Douglas Giles, PhD

Philosophy professor reaching beyond the ivory tower and digging deeper. elmhurst.academia.edu/DouglasGiles, @DGilesPhd, InsertPhilosophyHere.com.

Jun 9, 2022

What Is Postmodernism?

A brief lecture on how the philosophical movement differs from modernism.

Channel 4 News Nov 29, 2022 Chinese dissident artist and activist, Ai Weiwei, discusses China’s protests over the Zero-Covid policy, and the future of President Xi Jinping. (Subscribe: https://bit.ly/C4_News_Subscribe)

Issued on: 27/11/2022 – 17:23 (France24.com)

Text by:Romain HOUEIX

Iranian protests have spread into the stands and onto the pitch during the 2022 World Cup, as supporters – and the Iranian players – have used the event to speak out for and against the country’s leadership. FRANCE 24 meets Iranian football fans in Qatar. 

“In Iran, it’s impossible to separate politics and football,” said Ali Houman, a 53-year-old engineer who travelled to Qatar from Canada to watch Iran’s matches during the 2022 World Cup. Speaking outside Ahmed Bin Ali stadium prior to a game that saw Iran secure a victory over Wales, Houman carried an Iranian flag with a hole cut in the middle removing the symbol of the Islamic Republic. 

National protests against Iranian leadership have gathered pace since early September when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police custody after being arrested for not wearing a hijab. Protests sparked by outrage over her death have evolved into widespread revolt against the regime.  

In Qatar, Houman wanted to show his own support for the protest movement, but was surprised to see players on the Iranian team do the same. During their opening match against England, Iran’s players stayed silent during the national anthem, the lyrics of which glorify the Islamic revolution of 1979. 

“I was expecting to boo the players but that changed my mind; I felt proud of them,” Houman said. “There’s no doubt that they’ll be punished for it, but it was a powerful gesture.” 

‘A difficult position’ 

Yet the Iranian players chose to sing the national anthem prior to their second match against Wales, drawing vocal disappointment from their supporters in the stands.  

The team itself is divided. Star forward Sardar Azmoun has spoken in support of protesters multiple times and captain Ehsan Hajsafi said conditions in Iran are “not right”. Two substitutes, Mehdi Torabi and Vahid Amiri, are known to support Iran’s current leadership.

Meanwhile, team manager Carlos Queiroz has advocated for the players to be allowed to focus on their sport. Responding to journalists who asked him political questions during a World Cup press conference, he said! “Let the boys play football. It’s not fair to bring them to this World Cup and ask them about things that are not their responsibility.”

Whether they speak out or remain silent, Iran’s players have been under intense scrutiny since the tournament began. Even their goal celebrations have been dissected and criticised for political meaning. “The team’s players are in a difficult position,” said Houman, outside the stadium. “Whatever they do, they’ll get criticised for doing too much or not enough. 

Publicly criticising the Iranian leadership also comes with great personal risk. The day before the Iran-Wales match, news emerged of the arrest of Voria Ghafouri – an Iranian player with 28 international caps. Four months previously Ghafouri was forced to quit his club Esteghlal, where he was captain, due to his recurrent critiques of Iranian leaders. 

‘Players must do more’ 

Nearing the security gates to Ahmed Bin Ali stadium, Aran Gabdari was proudly holding a banner emblazoned with one of the Iranian protest slogans: “Women, life, freedom, #MahsaAmini”. 

“This slogan is everything we are deprived of in Iran. That’s why we want a revolution,” said the 31-year-old data analyst. “The point of football is to have a good time, but it’s meaningless when adults and children are being killed in Iran.” 

Since the start of the protest movement in Iran 416 people, including 51 children have died, according to the NGO Iran Human Rights. “Not singing the national anthem isn’t enough, players must do more,” Gabdari said. “But we’re not here for them, we don’t care whether they win or lose. We’re here to support the movement.” 

