Prodigal Kiwi(s) Blog

Bruce Levine at the Intersection of Psychology, Culture, Society, Activism, and Political Engagement

In the latest iconocast podcast Dr. Bruce Levine is interviewed, and the interview was an absolutely fascinating one. I hadn’t heard of Levine, but the subject interested me. I was nicely surprised and have now listened to the interview a couple of times. In it he talks about education, the social implications of student debt, the medicating of children and young people, 

Dr. Levine writes and speaks widely on how society, culture, politics and psychology intersect. His latest book is Get Up, Stand Up: Uniting Populists, Energizing the Defeated, and Battling the Corporate Elite.  A practicing clinical psychologist often at odds with the mainstream of his profession, he is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, CounterPunch, AlterNet, and Z Magazine. His articles and interviews have been published in Adbusters, Truthout, The Ecologist, High Times, and numerous other magazines. 

You’ll find the podcast here. Its well worth a listen too, and very relevant to our NZ context, especially around student debt, and the medicating of children for so-call ‘personality’ and behavioural disorders.

Hauerwas, Rohr, and Myers: The Iconocast Interviews

Have been listening to three interviews from the Iconocast podcast series, made available by Jesus Radicals. 

“In this episode (aired Oct 28^th, 2010), co-hosts Mark and Jarrod interview Stanley Hauerwas. Dr. Hauerwas is a Christian theologian and ethicist. He has taught at the University of Notre Dame and is currently the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School with a joint appointment at the Duke University School of Law” – available here. 

In this episode (aired Dec. 21^st 2010) co-hosts Joanna and Mark interview Father Richard Rohr. Listen in as they talk about the Enneagram, the relationship between spirituality and activism, the relationship between movements and institutions, and more.Father Rohr is a Franciscan priest. He founded the New Jerusalem Community in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1971, and the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1986, where he presently serves as Founding Director.Through writing and speaking, Father Rohr explores issues such as Scripture as liberation, the integration of action and contemplation, community building, peace and social justice issues, male spirituality, the Enneagram, and eco-spirituality. You’ll find the interview here.

In this episode (aired Mar 18^th 2010), co-hosts Sarah Lynne Anderson and Eliacin Rosario-Cruz interview Ched Myers, activist, educator, and the author of a number of books – including the very good “Binding the Strongman” commentary. Available here. 

“…Ched: The book being referred to, Binding the Strongman: A political reading of Mark’s story of Jesus, was published in 1988. It is a really just a commentary on Mark’s gospel. I guess what gave it legs were a couple of things. One was that it was an attempt to brew, to take an approach to scripture that was fundamentally liberationist. And that is not unusual in Latin America and other pars of the Third World. It is however, and really was unusual twenty years ago. The other thing I think that was different was about that book was it attempted to speak from a context of radical discipleship communities in North America and it was very explicit about that social location and about the aspects of discipleship that were the lens through which we read the gospel. 

And so, I think that book was picked up by both those who were interested in the approach political hermeneutics, by which I mean a way of approaching the gospel that looks at the Jesus story in the context of a real world of power and privilege and domination. A real world that in first century Palestine was every bit as contested and conflictual as our own. For that reading of Mark really tries to highlight the social and economic and political aspects of Jesus’ life and witness, and again that was a little unusual twenty years ago and I think that there are, there were, and continue to be many people who want to ask those sorts of questions about the scripture. So, this book was an attempt to systematically read the gospel as opposed to just pick certain themes, which were convenient—which had been the approach of a lot of first generation liberation theology. But I was to read the gospel from beginning to end using the narrative approach and to see how that story was deeply political in its own time and continues to be in ours…”

 

Miroslav Volf and Pope Benedict XVI

Paul writes – I recently read an interesting interview with Croatian-US theologian Miroslav Volf. You’ll find the full interview here (this links to part 2, but in it is the link to part 1). At many points I thought of the really useful work of Rene Girard (and those who’ve creatively built upon his work: James Alison, and to a lesser degree someone like Richard Rohr (cf. his DVD The Spiral of Violence). If you wanted a really useful and accessible introduction to Girard, I’d recommend Discovering Girard by Michael Kirwan SJ.).  The two books by Volf woven into the interview are his latest Allah: A Christian Response and an earlier book, The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World. Both of which are extremely good and I recommend both.

