It's all about "Me, Myself and I" right?!

Course 3: Individualism

As secularization assists in the spread of the principles of secularism and the dismissal of our spirituality as part of our humanity then we are also striped of our community.

The third vice, individualism, replaces community since science and technology are sought as the “Providence of man” thus freeing us from the bonds that once held us dear, the bonds of love. The Dalai Lama makes a similar observation by stating, “We find modern living organized so that it demands the least possible direct dependence on others.” (Dalai Lama 7) David Orr also notes that, referring to teenagers,“They mirror the larger self-indulgence of a society organized by machines, quick gratification and excessive individualism.” (Orr 174) This is a sad reality since with more knowledge there should be more compassion, and a stronger drive to use our knowledge to help people more, to take better care of our environment; not to degrade ourselves and abuse the environment. In the words of David Orr, “ It makes far better sense to reshape ourselves to fit a finite planet than to attempt to reshape the planet to fit our infinite wants.” (Orr 239) It is ironic that it is the people we deem intellectuals are the same ones that cause the most damage on planet earth. Palmer call this aspect “the failure of modern knowledge.”(Palmer 9)

Peter Maurin, author of Easy Essays,said “Education should not just reflect society but shape it” (Lecture 6/2) Unfortunately American education reflects society more than it shapes it. David Orr agrees with this observation by stating that, “educational institutions, more often than not, reward ...safe conformity to the prevailing standards. Educational institutions are not widely known for encouraging boat rockers....” (Orr 231) So as our culture deifies science and overlooks spirituality, the educational system follows suit and stresses objectivity and dismisses subjectivism instead of emphasizing a combination of the two. Palmer informs us that the root meaning of “objective” is to “put against, to oppose.” He warns, “This is the danger of objectivism: it is a way of knowing that places us in a adversary relation to the world...we are not required to change so that the whole community might flourish; instead, the world must change to meet our needs.” (Palmer 68)

West Jackson said that, “Education should be about the transmission of lasting values.” (Lecture 5/17) Values are spiritual (not physical/material). The Bible says, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Gal. 5. 22-23) There is no law against such values, there is nothing in the constitution that condemn any of those values.

As Wendell Berry would say, “By choosing it what are we choosing against?” (Lecture 4/14) By choosing the secularized route and by adopting the vices of secularism and making them our values we are choosing against those dear values. By choosing to be materialistic we forget our spirituality and that is where true values such as love for our neighbors takes root and thrive. Secularization has stripped off the top soil that is needed for the “fruit of the spirit” to grow.

Practicals

So what can be done within the educational system to change this trend, to stop reflecting society and start shaping it?

As Palmer stresses, “We need “wholesight,” a vision of the world in which mind and heart unite...Only as we can see whole can we and our world be whole.” (Palmer xi)

A “spiritual revolution,”(Dalai Lama 17) needs to take place. So what does a spiritual revolution look like? What does “spiritual renewal” (Orr 59) entail?

->I think that this renewal first starts at the individual level. It starts by everyone taking responsibility for how each of us has contributed to the problems in our culture and in the vices that we have cherished; by admitting that we have neglected our spirituality which is just as much, if not more, a part of our humanity than our physical, material bodies.

->This revolution then proceeds by asking hard questions those questions that we avoid since we may be afraid of the truth that lies behind the question. We avoid asking ourselves hard questions for example, questions about spirituality, because the act of asking them is admitting ignorance,the same ignorance that we thought was cured by education and advances in science and technology. David Orr claimed that it is a “myth that ignorance is a solvable problem. Ignorance is not a solvable problem; it is rather an inescapable part of human condition. We cannot comprehend the world in its entirety.” (Orr 239)

->What's this spiritual revival thing about? And why is it so necessary?

Find out in the last course of the series: The Source & Goal of Knowledge. 

What's on the Pedestal?