Gabdari had travelled to the tournament from the US, so faced few risks from speaking out. Not so for his friends who had travelled from Iran. Despite supporting the protest movement, none were willing to speak to FRANCE 24 out of fear of not being able to return home. 

In Qatar, the atmosphere between Iranian supporters was tense. As more football fans arrived outside the stadium, some pulled aside Iranians who were talking to journalists, surrounded them, and prevented them from continuing by shouting, singing and blasting foghorns. Others started filming the faces of those being interviewed on their smartphones.  

Insults started being thrown around – one newcomer accused a protest supporter of not even being Iranian under his white, red and green face paint. He shouted back that they were “fake supporters, paid by the regime to stop people talking about protests during the World Cup”. As scuffles broke out, flags and T-shirts were torn apart, while stadium security staff watched without intervening. 

Only one football fan who was obviously against the protests agreed to be interviewed. “It makes no sense, no one should protest overseas about an internal problem in Iran,” he said. “We are here to support our team. We are proud of them, they qualified for the World Cup and we want them to win.” 

He rejoined his group of friends, chanting the name of the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

‘A voice for those being silenced’ 

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Away from the scuffles, US-Iranian Nika lifted up her Brazil shirt to show the Mahsa Amini T-shirt she was wearing underneath. She decided to keep a low profile outside the stadium after being sent threatening messages when she spoke out on social media during the Iran-England match. 

The engineer from California also chose to hide her T-shirt out of fear it would be confiscated by security officers. FIFA rules allow World Cup security forces to confiscate any items “containing world or images with political messages that are offensive or discriminatory”. According to AFP photographers at least one group of fans has had an Iranian flag with protest slogans confiscated.  

Nika wanted to attend the World Cup in Qatar so that it wasn’t dominated by football fans who support the Iranian regime. “A lot of people didn’t come to support the protest movement, and the regime capitalised on that by sending its own supporters here,” she said. “We came hoping to be stronger and make more noise than them.”  

It is the first time that Nika has watched football matches live, in a stadium. “The World Cup is the biggest sports event in the world. It could be a huge political platform. We are here to be the voice of those in Iran who are being silenced.”

This article was translated from the original in French. 

A Constellation of Days Has Emerged to Remember the Holocaust and Its Victims

Rather than traditional holidays, Germany relies on days of remembrance to reckon with its darkest sins. Political scientist Theo Schiller explains. Pictured: Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial. Courtesy of mauro gambini/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

by THEO SCHILLER | NOVEMBER 28, 2022 (ZocaloPublicSquare.org)

Germany does not have a traditional, centuries-old national holiday, such as July 14 in France or July 4 in the United States.

But Germany is carefully attuned to dates, and how they might be used to reckon with the history of dictatorships, encourage the maintenance of memorial sites, and spark remembrance in ways that draw the public to past sins, and provide vital information and moral orientation.

Reckoning with and making restitution for the Nazi dictatorship of 1933­–1945, World War II, and the deaths and persecution of millions occupies Germany to this day—and probably will forever. The ongoing German work of remembrance around dates also should remind us of how frequently used phrases like “coming to terms with the past” (“Vergangenheitsbewaeltigung”) or “processing the past” constitute a rather helpless vocabulary, and provide only a generalizing veil for specific historical crimes.

In the immediate aftermath of World War II, the occupying Allies took the first steps to punish those most responsible for the Nazi regime, to reorganize the government, and to begin to compensate the Nazis’ victims. But they did much of this work at a distance. The newly installed powers within Germany, on the other hand, were more entangled in old patterns, and often remained ambivalent about the continuation of denazification and democratization. In any case, the population tended to deny and repress recent crimes and, above all, lament their own victims of the war.

But over many years, beginning in the late 1940s and into the early 21st century, Germany developed a “policy on the past” and established days of remembrance. The process took different paths in the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). But everywhere, its influences included court proceedings, historical research, art, and media, as well as political events like the trial of Adolph Eichmann in Jerusalem in 1961­–2, the reunification of Germany in 1990, and debates around the Holocaust memorial in Berlin, which opened in 2005.

