09AR14-05
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Apologia Report 14:5
February 5, 2009
Subject: Utne Reader on "The Mind Control Myth"
In this issue:
DEPROGRAMMING - an introduction to the academic debate over brainwashing
EVANGELISM - new book a robust response to inclusivism
NEO-PAGANISM - Cal Beisner on Deep Ecology and "the irrationalism of global warming hysteria"
ROMAN CATHOLICISM - "solid foundation from which to grasp contemporary Catholicism" hailed by reviewers
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DEPROGRAMMING
"The Mind Control Myth: Is brainwashing all wet?" by Miriam Karmel Feldman -- uses the 1962 film The Manchurian Candidate as a starting point and notes that "the year before it was released, two studies lent credibility to the idea of brainwashing. Robert Jay Lifton's Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism [1] and Edgar Schein's Coercive Persuasion [2] explained how mind control, or brainwashing, is achieved....
"In the intervening years, brainwashing has been invoked to explain any number of disturbing incidents, from the mass suicide by poisoned Kool-Aid at Jonestown to the eerie deaths of 39 Heaven's Gate members.... And brainwashing has been used in less sensational instances - to explain, for example, why children of the middle class routinely renounce family, friends, and often fortune after becoming Moonies or Scientologists."
Feldman asks: "[C]an brainwashing really explain the behavior of individuals who join cults or 'new religious movements,' which is now the preferred term? That question has polarized scholars in a bitter academic debate...." She briefly reviews the history of the debate and notes the "recent furor in the academy ... sparked by Rutgers University sociology professor Benjamin Zablocki's defense of brainwashing published in Nova Religio ...."
If you are looking for closure, don't hold your breath. "The academics are still debating that question. They may conclude that it is a matter of semantics." Utne Reader, Jan 27 '09. <www.tinyurl.com/bp5xsf>
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EVANGELISM
The more politically incorrect it becomes to believe that Jesus is the only Way, the more complicated it becomes to defend this traditional belief. Robert Velarde reviews an important new resource in this area, Faith Comes by Hearing: A Response to Inclusivism, edited by Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson [3]. The book "consists primarily of a series of essays contributed by nine scholars, including the editors." Its approach is to anticipate the questions about inclusivism that believers can expect to deal with while involved in evangelism. The authors also demonstrate that "contemporary inclusivism is too intricate a theological system" to expect that a simple reference to John 14:6 will provide a satisfactory response.
Velarde (Associate Editor of Apologia Report) employs a portion of the book to provide this helpful clarification: "Not to be confused with universalism or religious pluralism, which posit ultimate 'salvation' for all, inclusivism 'is the view that, although Jesus is the only savior of the world, one does not have to believe the gospel to be saved.' It is in contrast to exclusivism, 'the view that Jesus Christ is the only Savior of the world and that one must believe God's special revelation that culminates in the gospel of Christ in order to be saved.'"
How thorough is the book? Velarde declares it "a robust defense of exclusivism useful for apologists, theologians, and the layperson." Christian Research Journal, 31:6 - 2009, pp39-40.
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NEO-PAGANISM
Last week we noted two papers available from the web site of Cal Beisner. Another paper of his, part of the same collection, is "Deep Ecology, Neo-Paganism, and the Irrationalism of Global Warming Hysteria." In it, Beisner argues that "global warming alarmism ... rests on religious foundations that are anything but historically Christian." In support of this Beisner describes a personal encounter that he had with Mary Evelyn Tucker, a Senior Lecturer and Senior Scholar at Yale University.
Beisner points to a fundamental difference in the meaning of terms between Christian and Neo-pagan thought as a key to the conflict he addresses in the paper. "The very concept of spirit as incorporeal mind, 'thinking thing,' as Descartes called it, is being replaced by a new concept of spirit. In historic Christian thought, the distinction between spirit and matter/energy plays a part in the distinction between God and creation that guards against pantheism. But in neo-paganism, both of those distinctions break down. And their breakdown contributes to the irrationalism of neo-paganism, including its understanding of ecology and the environment.
"I would like in this lecture to discuss how embracing the world view of neo-paganism and deep ecology leads many in the global warming debate to remarkably irrational tactics in carrying on the debate." First he provides a "brief sketch of deep ecology." Then he turns to "more specific interaction with a particular representative of deep ecologist, neo-pagan thought [namely] Sallie McFague, professor of theology and former dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School."