On the Source of Knowledge

The second principle of secularism states that “Science is the available Providence of man". So in this secularized society, Science is on the pedestal. In his book Ethics for the New Millennium, the Dalai Lama further explores this issue. He wrote that, “Many people, believing that science has “disproved religion,” make the further assumption that because there appears to be no final evidence for any spiritual authority, morality itself must be a matter of individual preference.”(Dalai Lama 10)

Paul Cozby, a Psychology professor at Calstate Fullerton, in his book, Methods in Behavioral Research, he explains the different methods of acquiring knowledge. These methods include: tenacity, intuition, authority, faith, rationalism, empiricism and the scientific method. (Cozby Chapter 1) He then goes on to say,“some beliefs cannot be tested hence are beyond the realm of science. In science, however, ideas must be evaluated on basis of available evidence that can used to support or refute ideas.” (Cozby 6) So even though all the various methods of acquiring knowledge listed above are different from each other and are all valid to some extent, science has been exalted while the other methods have been dismissed as “primitive" methods.

And as secularization, materialism and empiricism are increasingly emphasized and as science is deified we ignore what the Dalai Lama refers to as our “inner dimension,” our spirits. The secular ground that has been created, prevalent in most American classrooms, leaves no room for the spiritual being.

The term ‘spiritual’ means “relating to God and relating to a person’s beliefs as opposed to his or her physical or material needs.”(Oxford dictionaries) It also means having the nature of ‘spirit’ which is the non-physical part of a person that is the seat of emotions and character; the soul.” (Oxford dictionaries) Since the spirit is the seat of moral nature it is also the seat of ethics. As science and technology advances, the influence of religion is weakening in America and there is a decline in ethics.“Science has replaced religion as the final source of knowledge...yet it does not address issues of how to lead a life a moral life.” (Dalai Lama 10) David Orr also expresses disapproval and states that,“Science and technology cannot solve all our problems, but a “spiritual renewal” is also necessary.” (Orr 59)

Concluding thoughts:

• Science and technology fails to satisfy.
• There's something being excluded: Our spirits. Our spiritual side is left unattended.

(This has been a side dish in the series entitled: Reforming America, Reforming Education. There's more courses to come. Stay tuned...)

Watch:

Michael Sherman on the Colbert Report: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/391554/july-11-2011/michael-shermer

♫ It's all about the MONEY!?? ♫

(Course 2 in "Reforming the American System, Reforming Education": Materialism)

Materialism is referenced in the first principle of secularism, “Improvement of this life by material means.” This vice has been indoctrinated through “The American dream” which is then passed down from generation to generation by most Americans and which attracts and is fervently sought after by many immigrants and prospective immigrants around the world.

The goal of education has become materialistic. Many students when asked why they are and should be in school have the same response: "To get the education they need to get into higher paying jobs so that they can make more money, and live a happy, comfortable life with their loved ones." As David Orr puts it, “Education has been whittled down to smaller purposes of passing tests and ensuring large “ lifetime earnings.”” (Orr 61) In short, the American dream tells us that Education is money-oriented since "money buys happiness". There is nothing wrong with pursuing happiness but this kind of view of education is fueled by greed. Instead, a better view of the goal of education should be, to gain wisdom and knowledge so that we can better serve each other and live in harmony with our environment as well. As Palmer puts it, “The goal of knowledge arising from love is the reunification and reconstruction of broken selves and world.” (Palmer 8)

In the Bible, we come across the story of King Solomon, one of Israel’s early kings. In the story God asks Solomon to ask him for whatever he wanted. Solomon asked for “a discerning heart to govern the people and to distinguish between right and wrong.”(New International Version, 1 Kings 3.9) God was pleased with his request and granted him not just the wisdom and discernment that he asked for but wealth, riches and honor as well. There is much to be learnt from that story. First, it reiterates the point at hand, that our quest for knowledge and wisdom should be driven by a desire to serve others and not just ourselves. Another lesson we can derive from Solomon’s story is that as we seek knowledge for the purpose of love and service to others, it is then that we shall be granted happiness for ourselves (*importance of priorities...It also says something about The Source and the ultimate Goal of Wisdom -upcoming post!)