Over the decades, Germany would come to commemorate a number of dates—not as national holidays but in conjunction with a heterogenous group of organizations and individuals, including government. The shifting commemorations and days include the end of World War II in Europe on May 8, 1945, the anti-Jewish pogroms of November 9, 1938, and the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp on January 27, 1945.

Beginning in the late 1940s, first the Soviet-occupied zone and then the German Democratic Republic celebrated May 8 as the victory of the USSR and of anti-fascism. But the Western parts of the nation occupied by the U.S. and other Allies didn’t mark the date. In 1965, the Federal Republic of Germany’s government wanted to highlight the 20th anniversary for the first time as a kind of “end of the post-war period,” celebrating successes in reconstruction, consolidated democracy, and the prospect of reunification—but the Allies rejected the idea.

After years of routine events, in 1985, Federal President Richard von Weizsaecker made a speech interpreting May 8, 1945 no longer as a day of military defeat but as the “Day of Liberation.” He received some public criticism, but this statement marked a turning point for May 8. It reduced the attention on Germany’s own post-war grievances, and focused more attention on those whom the Nazi regime had killed and persecuted.

It has taken quite a long time to establish adequate forms and days of recollection for victims of the Nazi regime.

In 1946, the U.S. military took the first steps toward commemorating the Holocaust, remembering the destruction of the synagogue at Frankfurt’s Börneplatz on November 9, 1938. Similar commemorations followed elsewhere, with widespread media coverage throughout Germany (then divided into four zones of Allied occupation) on the 10th anniversary on November 9, 1948. But no centralized events took place.

It has taken quite a long time to establish adequate forms and days of recollection for victims of the Nazi regime.

In the Soviet Occupation Zone (later GDR, or East Germany) a “Day of Anti-Fascism” was set up on the second Sunday of September 1946.  But its strong emphasis on military and political victory soon pushed aside Jews as victims, focusing instead on the deaths of “political” anti-fascists. Meanwhile in the Federal Republic (West Germany), November 9, 1938, would gain greater importance.

Very soon, however, a different and competing line of remembrance was started as a “National Day of Mourning” for all German victims of war, following a tradition which began after World War I. This focus on the fallen soldiers and other war dead remained far removed from the fate of the victims of Nazi dictatorship, and the topics of German guilt and responsibility. Only the states of Hesse and Hamburg dedicated the national day of mourning as a “day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism and the dead of both world wars.” During the 1950s, the victims of the Nazi dictatorship received more attention in commemoration, but the victim community remained tied to the German dead.

Since the early 1950s, Jewish communities in cities such as Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin have driven initiatives to hold days of remembrance on November 9, along with victims’ organizations and opposition groups. Although the state did not sanction these commemorations, eventually more municipalities took part.

The number of memorial sites to Nazi victims also increased rapidly, especially after a wave of new attacks against synagogues in 1959 and 1960. In the decade leading up to the 40th anniversary of November 9, in 1978, the number of commemorative events increased tenfold. Historical research and publications began to offer in-depth accounts of the anti-Semitic November pogroms of 1938—and of the German population’s widespread acceptance of those attacks.

By the late 1970s, this day of remembrance had been firmly anchored at the national level. The federal president and other representatives of national government and parliament were observing the day, which students also study in school. This movement in turn inspired more local research, media projects, and discussions in small towns and rural areas. The American television series Holocaust, about a fictional Jewish family, also spread interest in the subject after several parts appeared on German television in 1979. The term “holocaust” became part of the German language, thanks to the show.

Today, November 9 has developed into one of the most important days of remembrance, recalling the date when Nazi organizations destroyed synagogues, attacked, killed, or expelled Jews, and deported many to concentration camps. Germans for too long downplayed this series of events as “Reichskristallnacht,” the night of broken glass, which doesn’t acknowledge the full extent of its horrors. The day of commemoration transformed November 9 into a symbol of the horrible path to the “final solution” of annihilation of German and European Jews. Germans, over time, began to understand crime, guilt, and responsibility in their historical and moral dimensions.