Meantime here’s an excerpt: 

"...DAVID: Readers who have followed news of interfaith relationships through the years are surely asking themselves: Why is anyone still debating this issue of whether we share one God? The single largest Christian denomination in the world, the 1-billion-member Catholic church, settled this question in a document in 1965. Then just before the year 2000, John Paul II again wrote about how urgently he hoped people would realize that the three faiths founded by Abraham—Judaism, Christianity and Islam—worship a common God. Many Protestant denominations have similar statements. Why do we still need books like “Allah”? 

MIROSLAV: In part, people still are debating this because there is this image of who Muslims are, and who their God is, from the media. The media consistently report on Islam in relation to incidents of violence. The question keeps arising: Can we square our concept of God, which Christians think of as a God of sheer love, with the idea that God might be a part of violence.

DAVID: And Pope Benedict XVI also raised that question in his 2006 talk at Regensberg that touched off a new debate about this issue. Do you think Benedict is trying to roll back the earlier affirmations? 

MIROSLAV: Benedict did not deny that Christians and Muslims worship the same God, but he did starkly raise differences. So, here was the top leader of the majority of Christians in the world, one of the most theologically learned human beings in the world, raising different angles about our understanding of God. The question remains, then. 

DAVID: But, are you saying that Benedict may actually backtrack on the famous 1965 declaration and declarations by John Paul II? 

MIROSLAV: I think that Benedict is less irenic toward Islam. I think he still does affirm 1965, but I think that he feels it is important to describe differences between Christianity and Islam. John Paul II was a bridge builder toward Muslims and felt it was important to describe similarities. But, in many areas of Benedict’s work, he sees himself as strongly consolidating orthodoxy. He’s been known as a watchdog of orthodoxy as a theologian. So, he raises these questions of difference. 

Then, another factor in the world now is that we are in a situation of conflict. If you are someone who has determined to resort to animosity and violence, then I think it’s very hard not to exaggerate differences in our fundamental values. In a sense, hatred needs to emphasize difference so it can appropriately latch itself onto the object of our hatred. Violence needs difference so it can unleash itself. That’s why Jews were called vermin in the Holocaust. That’s why Tutsis were called cockroaches in Rwanda. Emphasizing difference precedes violence. We need to see each other as alien in order to unleash our hatred in violence…” 

And finally, Benedict XVI has a new book out, a sequel to his Jesus of Nazareth (pub. 2008), Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection.

 

From an Amazon reviewer:

“…In Pope Benedict XVI's second volume of "Jesus of Nazareth" the Pope continues to explore the life of Jesus. This time it is from Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem until the time of his Resurrection. His purpose for writing the book is stated in the introduction, when he says, "I have attempted to develop a way of observing and listening to the Jesus of the Gospels that can indeed lead to personal encounter and that, through collective listening with Jesus' disciples across the ages, can indeed attain sure knowledge of the real historical figure of Jesus." … 

…The current state of biblical studies in most of Christianity is still heavily dependent upon the historical-critical method of study. This method is really a compilation of various methods of trying to look into the past to examine the Biblical text in light of what we know about them during the time they were written. It tries to understand, as best as can be done, what the human authors of Scripture understood about the world, culture, themselves, God, etc. to draw out the meaning of the text. 

Benedict XVI stated in volume I that the method is limited in what it can do for us, because it remains a method, which leaves "the biblical word in the past". It also does not approach the text with the eyes of faith, but with a critical eye. This means that it is very limited in the scope of what it can do for us and it cannot bring us to a real encounter with a God who comes to us as a Living Word today.