Does Money Buy Happiness?- The Social Psychology of Materialism

The UCLA / American Council on Education conducts an annual

survey of nearly a quarter million entering collegians. In 1970, 39% of the incoming freshmen wanted to "be very well off financially" over " to develop a meaningful philosophy of life" and in 2009 that number went up to 78% !!! Myers observes that materialism is up and spirituality is down. He remarks, " Think of it as today's American Dream: life, liberty, and the purchase of happiness."

So does money really buy happiness? Are rich nations happier? Ronald Ingelhart finds that the income-happiness correlation is "surprisingly weak." Since

1957, Americans are now twice as rich but no happier. The divorce rate has doubled. Teen suicide rate has more than doubled, and more people than ever (especially teens and young adults) are depressed. David Myers, a social Psychologist, calls this "The American Paradox" -"soaring wealth and shrinking spirit." He states that: "More than ever, we have big houses and broken homes, high incomes and low morale, more comfortable cars and more road rage. We excel at making a living but we often fail at making a life. We celebrate our prosperity but yearn for purpose. We cherish our freedoms but long for connection. In an age of plenty we feel spiritual hunger." (Myers, 2009)

More social Psychologists confirm this finding that materialism fails to satisfy. That people who strive most for wealth tend to live with lower well-being.

"Seek extrinsic goals- wealth, beauty, popularity- and you may find anxiety, depression, and psychosomatic ills." (Eckersley, 2005; Sheldon & others, 2004)

"Those who strive for intrinsic goals such as intimacy, personal growth, and contribution to the community, experience a higher quality of life." (Tim Kasser, 2000,2002)

"People who identify themselves with expensive possessions experience fewer positive moods." (Emily Solberg, Ed Diener and Michael Robinson)

Need I say more? By the way I didn't search for this information in some "religious" publication. It's from the last chapter of my Exploring Social Psychology textbook (by David Myers). So if you don't want to hear this from me then take it from the "professionals."

"The challenge for wealthy nations, then is to foster improving standards of living without encouraging materialism and consumerism that displaces the deep need to belong." (David Myers) How??

If it's not all about the money, then what is it all about???
Stay tuned for the concluding course of the series.
But first here's a side dish: Science on the Pedestal and  the next course: Individualism.

Reforming the American System, Reforming Education

Course 1: Secularization

(This was part of a research paper I wrote last Spring hence all the references)

“There is an illness in our culture; it arises from our rigid separation of the visible world from the powers that undergird and animate it.” (Palmer 10) Modern education embodies and perpetuates the chief vice of Western culture which is secularization, as well as the other vices such as materialism, and individualism.

These problematic values come into play within the educational system in form of objectivity, the deification of science and technology, a cultivation of competition over community and a decline in ethics in regard to how we treat each other and our environment. This essay seeks to especially expose the dangerous effects of objectivity (a form of compartmentalization) which is enforced in conventional education and to explore the necessity of a “spiritual revolution,”(Dalai Lama 17) not just as the solution to the ethical problem but also as a solution to the problem posed by the “objectivist education” (Palmer 40).

The overarching vice in Western culture that influences education is secularization. An important promoter of secularization is the “separation of church and state,” a phrase derived from Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury baptist association. The First ammendment of the constitution states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;...” (US const., amend. 1) The noble purpose of this amendment is evident and commendable. The American population

is diverse in many aspects including in religious beliefs hence it was in the best interest of accommodating this diversity that this wall of separation was erected. In other words, instead of having one religion established and the others disregarded or dissolved, this “neutral ground” was created as a compromise solution. However, does the interpretation and implementation of the first amendment match up to it original purpose? Was “neutral ground” created whereby no one religion is promoted nor any religious beliefs prohibited?