Other days of commemoration also advanced this process. The Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation chose a “Week of Brotherhood” in March 1952 to focus solely on commemorating the persecution of the Jews. This week was initially devoted to seeking religiously motivated mutual understanding with the small number of surviving German Jewish citizens. But it expanded over time and contributed significantly to the clarification of historical facts and responsibilities of the Holocaust. More recently, however, the week has lost importance, in part because of the secularization of society.

A different theme concerns July 20, 1944—political resistance against the Nazi regime, remembered through Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg’s failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler. As early as October 1951, the Federal Republic of Germany’s government marked this day—both to honor resistance and to counter accusations of treason by old Nazi supporters and former military personnel. Annual commemorative speeches on July 20 by high state officials, and more recent events that include some military rituals, have achieved considerable media coverage. The commemorations are effective because of the drama of the attempted assassination, and the personal story of the executed assassin, Count Stauffenberg, and his co-conspirators. But they have also come under fire for focusing on military elites rather than the resistance of trade unions, left-wing parties, and everyday people.

Today, the official commemoration day of German state organs, explicitly dedicated to all victims of the National Socialist system of oppression, and especially to the murdered and expelled Jews of Europe, is January 27. That is the day in 1945 when Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp. President Roman Herzog first dedicated this day in 1996, and since 2005, it also has been International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Each year, the German Bundestag in Berlin holds commemoration events with contemporary witnesses, international experts, and political representatives, including from Israel and neighboring European countries. The state parliaments and governments of Germany, and many local authorities, also follow this practice—implying a political self-commitment of state institutions to permanently respect this occasion and its mandate.

Although November 9 retains its importance, January 27 has become a more powerful commemoration because it was established after German reunification in 1990, and it integrates the very different patterns of memory in West and East Germany.

Today, rising xenophobia, racism, and right-wing extremism are placing new pressures on Germany—and on the contribution remembrance, and days of commemoration, make to society.  Germany’s culture of remembrance may well deliver some relevant lessons and moral enlightenment necessary to secure freedom, democracy, and peace.

Since some right-wing activists quite openly proclaim allegiance to Hitler and Nazi ideology, it is much more necessary to use historical facts and moral arguments in everyday political dispute to counter their horrible beliefs and propaganda. The German pledge “Never again” will be needed on streets, in speeches, and in all kind of media for the foreseeable future.

THEO SCHILLERis professor emeritus of political science at Philipps University in Marburg, Germany.

This essay is part of a project supported by the Mellon Foundation titled, “How Should Societies Remember Their Sins?”

Have you ever been forced to limit your identity to a single box on an application, survey or census questionnaire? For many, it is a futile and overall outdated exercise, especially for those with multiracial and multi-ethnic backgrounds. Olivia Vinckier makes the case for recognizing and accepting, rather than limiting, the growing reality that identity is multifaceted, ever-expanding — and more colorful than you think.Read transcript

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxSaintFrancisHS, an independent event. TED’s editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.

About the speaker

Olivia Vinckier

StudentSee speaker profile

Olivia Vinckier is a student at Saint Francis High School.

About TEDx

TEDx was created in the spirit of TED’s mission, “ideas worth spreading.” It supports independent organizers who want to create a TED-like event in their own community.

Jazz Mafia Jul 9, 2022 Jazz Mafia Presents” is the new special events branch of our community, geared towards private & corporate events, as well as festivals, offering a variety of ultra-unique musical offerings with clever & carefully curated repertoire, and your favorite high energy performers from Jazz Mafia!

Amy Graff, SFGATE

Nov. 28, 2022Updated: Nov. 28, 2022 3:33 p.m.

Lava flows on Mauna Loa moving in ‘best possible direction,’ mayor says

Nov. 28, 3:33 p.m.

