Poland.
Question: What incentives would motivate religious institutions to practice human solidarity?
Answer: For patriarchal religious institutions that want to remain hierarchical -- nothing -- except perhaps loss of subsidies.
SUSTAINABILITY is defined by Merriam-Webster as "method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged." Wikipedia offers a more elaborate definition: "Sustainability is a characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely. The term, in its environmental usage, refers to the potential longevity of vital human ecological support systems, such as the planet's climatic system, systems of agriculture, industry, forestry, and fisheries, and human communities in general and the various systems on which they depend.". Wikipedia also provides a definition for sustainable development: "Sustainable development is a socio-ecological process characterized by the fulfillment of human needs while maintaining the quality of the natural environment indefinitely."
Question: What incentives would motivate secular institutions to practice environmental sustainability?
Answer: That there is money to be made by doing things sustainably. An attractive bottom line may or may not require changes in current tax systems.
Question: What incentives would motivate religious institutions to practice environmental sustainability?
Answer: For patriarchal religious institutions that want to remain hierarchical -- nothing -- except perhaps loss of subsidies.
SUBSIDIARITY is defined by Merriam-Webster as "unity (as of a group or class) that produces or is based on community of interests, objectives, and standards." Wikipedia provides a more elaborate definition:
"Subsidiarity is the principle which states that matters ought to be handled by the smallest (or, the lowest) competent authority. The Oxford English Dictionary defines subsidiarity as the idea that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed effectively at a more immediate or local level. The concept is applicable in the fields of government, political science, cybernetics and management. Subsidiarity is, ideally or in principle, one of the features of federalism."
Question: What incentives would motivate secular institutions to practice the principle of subsidiarity?
Answer: The practical need for horizontal and vertical "checks and balances" between authorities.
Question: What incentives would motivate religious institutions to practice the principle of subsidiarity?
Answer: For patriarchal religious institutions that want to remain hierarchical -- nothing -- except perhaps loss of subsidies.
In brief, we have a global complex of social systems that is painfully trying to move toward solidarity, sustainability, and subsidiarity; and we have a global complex of religious systems (with an inordinate attachment to "traditions" made by human hands) that systematically makes the transition slower and more painful. For instance, the procrastination (unwillingness?) to resolve inter-faith issues that prevent "unity in diversity" among religious bodies comes to mind. Other than the Baha'is, who are actively trying to foster unity of religion, no significant initiatives can be cited. Islam and Christianity barely talk to each other. Within Christianity, the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant branches talk to each other, but do nothing. They all seem to desire "unity in unity," and see "unity in diversity" as a threat to their doctrinal purity. This is not what humanity needs. This is not what God desires.
If religious institutions that presumably seek integral human development, keep failing in the practice of basic human solidarity, how can we expect secular institutions to do better? This is a significant question in that sustainability, and sustainable development, cannot be attained outside a culture of human solidarity.
6. Incentives for Human Development
The integral development of the human person includes the physical, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions. Human development has been discussed at length in previous issues. The reader may wish to check the following references about human development:
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT is a complex subject; as complex as the complexity of human beings. Human development occurs in several dimensions: physical, biological, psychological, and spiritual. According to Wikipedia, "human development can refer to anthropological, sociological, and psychological approaches to examining human development in context." An important related concept is the Human Development Index (HDI). Wikipedia defines the HDI as "the measure of life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living for countries worldwide. It is a standard means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare. It is used to determine and indicate whether a country is a developed, developing, or underdeveloped country and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life."
There are many secular schools of human development. Jungian analysis (also known as psycho-analysis) may have been the greatest scientific breakthrough in human development during the 20th century. According to Carl Jung, "your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart .... among all my patients in the second half of life ... there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life."
Jungian analysis is described by The Jung Center of Houston as follows:
"Jungian analysis, evolving from the rich and extensive theories of the renowned Swiss psychiatrist C.G. Jung, is a method of depth psychotherapeutic treatment and personal inner development. Jung defined psychological wellness as the balance between the demands of an outer life of family and relationships, work and social obligations, and an inner life of spiritual values and personal meaning. He observed that in the course of living these two essential aspects of who we are cannot help but diverge and fall out of workable balance. This imbalance is often at the root of psychological suffering and distress.
"While most psychologies primarily address disturbances in outer life, what distinguishes Jungian analysis from them is that it aims at treating the whole person, both inner and outer. Jungian analysis endeavors to work through felt suffering beyond the amelioration of symptoms in order to discover their symbolic meaning for the balance of the person as a whole, and to discern in these symptoms unseen opportunities for growth. Beyond caring for immediate distress, access to a deeper, unrealized balance is achieved by working from this symbolic, or meaning based perspective with dreams, guided and free-form imagery and artistic productions. Jung demonstrated that such spontaneous and creative material is the doorway beyond suffering to a deeper wellness, if not spiritual growth and development.
"The format of analysis varies based on the preferences of the analyst and the needs of the client, or analysand. Through the analytic process, the unconscious gradually manifests itself in the relationship between analyst and patient, and given an adequate relationship, setting and time, the psyche tends towards healing itself."