Because of these limitations inherent to the historical-critical method, the Pope believes it has "yielded its essential fruit", even while it is indispensably helpful for a study of the Bible. 

With this in mind, Benedict sets out to help us see the historical figure of Christ through the eyes of faith. This faith should be informed by the historicity of the Gospels, but never devoid of seeing Christ as He should properly be seen - not merely a figure of the past, but someone who is alive and present to us today. This takes faith…”

 

NZ Conference: Peace on Earth: Anabaptism and Ecological Action in Aotearoa

A Colloquium co-sponsored by: A Rocha Aotearoa/NZ (ARANZ), the Anabaptist Association of Australia and NZ (AAANZ), and Urban Vision. 

Saturday 29th May, 2010 (9am to 5pm) Venue: Ngatiawa (Urban Vision Community) Reikorangi Valley, Waikanae, 1hr from Wellington.

We are seeking papers/presentations that will engage with either one, or both, of the following themes:

1. Anabaptism and its faith expression in the Aotearoa / New Zealand context.
2. Christian (or, more specifically, Anabaptist) responses to the environmental crisis.

If submitting a proposed paper, please: (1) indicate what sort of time slot you are applying for, (2) include a 50-100 word abstract of the proposed paper. 

These should be sent to Andrew Shepherd here, or, if necessary, by post to: Private Bag 9036, Wanaka 9343. These need to be received by May 3rd, 2010.

PDF Flyer below.

Download Peace on Earth Colloquium

Males, Suicide and Relationship Breakdown.

Paul writes – An area that has long interested me is male spirituality, growth toward wholeness, and spiritual formation. This interest lies at the intersection of spirituality, psychology, mythology and depth psychology.  It was therefore a fascinating (yet sad) experience, yesterday (Thursday 4^th March 2010), to listen in on a RNZ interview about adult males and suicide in NZ, especially after relationship breakdowns. It touched on a range of issues including family court, males (often) inability to connect with the deep places in their lives, an (often) inability to recognise and name their feelings, the importance of men’s groups etc 

You can have a listen here. Scroll down for the Mp3. 

If you’re a New Zealander perhaps it’s time to start lobbying / writing to your MP to encourage the government to adequately fund support services and research into male mental health and well-being…

If you can track it down, well worth a look is a fantastic award-winning 2008 Australian movie (one of my top 10 films watched in 2009) called Men’s Group. It’s directed by Michael Joy. It will be compulsory watching at any future males and spirituality workshops I might facilitate. It’s an important film at so many levels. 

Haiti and the Lebanon

 

Paul writes – We had some good of friends over for a BBQ last night, at least two of whom knew Barry Taylor, and one of them mentioned a cartoon (reproduced above) on Barry's Blog Site, so I checked it out and thought it was brilliant, especially as I’d read (via Jason Goroncy - thanks Jason) Slavoj Žižek’s inciteful (and poignant in the light of Haiti’s devastating earthquake) August 2008 review of Peter Hallward’s 2008 book Damming the Flood: Haiti, Aristide and the Politics of Containment. I knew nothing of Haiti’s history and would have loved to have been able to read Hallward’s book – but funds and not a lot of time to read make that unlikely – a shame really, as it sounds like a fascinating read. Žižek’s review essay will have to suffice. I commend it to anyone who wants a little insight into Haiti's troubled history, and the way The West (US and France in particular) have been significant and damaging players in it's history.

Also (finally) got a chance to watch the award winning movie Waltz with Bashir. It's a fabulous and politically / psychologically insightful film. The animation and music score are wonderful. Both reinforce why film is such a significant way to tell a story! I felt it useful to read the wikipedia site and get some historical background. As I was watching it on my laptop I paused it 70% of the way through to get the backstory. It was useful to do that.

The Germs of Self Destruction…? Brian McLaren on Obama’s Oslo Speech

Paul writes – Michael Gorman drew my attention to a very useful little reflection by Brian McLaren. McLaren reflects on President Obama’s “Oslo speech”. 