Mitch Roth, the mayor of Hawaii County, said Monday that the lava flows on Mauna Loa were flowing in a direction that is not threatening to communities near the volcano.

Read More

Pahala, Naalehu, Ocean View, Milolii, Napoopoo, Captain Cook, Kealakekua and Keauhou — areas in the southwestern rift zone that are at high risk in the event of a major eruption — were not threatened as of Monday afternoon, Roth said in a news release issued at noon local time.

“Our team is on full alert and is prepared to respond to whatever situation may arise as a result of the Mauna Loa eruption,” Roth said. “That said, we’ve been told that the lava is heading in the best possible direction, which is away from our communities. We’ll continue to monitor the situation and will be providing updates to the community regularly. Until then, we thank our State and County partners, departments, and agencies for their quick action and attention to every detail.” 

The release from the mayor’s office said that while scientists are monitoring the eruption that began Sunday, it remains unknown how long the event will last and how much lava will flow from the volcano.

No evacuations were in place as of Monday afternoon. Shelters were opened in Kau at the Robert Herkes Gymnasium and the Old Airport Gym in Kailua-Kona, due to people self-evacuating out of caution, the mayor’s office said. 

No road closures are in place except the Mauna Loa Access Road, which was shut down to traffic early this morning.  

Officials release map with vog forecast amid Mauna Loa eruption

Nov. 28, 2:23 p.m.

Officials released a forecast model Monday showing the dispersion of volcanic emissions, also known as vog, on the Big Island of Hawaii and their impacts on air quality levels amid Mauna Loa’s eruption. 

The forecast said there were moderate levels of emissions — sulfur dioxide and sulfate aerosols — on Monday. 

The VMAP Vog Forecast Dashboard is intended to identify areas of possible health risks for the general public under standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey, which is monitoring the eruption, said on Twitter. 

The USGS reiterated on Monday afternoon that lava flows are not threatening downslope communities amid the eruption.

Get the latest information on the eruption from the USGS website.

Southwest cancels some Hawaii flights as Mauna Loa eruption spews ash

Nov. 28, 1 p.m.

Southwest Airlines has suspended operations at Hilo International Airport due to Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii erupting late Sunday. The temporary suspension resulted in the cancellation of 10 interisland departures. Southwest operates five round-trip flights a day between Hilo International Airport and Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu. Get more details on how travel in Hawaii is being impacted by the volcano at SFGATE.

Officials release images of lava flows at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa

Nov. 28, 11:15 a.m.

Officials released images on Monday of the lava flows on Mauna Loa, a volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. The world’s most active volcano started erupting for the first time in nearly four decades on Sunday night.

The images show the volcano erupting from vents on the northeast rift zone. “Flows are moving downslope to the north,” the U.S. Geological Society said. 

As of 11:02 a.m., the USGS said lava flows were not threatening downslope communities. 

The agency said crews were on-site this morning collecting information to create lava flow forecasts to identify potential hazards. 

The National Weather Service announced at 11 a.m. that an ash advisory had been canceled but warned that people with respiratory illness should be aware of “the potential for areas of low air quality due to vog,” which occurs when volcano emissions are mixed with fog.

#MaunaLoa is erupting from vents on the Northeast Rift zone. Flows are moving downslope to the north. USGS Photos from Civil Air Patrol fight. #MaunaLoaErupts @Volcanoes_NPS @Hawaii_EMA @CivilDefenseHI pic.twitter.com/kUYWYPdk4L

— USGS Volcanoes? (@USGSVolcanoes) November 28, 2022

Hawaii issues travel advisory for two airports on Big Island as Mauna Loa erupts

Nov. 28, 10:40 a.m.

The Hawaii Department of Transportation issued a travel advisory on Monday morning for two airports on the Big Island, where the Mauna Loa volcano is erupting.

“Passengers with flights to Hilo International Airport (ITO) or the Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole (KOA) should check with their airline prior to heading to the airport due to the volcanic activity at Mauna Loa,” the department said via Twitter.