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Likewise, there are many religious schools of human development. For instance, in the Roman Catholic tradition, The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, written in the early 1500s by the founder of the Jesuits, remain as effective today as they were 500 years ago. The entire text is available as a
free download. However, just as psycho-analysis requires the assistance of a trained analyst, doing the Ignatian exercises well requires the assistance of a competent spiritual director:
"St. Ignatius of Loyola recorded his spiritual experiences during a year of prayer at Manresa, Spain (34 miles north of Barcelona) from March of 1522 to February of 1523. The Spiritual Exercises were to form the basis of many retreats given to priests, religious, and lay people. They are offered in closed sessions of a weekend, five, eight or the full thirty days at retreat houses as well as retreats in everyday life made at home over the course of about nine months (technically referred to as a 19th Annotation retreat).
"The book of the Spiritual Exercises is not a text to be read as a work of non-fiction, but exercises to be prayed usually under the guidance of a trained spiritual director. The original Spanish text of the Exercises was translated into two Latin versions (the Versio Prima and the Vulgate) which were approved by Pope Paul III in 1548. You can download Father Mullan's 1914 translation at the top of the page or find additional books and resources on the Exercises at www.jesuitsources.com."
OUTLINE OF THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES
ANNOTATIONS
PRESUPPOSITION
FIRST WEEK
Principle and Foundation
Particular and Daily Examen
General Examination of Conscience
General Confession with Communion
Meditations on Sins
Meditation on Hell
SECOND WEEK
The Call of the Temporal King
The Incarnation
The Nativity
Preamble to Consider States
Two Standards
Three Pairs of Men
Three Manners of Humility
Prelude for Making Election
Matter of Election
Times for Making Election
To Amend and Reform one’s own Life and State
THIRD WEEK
Meditations on the Passion of Christ
FOURTH WEEK
Meditations on the Resurrection of Christ
Contemplation to Attain Love
Three Methods of Prayer
Mysteries of the Life of Christ our Lord
RULES
Rules for Perceiving the Movements Caused in the Soul
Rules for Distributing Alms
Notes on Scruples and Persuasions of the Enemy
Rules to have the True Sentiment in the Church
GENERAL INDEX
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All methods of spiritual growth, in all religious traditions, have one common denominator: the person seeking spiritual growth must have an attitude of humility and surrender to God's will. For only God is capable of touching the soul, only God can touch the heart to make it softer, and only God can touch the mind with deeper insights into the divine mysteries.
"Greater than love is obedience.
Greater than obedience is surrender.
All three arise out of,
and remain contained in,
the Ocean of divine Love."
Meher Baba, India, 1894-1969
Blessed is the person who knows this and has experienced the divine touch. Such persons know the truth, and the truth sets them free (John 8:32). This is authentic religion. But, as Claudio Naranjo and so many others have pointed out, there is a crucial difference between authentic religion and "the attempt to indoctrinate people into a given cultural pattern -- through fear of hell, hope of heaven" (The One Quest, Viking Press, New York, 1972, page 50). Such deviations from authentic religion usually happen when the religion becomes institutionalized. Naranjo continues: "According to one story, when God created the world and saw that it was good, Satan joined him in his appreciation, and exclaimed, as he gazed from one wonder to another, 'It is good! 'It is good! Let us make it an institution!" (idem, page 51).
Few things are more disgusting than institutionalized religious politics. For instance, it is well known that the subordination of women is a traditional element of the Judeo-Christian ethos. In the Old Testament (e.g., Deuteronomy 5:21) wives were considered to be the property of their husbands together with animals and other objects. St. Thomas Aquinas taught that women are "misbegotten males" (Summa Theologica , I, 99, 2). As recently as 1917, the Roman Catholic Code of Canon Law (1262.1) stated: "It is desirable that, consistent with ancient discipline, women be separated from men in church." In 1988, the Vatican finally acknowledged the equal dignity of men and women (Mulieres dignitatem) while reiterating that women are excluded from holy orders and, therefore, from any church office. In 1994, any further discussion of the issue was abruptly terminated Ordinatio sacerdotalis. To add insult to injury, Jesus Christ is used as the scapegoat; the church cannot ordain women because she has not been authorized by Christ to do so.
What is then the meaning of the "power of the keys" (Matthew 16:19)?
Recently, the Vatican announced a World Congress on Woman: "Women from the world over will gather in Rome next year to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's apostolic letter on the dignity of women. The congress, organized by the Pontifical Council for the Laity, will be titled "Woman and Man, the Fullness of What Is Human," and will take place Feb. 7-9." Attendance is by invitation only. The ordination of women will not be included in the agenda. This is simply another patronizing exercise to simulate that the Vatican is interested in the human development of women as long as the male-only hierarchy remains intact. Is this what humanity needs? Is this what God desires?
There is also the issue of wealth accumulation. The Roman Catholic Church may well be the wealthiest institution on earth. But, since this newsletter is already late, let's move on to questions about incentives:
Question: What incentives would motivate secular institutions to make human development their top priority?