Within the school system the first amendment was meant to keep administrators and teachers from endorsing their own religious viewpoints to their students, and it was also meant to keep them from “inhibiting and denigrating any particular religion, religion in general or lack of religious belief.” (Anti-Defamation League website) On the contrary, there is a double standard in how it is implemented. The freedom from religion (the establishment clause of the first amendment) is emphasized more and is more readily implemented than the freedom of religion (the free exercise clause).

From my four years experience in an American public high school and university,most of the instances when the teacher talked about religion, it involved ridiculing it or those who practiced it. For a more specific example, my high school AP English teacher once joked about how her brother had found a lot of obscene things in the Bible. I found it offensive that she shared that story the way she did; first, because it encouraged students to also ridicule those who read and believed in the Bible. Second, she did not provide the context of those obscene things that her brother found. She left out whether the Bible promoting the obscene things or demoting them. Third, without realizing it, as a literature teacher she was being hypocritical in her method of criticizing the Bible. If it was another literary text, say Hamlet, and a student in her class did not read it but decides to give an analysis based on what her brother said, the student would receive a failing grade for not reading the text and making her own analysis. Yet the teacher goes unpunished for making a similar mistake. (Hey teacher, if you are reading this... I know you were only sharing your opinion. I didn't share mine back then so I'm making up for it now. But I have nothing against you personally. You were a great teacher!) This is one of many such incidences that made my fellow classmate decide to attend a private Christian university. She said, “ In public schools you are not free to be yourself. You are not free to be a Christian and to express your faith. So I am going to a Christian university where I will be free to do that.”

In essence, the wall of separation between church and state does not provide a

“neutral ground” in which no one religion is favored but instead,it favors "secular faith". This trend can also be observed at the university level where some professors proudly and freely talk about their disbelief in God or religions in their classrooms in a way that puts down students who believe otherwise. They manage to get away

with this by thinking that since they do not believe in the existence of God or other religious components, that they are not on the same level as everyone else who does. Hence that point of view puts them on the outside where the first amendment “does not apply to them,”thus giving them the leeway to denigrate religion in the educational setting.

Another way that some professors elude not fully implementing the first amendment in the classroom is by defending themselves against terminologies that they may think do not apply to them such as “religion” and “beliefs” with those they hold onto such as “science” and “tolerance.”

For further clarification and emphasis, a few terms need to be defined. To begin with, according to the Oxford dictionary, religion is “a belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.” It is also defined as “a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance.”(Oxford dictionary)Furthermore, in his article on the “True Definition of Belief”, Ty Bennet defines belief as an “inward conviction and a feeling of certainty about something.”

Like mentioned before, these professors who violate the first amendment, many of whom are atheist or agnostic, are able to do so without realizing it since their focus is usually on their “disbelief” which separates them from those who do “believe.” But I would like to emphasize, the second part of the definition of religion,“it is a pursuit or interest that someone ascribes supreme importance.” With that it can be

argued that atheism is not just a disbelief, a notion that is over-emphasized and results in the separation that exists, but also it is a belief of its own kind. A belief that a god or gods do not exist and that the material world is all there is. This view of atheism as a belief, brings it down to the same level as all the different kinds of beliefs that exist and that the first amendment applies to.

It should also be noted that secularization and secularism, though different, go hand-in-hand. “Secularization is a process... that gives way to ‘secularism’”(Cline, about.com) - which is an ideology, a philosophy. George Jacob Holyoake, the originator of the term "secularism," defined it most explicitly in his book English Secularism,

“Secularism is a code of duty pertaining to this life founded on considerations purely human, and intended mainly for those who find theology indefinite or inadequate, unreliable or unbelievable. Its essential principles are three:

1. The improvement of this life by material means.

2. That science is the available Providence of man.

3. That it is good to do good. Whether there be other good or not, the good of the present life is good, and it is good to seek that good." (Holyoake)

Since secularization, through the separation of church and state, led to the exclusion of religion in public life per say, (it did not leave a "vacuum" like it was intended to) “religion” was replaced by secularism . Secularization has fostered a decrease of the influence of religion on the American society, and as the influence of religion declined so did ethics.