Lava flows from Hawaii’s Mauna Loa are not threatening communities

Nov. 28, 10:25 a.m.

The eruption of Hawaii‘s Mauna Loa volcano shifted from the summit caldera to the northeast rift zone, with fissures feeding several lava flows, the U.S. Geological Survey said at 7:20 a.m. local time. 

“Lava flows are not threatening any downslope communities and all indications are that the eruption will remain in the Northeast Rift Zone,” the USGS said in its update. “Volcanic gas and possibly fine ash and Pele’s Hair may be carried downwind.”

Hawaii’s Mauna Loa erupts for first time in nearly four decades

Nov. 28, 6:38 a.m.

Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii erupted for the first time since 1984 on Sunday night, spewing a massive cloud of ash and debris. The volcano’s lava flow is contained within the summit and as of Monday morning there continued to be no threat to nearby communities, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Mauna Loa is the world’s most active volcano and has erupted 33 times since 1843, the first time an eruption was documented, according to the USGS. In 1984, lava flows were within 4.5 miles of Hilo, the largest community on the Big Island with a population of 44,000 people. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shared satellite imagery on Twitter showing the heat and sulfur dioxide released from Mauna Loa’s summer caldera. The National Weather Service issued an ashfall advisory in effect through Monday morning, warning that up to a quarter inch of ash could accumulate around portions of the Big Island. 

Around 11:30 p.m. HST last night, @NOAA's #GOESWest ?️ captured the eruption of Hawaii's #MaunaLoa volcano, inside @Volcanoes_NPS.

This imagery shows the heat signature and the sulfur dioxide released from the #volcano's summit caldera, Moku‘āweoweo. pic.twitter.com/gHEG63rbLb

— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) November 28, 2022

Scientists have recently been on alert and watching the volcano closely since earthquakes began rattling the volcano’s summit in September. Mauna Loa’s summit, cabins and high-elevation areas have been closed due to increased seismicity since Oct. 5.

Sunday’s eruption was first reported at 11:30 p.m. local time within Mokuaweoweo, the summit caldera of the volcano that’s within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. 

The USGS advised residents in the area of the volcano to review eruption preparations. 

“Based on past events, the early stages of a Mauna Loa eruption can be very dynamic and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly,” the USGS said.

How long the volcano erupts and whether it could cause lava to flow to populated areas of the island is impossible to predict, said Miel Corbett, a USGS spokesperson.

“But I can tell you, we’re in constant communication right now with Hawaii Civil Defense, and they’re providing updates to community members,” she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Wheel of Fortune

The Wheel of Fortune is numbered ten and is usually shown as a great wheel. Sometimes Fortuna is seen, turning the wheel for all eternity. There are people or animals on the Wheel – some are falling off to be crushed, some are struggling to stay on, while a solitary figure makes no attempt to maintain its position but succeeds anyway.

Fortune is not the same as luck. We make our own luck and follow our own destiny. Good fortune comes from the still centre which contains the very heart of ourselves. The seasons will continue to wheel, the sun will rise and set, the planets will move in their allotted courses – with or without us.

If we struggle against the flow of life, we become those struggling to ascend the Wheel, or even one of those crushed beneath it. However, if we realise our own power to create a beneficial future and then trust in that vision, we shall become the still figure, master of our own universe.

(via angelpaths.com and Alan Blackman)

“The main reason for healing is love.”

–Paracelsus

Paracelsus, born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (November or December of 1493 – September 24, 1541), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance. He was a pioneer in several aspects of the “medical revolution” of the Renaissance, emphasizing the value of observation in combination with received wisdom. Wikipedia

Listen: https://www.npr.org/player/embed/132078267/132083355

December 15, 2010 (NPR.org)

… And This Is Your Brain On Buddha: As part of his research, Andrew Newberg studied the brain activity of experienced Tibetan Buddhists before and during meditation. Newberg found an increase of activity in the meditators’ frontal lobe, responsible for focusing attention and concentration, during meditation. He found similar results in a similar study of older individuals experiencing memory problems.