Beisner contends that neo-paganism "presents itself as a form of spirituality and as saying much about spirit and spirits, but in the final analysis it is only metaphysical materialism rechristened - and, as we shall see, shed of the Enlightenment rationality it borrowed from historic Christianity." Beisner thus aims to demonstrate "the irrationalism, the self-refutation, of postmodernism and neo-paganism." <www.tinyurl.com/asybwz>.
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ROMAN CATHOLICISM
It seems that we rarely come across outstanding resources to help Protestants understand Catholics. A notable exception is What Happened at Vatican II, by John W. O'Malley [4]. Publishers Weekly (Jul '08, n.p.) explains: "From 1961 to 1965, the world closely watched the proceedings of Vatican II, the Catholic Church's council on the condition and future of the faith. Georgetown historian O'Malley presents the most thorough account of the proceedings of the council itself, from the time it was declared in 1959 until its conclusion in 1965, fulfilling the book's title. O'Malley gives a thorough and detailed history of the event, situating it in the longer history of the church and previous councils. But the bulk of the book concerns the characters and controversies of Vatican II itself, 'the biggest meeting in the history of the world.' Though challenged by a conservative minority, the progressive majority of Vatican II reoriented and refashioned the Catholic Church: opening it to ecumenical relations, declaring its support for religious liberty and ending the practice of the Latin Mass. Infusing the council was the spirit of aggiornamento - Italian for 'updating.' O'Malley shows how Vatican II allowed the church to modernize while also remaining true to its traditions and convictions."
Library Journal (Oct 1 '08, n.p.) adds: "The Roman Catholic Church is nearing the 50th anniversary of the opening of Vatican II, a council that unquestionably had profound influences both ecclesiastically and in society at large. This book is an absolutely brilliant recapitulation of the council, an insightful analysis of its proceedings and conclusions, and a solid foundation from which to grasp contemporary Catholicism. The clearly written and accessible text explores and summarizes the historical underpinnings of Vatican II while explaining modern influences and trends. A priest, O'Malley (University Professor, Georgetown Univ.) invites readers to experience uniquely the dynamic movements of the four-year council. Relying on source documents and the divergent positions of particular bishops, O'Malley creates a vivid account that enables readers to experience Vatican II firsthand 50 years on. His is not a commentary on Vatican II but an interpretative analysis, balanced and grounded, of the modern world's most significant gathering of Catholic bishops. It is truly a text of today, employing the added benefit of hindsight. The book includes a chronology, biographical descriptions of cited council fathers, an expanded notes section, and a helpful index. O'Malley's own Four Cultures of the West [5] is a wonderful companion to this title. Highly recommended for all libraries. - John Leonard Berg, Univ. of Wisconsin-Platteville Lib."
Even Choice (Feb '09, n.p.) calls it a "lucid, coherent assessment of the Second Vatican Council, O'Malley (Georgetown) provides background on past general councils and current issues confronting Catholicism; he addresses annual sessions separately, prior to a concluding chapter. O'Malley looks at issues and personalities. ... O'Malley addresses both sides of the issues debated in Rome, providing readers with some sense of the minority's zeal for doctrine and discipline and the majority's pastoral concerns. He treats the crucial issue of language - not so much Latin versus the vernacular, as dialectical precision displaced in the documents by a pastoral rhetoric rooted in scripture and the fathers of the early Church. ... Overall, O'Malley sees the council as achieving much but failing to implement collegiality by restructuring the Roman curia to be more responsive to the episcopate. His most negative prose, however, is reserved for procedural muddles that, as much as debates over issues, help explain the drama of the council as it confronted contemporary challenges. Summing Up: Highly recommended."
A substantial review by The Washington Post's Michael Novak is found on Amazon.com via the link in the book's related source-note below.
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Sources, Monographs:
1 - Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of Brainwashing in China, by Robert Jay Lifton (Univ N. Carolina Prs, 1989, paperback, 528 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/am422s>
2 - Coercive Persuasion: A Socio-psychological Analysis of the "Brainwashing" of American Civilian Prisoners, by the Chinese Communists by Edgar H. Schein, by Edgar Schein (W. W. Norton, 1971, paperback, 320 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/d2jq62>
3 - Faith Comes by Hearing: A Response to Inclusivism, edited by Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson (IVP, Mar 30 '08, paperback, 270 pages <www.tinyurl.com/c6anra>
4 - What Happened at Vatican II, by John W. O'Malley (Belknap, 2008, hardcover, 400 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/dxdfm5>
5 - The Four Cultures of the West, by John W. O'Malley (Belknap, 2006, paperback, 272 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/bwttsj>
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