Here’s an excerpt:

“…These conflicted thoughts of war and peace, naïveté and realism were churning in my mind a day or so after the speech as I walked through a plaza in Riverside, California. Who is more naïve, I wondered – those who believe violence can overcome violence, or those who believe violence always creates new and more complicated problems? By chance, at that moment in my musings I came upon a monument to Gandhi that stands between the city’s Convention Center and old mission. As I slowly circled the monument, it wasn’t the quotes from Gandhi that seized my attention, but rather this quote from General Douglas MacArthur:

In the evolution of civilization, if it is to survive, all men cannot fail eventually to adopt Gandhi’s belief that the process of mass application of force to resolve contentious issues is fundamentally not only wrong but contains within itself the germs of self-destruction.

It would be one thing if these words were spoken by an idealistic young candidate, a community organizer, a pastor, a poet, or a movement leader. But when a seasoned general from World War II – well beyond naïveté about either war or evil – makes a statement like this, one hopes that the rest of us will at least give his words a second thought…” 

You can read the whole post here. 

And, if you missed my earlier e-mail, I recommend listening to Brian McLaren being interviewed by Rachel Kohn in Australia in Nov 09. You can find it, and the transcript, here. Be quick though, the audio won’t be available for much longer. 

Renovating Economics and our Obsession with Real Estate

 Paul writes – Fiona Allon is a person who’s writing Simon Holt introduced me to. Allon works in the Department of Gender & Cultural Studies, University of Sydney. Her most recent publication was Renovation Nation: Australia's Obsession with Home [UNSW Press, 2008]. I’ve still to read her book, but I have had the delight of listening to a recording of her 13^th May 2009 Sydney Institute lecture – Renovation Nation.

The Sydney Institute is Australia's premier current affairs forum. Every week contemporary political, social, cultural and economic issues are explored at the Institute through dialogue and discussion.

While not focusing directly on her book, Allon reflects on the current economic crisis and the contribution that housing, amongst other things, has made to the place where we are today. She contends against blaming any one person or sector or political ideology for the current economic circumstances, but instead focuses on the complex makeup of “culture”; on the day-to-day practices, influences, attitudes, values etc that shape culture. This theme will be familiar to those engaged in the missional conversation and to engaging culture missionally. 

I highly recommend the lecture (around 60 minutes in duration, including questions). While not explicitly theological Allon’s lecture is a good example of the academy and of scholarship in conversation with the macro and micro influences that both shape and give content to every-day life and living. 

For a great argument on why Christian scholarship should similarly locate itself in a broad public space and engage contemporary political, social, cultural, economic and ordinary everyday life, I recommend James K A. Smith’s introductory chapter in his The Devil Reads Derrida and other Essays on the University, the Church, Politics and the Arts.  Indirectly it's the beginning of an argument for the church to do the same thing; bringing contemporary culture and gospel into conversation, i.e. practical theology.

Simon Holt has reflected a little on Allon’s work here and peripherally here.   

William Cavanaugh - "Telling the Truth about Ourselves: Torture and Eucharist in the U.S. Popular Imagination"

“Recently, I picked up a newspaper to find an article on page four about a secret Red Cross report detailing U.S. torture of terrorism suspects. On page three, there was an article about Dick Cheney, who did not use the word “torture,” but said that the Bush administration’s “enhanced interrogation techniques” had kept the country safe, and that Obama’s policies would not. The recently released memos detailing the justification of torture under the Bush administration has produced outrage on both sides of the political spectrum. On the right, the outrage is directed at President Obama for allegedly abandoning a strategy that kept us safe from terrorists and caused no real harm—right wing talker Sean Hannity has even volunteered to be waterboarded for charity. On the left, the outrage is directed at the Bush administration, with little awareness of the ways that Obama has continued Bush’s policies...”

You can read Cavanaugh’s entire May 4th 2009 article here.

Also of interest in the same journal is Altars to Unknown Gods: A Christian Approach to Contemporary Art by Daniel A. Siedell.