Andrew Newberg

For thousands of years, religion has posed some unanswerable questions: Who are we?  What’s the meaning of life? What does it mean to be religious?

PRINCIPLES OF NEUROTHEOLOGY
BY ANDREW B. NEWBERG
PAPERBACK, 284 PAGES
ASHGATE
LIST PRICE: $29.95

Read An Excerpt

In an effort to address those questions, Dr. Andrew Newberg has scanned the brains of praying nuns, chanting Sikhs and meditating Buddhists. He studies the relationship between the brain and religious experience, a field called neurotheology. And he’s written a book, Principles of Neurotheology, that tries to lay the groundwork for a new kind of scientific and theological dialogue.

Newberg tells NPR’s Neal Conan that neurotheology applies science and the scientific method to spirituality through brain imaging studies.

“[We] evaluate what’s happening in people’s brains when they are in a deep spiritual practice like meditation or prayer,” Newberg says. He and his team then compare that with the same brains in a state of rest. “This has really given us a remarkable window into what it means for people to be religious or spiritual or to do these kinds of practices.”

Newberg’s scans have also shown the ways in which religious practices, like meditation, can help shape a brain. Newberg describes one study in which he worked with older individuals who were experiencing memory problems. Newberg took scans of their brains, then taught them a mantra-based type of meditation and asked them to practice that meditation 12 minutes a day for eight weeks. At the end of the eight weeks, they came back for another scan, and Newberg found some dramatic differences.

“We found some very significant and profound changes in their brain just at rest, particularly in the areas of the brain that help us to focus our mind and to focus our attention,” he says.

RELIGION

Is This Your Brain On God?

According to Newberg, many of the participants related that they were thinking more clearly and were better able to remember things after eight weeks of meditation. Remarkably, the new scans and memory tests confirmed their claims.

“They had improvements of about 10 or 15 percent,” Newberg says. “This is only after eight weeks at 12 minutes a day, so you can imagine what happens in people who are deeply religious and spiritual and are doing these practices for hours a day for years and years.”Enlarge this image

Andrew Newberg is the director of research at the Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital in Philadelphia.

Courtesy of Andrew Newberg

Newberg emphasizes that while neurotheology won’t provide definitive findings about things like the existence of a higher power, it will provide a deeper understanding of what it means for a person to be religious.

“For those individuals who want to go down the path of arguing that all of our religious and spiritual experiences are nothing more than biological phenomena, some of this data does support that kind of a conclusion,” Newberg says. “But the data also does not specifically eliminate the notion that there is a religious or spiritual or divine presence in the world.”

Because of that, Newberg says the success of neurotheology hinges on open-mindedness.

“One could try to conclude one way or the other that maybe it’s the biology or maybe God’s really in the room, but the scan itself doesn’t really show that,” Newberg says. “For neurotheology to really work as a field it needs to be very respectful and open to both perspectives.”

Related NPR Stories

Decoding The Mystery Of Near-Death ExperiencesMay 22, 2009

Bradley Hagerty On Science And GodMay 22, 2009

Can Positive Thoughts Help Heal Another Person?May 21, 2009

Prayer May Reshape Your Brain … And Your RealityMay 20, 2009

Are Spiritual Encounters All In Your Head?May 19, 2009

The God Chemical: Brain Chemistry And MysticismMay 18, 2009

Principles of Neurotheology

by Andrew B. Newberg

PRINCIPLES OF NEUROTHEOLOGY
BY ANDREW B. NEWBERG
PAPERBACK, 284 PAGES
ASHGATE
LIST PRICE: $29.95

“Neurotheology” is a unique field of scholarship and investigation that seeks to understand the relationship specifically between the brain and theology, and more broadly between the mind and religion. As a topic, neurotheology has garnered substantial attention in the academic and lay communities in recent years. Several books have been written addressing the relationship between the brain and religious experience and numerous scholarly articles have been published on the topic.  The scientific and religious communities have been very interested in obtaining more information regarding neurotheology, how to approach this topic, and whether science and religion can be integrated in some manner that preserves, and perhaps enhances, both.