What impact does this have within the educational system? C.S. Lewis testifies that “Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.”(Lewis, The Abolition of Man) The ideal vacuum that was thought to have been created by the exclusion of religion in the public sector has actually been occupied by the subordinate vices: materialism and individualism. Stay tuned...

Here's the next course: Materialism.

UNITY is brewing up!

(Message I shared with InterVarsity staff on Dec. 1, 2011)

1. Unity (including Racial Reconciliation) through Equality.

- I really feel like God wants to bring unity in the fellowship through bringing equality (Equality will bring Unity). (I've been learning a lot about that through my Black Studies class but I'll spare you the details... for now). I also learned that through the verses I shared last night:

a.) Galatians 6: 2 "Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." vs. 5 "for each one should carry their own load."

- What's "their own load" ? = "each other's burdens."

- God wants to bring equality in burden-carrying. NOT one-sided burden-carrying- That's only Jesus' job. Jesus tells us to do everything in unity ("that they may be one as We are one").

- And we cannot love each other deeply ("fulfill the law of Christ") if we there's no equality in burden carrying.

-In the world leadership is all about hierarchy, power and control. In the body of Christ leadership is all about equality, humility and servanthood and having an influence through that. We know very well that you staff are "here for us," "here to serve us" and that's true but it should be mutual. Leadership is servanthood. We are actually all here to serve each other (=lead each other) using the different gifts that God has given us. One-sided servanthood/leadership leads to a high expectation of staff to meet all the needs of the fellowship and lots of dissatisfaction and complaining when that doesn't happen and that's a huge burden for staff. God wants to wake us up to the fact that we are all leaders/servants. You can read more about that in the post: "A Call for Unity in the Body of Christ."

b.) 1 Corinthians 12: 6-7 "There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good."

-vs. 24b-26 "But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it."

(God's affirmative action plan (lol) for the sake of unity and equality)

c.) Practicals- So how can this be applied? When there is equality and mutuality in Common ground and all our different kinds of meetings. When its not just a time for one set of people to give (staff n worship team, any leaders) and another set of people (students= the "audience") to receive. We all should be giving and receiving. That way people feel part of what is going on and would actually want to come to be a part, to be known by others and to be used by God. That kind of sharing brings equality because this is what it turns into: "It doesn't matter if I'm staff or a student, it doesn't matter what year I am, whether I am a leader or just an "attendee", it doesn't matter what gender I am or what culture I am from, all that matters is that we are all one in Christ and I have a voice, spiritual gifts, talents and a cultural perspective to be used for the body and I want to give as much as I want to receive."

-Unity is all about equality in giving, all about equality in sharing -The early church (multi-ethnic and racially reconciled through Christ) gave all they had to each other so that no one lacked, whether it was materially or spiritually (ex. encouragement), just all aspects of giving.

"What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church." (1 Corinthians 14:26)

- In the first email I sent you guys at the beginning of the quarter, I already shared some ways that I saw this being put in practice in Kenya so you can revisit that email. And I have a lot of more ideas, for example, how the Arts can be used as a form ministry and worship.

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2. Structure and Spirit

-So yesterday, you guys kinda went on a debate about whether structure is the problem and why or why it should be reduced/ removed.

-But I don't think its about structure. It's NOT about structure. It's about worship, our spirit interacting with the Spirit. It's all about the Spirit.