Answer: The human development requirements of solidarity and sustainability should be enough. At this time, the operative incentives are socio-political, such as free universal education for all children; financial, such as investing in employee training to increase the bottom line; etc. But teaching is still a poorly paid profession, and employee training is often limited to the minimum necessary to do a given set of tasks; so human development is still driven mostly by utilitarian considerations. Not many people care about growing in wisdom, let alone helping others to do so.
Question: What incentives would motivate religious institutions to make human development their top priority?
Answer: In theory, human development to the highest level of wisdom and spirituality should be priority #1 for religious institutions. But the observable reality is that, especially for patriarchal religious institutions that want to remain hierarchical, wealth accumulation and religious domination compete, often successfully, to become the top priority.
7. Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom
The phenomenal growth of information content in recent years is overwhelming for many researchers. At the same time, a multiplicity of information science disciplines has emerged, such as "information management," "data base," "knowledge management," "knowledge base," "knowledge organization," etc. In terms of finding and retrieving information, Advanced Google and the Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia are faster and better than the best directories. In terms of a systematic method to organize knowledge for individual research, an excellent model has been provided by Chaim Zins: Knowledge 2008, an encyclopedic portal to Wikipedia. Beyond "information" and "knowledge" there is "wisdom," or the convergence of information and knowledge with experience and intuition. For the best compilation of resources on wisdom, visit The Wisdom Page.
Some definitions may be helpful. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines these terms as follows:
- information: "the communication or reception of knowledge or intelligence"
- knowledge: "a (1): the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association (2): acquaintance with or understanding of a science, art, or technique b (1): the fact or condition of being aware of something (2): the range of one's information or understanding c: the circumstance or condition of apprehending truth or fact through reasoning : cognition d: the fact or condition of having information or of being learned "
- wisdom: "a: accumulated philosophic or scientific learning : knowledge b: ability to discern inner qualities and relationships : insight c: good sense : judgment d: generally accepted belief "
And there is, of course, Wisdom (with capital "W"), which refers to divine wisdom. This research and newsletter is based on a modest amount of information, knowledge, and wisdom. Therefore, we shall keep using the search engines (Google and others), the encyclopedias (Wikipedia and others), seeking guidance in the Knowledge 2008 website, and even seeking help in old books covered by dust. Let us pray that Divine Wisdom will keep us moving along the path of truth, hope, and mercy.
But who can resist "bookmarking" web pages to be revisited, and who can resist structuring the bookmarks (or "favorites" for IE users) that organizes all the websites with content of interest? The reader may want to take a look at where we are in this never-ending process:
The strategy is simply to include only "best of the web" pages and websites that are gateways to many other "best of the web" pages. Otherwise, we might as well confess that this is an ad hoc exercise. Any suggestions?
8. Prayer, Study, and Action
As we begin a new year, this is an appeal to pray, study, and work for the transition from patriarchy to solidarity, sustainability, and human development. In that patriarchy has been isolated as a root cause of both human-to-human and human-to-biosphere violence, let us pray, study, and work to overcome the patriarchal mindset of wealth accumulation, power struggles, and all forms of domination in human relations. This applies to both secular and religious institutions. This transition should never become a matter of assigning blame. It should never become a matter of pointing fingers. It should be a journey of peace and justice, with secular and religious institutions in mutually respectful dialogue, willing to cooperate with each other and learn from each other at the local-national-global levels. This is what humanity needs. This is what God desires.
Many secular institutions are still resisting the transition from patriarchy to gender equality. However, it is reasonable to anticipate that humanity's journey toward gender equality is irreversible. Women in roles of secular authority are beginning to emerge in practically all secular institutions worldwide. This is what MDG3 is all about.
But most religious institutions are not only resisting, but actively trying to suppress (or simply ignoring) the need to recognize that both men and women are created equal in the image of God. Women in roles of religious authority are barely beginning to emerge in most religious institutions worldwide. Phallocentrism is still the norm in some of the largest religious bodies, such as Islam and the Roman Catholic Church. Given the enormous influence that these institutions have in culture and human behavior, it is critical to overcome the phallocentric mindset in religious matters. In this regard, see the recently published book, The Power of the Word: Scripture And the Rhetroic of Empire, by Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Fortress Press, 2007.
The publisher's book description is brief and to the point: "What is the purpose of reading the Bible? Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza tackles the tough question of the Bible's role in the world today and how its vision can further a more just world. She shows particularly the radical power of the Word to challenge imperial ways, the humiliation of persons, and the use of religion itself to keep people down, today as then. Finally, she offers an understanding of the implications of such a program for the field and practice of biblical studies, an indispensable partner in challenging the status quo."
Specifically, the traditional subordination of women, and their exclusion from roles of spiritual authority (such as presiding at the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic Church, or presiding at Friday prayers in mosques throughout the Islamic world), is a religious aberration that must be corrected by prayer, study, work, .... and God's help. The following painting, by Farid de la Ossa Arrieta, captures the essence of a new Christianity liberated from unchristian male domination and heretical images of a male-only God.