If neurotheology is to be considered a viable field going forward, it requires a set of clear principles that can be generally agreed upon and supported by both the theological or religious perspective and the scientific one as well.  The overall purpose of this book is to set forth the necessary principles of neurotheology which can be used as a foundation for future neurotheological discourse and scholarship.

It is important to infuse throughout the principles of neurotheology the notion that neurotheology requires an openness to both the scientific as well as the spiritual perspectives.  It is also important to preserve the essential elements of both perspectives.  The scientific side must progress utilizing adequate definitions, measures, methodology and interpretations of data.  The religious side must maintain a subjective sense of spirituality, a phenomenological assessment of the sense of ultimate reality that may or may not include a Divine presence, a notion of the meaning and purpose in life, an adherence to various doctrinal processes, and a careful analysis of religion from the theological perspective.

In short, for neurotheology to be successful, science must be kept rigorous and religion must be kept religious.  This book will also have the purpose of facilitating a sharing of ideas and concepts across the boundary between science and religion. Such a dialogue can be considered a constructive approach that informs both perspectives by enriching the understanding of both science and religion.

It is at the neurotheological juncture that the science and religion interaction may be most valuable and help establish a more fundamental link between the spiritual and biological dimensions of the human being.  Therefore, neurotheology, which should provide an openness to a number of different perspectives, might also be viewed as a nexus in which those from the religious as well as scientific side can come together to explore deep issues about humanity in a constructive and complementary manner.  There, no doubt, will be differing view points that will be raised throughout this process, some of which may be more exclusive of one perspective or the other.  However, it should be stressed that for neurotheology to grow as a field, it is imperative that one remains open, at least somewhat, to all of the different perspectives including those that are religious or spiritual, cultural, or scientific.

In addition to the complex interrelationship between science and religion over the years, neurotheological research must draw upon the current state of modern scientific methods and existing theological debates. Science has advanced significantly in the past several decades with regard to the study of the human brain. Neurotheology should be prepared to take full advantage of the advances in fields of science such as functional brain imaging, cognitive neuroscience, psychology, and genetics.  On the other hand, neurotheological scholarship should also be prepared to engage the full range of theological issues. That theology continues to evolve and change from the more dogmatic perspectives of the past, through natural theology and systematic theology, neurotheology must acknowledge that there are many fascinating theological issues that face each religious tradition.

When considering the primary reasons for developing neurotheology as a field, we can consider four foundational goals for scholarship in this area. These are:

1.  To improve our understanding of the human mind and brain.

2.  To improve our understanding of religion and theology.

3.  To improve the human condition, particularly in the context of health and well being.

4.  To improve the human condition, particularly in the context of religion and spirituality.

These four goals are reciprocal in that they suggest that both religious and scientific pursuits might benefit from neurotheological research. The first two are meant to be both esoteric as well as pragmatic regarding scientific and theological disciplines. The second two goals refer to the importance of providing practical applications of neurotheological findings towards improving human life both individually and globally.

Given the enormity of these tasks to help understand ourselves, our relationship to God or the absolute, and the nature of reality itself, neurotheology appears poised to at least make a substantial attempt at addressing such issues. While other theological, philosophical, and scientific approaches have also tried to tackle these “big” questions, it would seem that neurotheology holds a unique perspective. It is one of the only disciplines that necessarily seeks to integrate science and theology, and if defined broadly, many other relevant fields. And this is perhaps the greatest gift of neurotheology, the ability to foster a rich multidisciplinary dialogue in which we help others get it right so that we can advance the human person and human thought as it relates to our mental, biological, and spiritual selves.

Excerpted from Principles of Neurotheology by Andrew B. Newberg. Copyright 2010 by Andrew B. Newberg. Excerpted by permission of Ashgate.