- There's 2 things going on:

a.) Our spirit, our heart- We've kinda dealt with this one. In Kenya we had roughly the same structure of "events" as we do here: bible study, discipleship, prayer meetings, church, Christian Union ("Common

ground"). So the difference is at a heart-level, the spiritual level-> Why do some people here feel forced to come to "events," good enriching events or stop coming, while others in Kenya have the same events but its never a burden but a joy and new people are always joining in? {Fruit & growth} So we answered that: It's a question of whether they are going to participate in what is going on (giving) and not just being in the audience (receiving) but both.

b.) How the Spirit moves and our spiritual response to Him moving- It's not about structure. So we can have structure and plan in advance BUT we should'nt be bound by it -> Our set structure should not limit how the Spirit may feel like moving that day and how and when people feel led to respond. For example, at the Real conference, it was during the first worship set and even before the Speaker was introduced that the Spirit was leading us to stand in awe of God and confess our sins n lay down our burdens. That wasn't in the schedule. They had planned to sing a few songs, have the speaker then prayer at the end but that wasn't how the Spirit wanted to move that night and not how the people felt led to respond. So the worship team stayed on that one song that we were responding to, to give us room to respond to how the Spirit was moving and Mattie and Erna invited us to get prayer in the back at that time during worship (not waiting till the end as was scheduled). I have other examples if you want.

Like Jesus told the Samaritan woman: (It's not about structure, its about deep calling out to deep-> our spirit interacting with His-> worship)

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” (structure)

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. (Not about structure) You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4: 19-24)

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3. "Shadowing"- Learning through Another's (and each others) experience as well as experiencing something different for ourselves

- At my internship we went through a painful 36 hours of lecture/talks/ "being equipped with tools and information" but that wasn't enough for us to start working

our shifts. It was mandatory to shadow other experienced interns- to go alongside them (letting them lead you) as they did what now came naturally to them.

-I think the same thing is important for you guys as staff and us as leaders. In Worship team we started being more of a community (not just a bunch of different people singing and playing instruments together) and there's now room for open discussion for changes we wanna see and new things we wanna try. I would share my ideas with Shayne and Bubba, but most of the time nothing would change and they would be like "Ok thanks for all this insightful information, but what are we supposed to do about it?"

-That's when I realized, "It's one thing to teach people stuff by telling them things that could change, but its another to let them experience for themselves how that change is being put into practice = to shadow" .

- So Wilson first, then me, strongly suggested to the rest of the worship team to all go and experience something different together at Isla Vista Church. Stuff always came up but they were finally able to :) (I was in my intership training that day:(

- Anyway, in the same way, I think its great you guys are going to be further equipped with racial rec tools next week (have fun! and we'll be praying for you!) but I think its also important for you guys to "shadow" because there are some tools you won't know how to use that someone else does due to their cultural background and personal experiences. So you guys can go to IVC (Sundays at 4pm at the Korean church on Sueno) together or any other church that has a flowy, 1 Cor 14:26 kinda structure, or any church from a different culture, just to see how others do it. Not just to "see" but letting them lead you into worship as they know it. Essentially, this is what it means to displace yourself, that is, to get out of your comfort zone, what you're used to, in order to learn from another and experience God in a different setting (All about Jesus). Just a suggestion (a strong one:) ( *Update: InterVarsity, we don't have to go too far to displace ourselves, we are a multiethnic community let's start where we are. This was the idea behind having the "Black Church Experience" for one Common Ground but it got cancelled in Winter quarter :(

K have a blessed day! :)

Attachment: I have an image of racial rec in my head => People of different ethnicities/cultures coming together and holding hands (unity) and singing kumbaya (Come by here Lord). It's ironic that that's what people think we shouldn't be doing. People always use that phrase, "its not like we'll hold hands and sing kumbaya then everything will be fine, we have to do more." BUT I think that is actualy what it's all about Unity in everything (singing, praying, laughing, crying, working, resting...) not just for Christ but by Him (we need Him to bring unity).Unity in and through Christ our Lord, the Head, the main Shepherd, that's what holding hands and singing kumbaya represents.

Related Post: Check out "A Call for Unity in the Body of Christ" (The devil's plan is to bring disunity because he knows the power of being one in Christ) and Spirit of UNITY (only the Holy Spirit can bring Unity we cannot achieve it by our own strength and good intentions like the world tries to and fails).

Prayer Song: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.