10AR15-09

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Apologia Report 15:9 (1,014)

March 9, 2010

Subject: Contemporary ethics and the $300K dog rescue

In this issue:

ETHICS - the $300K dog rescue

LEWIS, C.S. - the "the first full-length critical study of Lewis'

apologetics," revised and updated "on every point"

NEW AGE MOVEMENT - new developments in the ill-advised search for Maitreya

YOGA - religious expression from yoga's most influential voice in the West?

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ETHICS

Shankar Vedantam tells the story of Hokget, a terrier left behind in a burning tanker, the Insiko, 750 miles from Hawaii in 2002. The dog survived, being rescued a month and a half later, due to the

compassion of many who learned of his plight thanks to the Hawaii Humane Society.

As the account goes, authorities lost track of the ship between the time that the crew managed to escape and when news of Hokget's abandonment began to catch the attention of the media. As Vedantam explains, "Something about a lost dog on an abandoned ship in the Pacific gripped people's imaginations. Money poured in to fund a rescue. Donations eventually arrived from 39 states and four foreign countries. One check was for $5,000. ... "Two Humane Society officers set off into the Pacific on a tugboat called the American Quest. The Society paid $48,000 to a private company called American Marine to look for the ship. ...

"The Coast Guard finally agreed to access $250,000 in U.S. taxpayer funds to recover the Insiko. It wasn't officially called an

animal-rescue effort. Instead it was authorized under the Oil Spill

Liability Trust Fund, based on the argument that if the aimless Insiko managed to drift westward for 250 straight miles, it might run aground on Johnston Atoll and harm marine life.

"The American Quest was called up again - this time funded by

taxpayers - to rescue Hokget." End of story.

Vedantam's article is titled "The Problem of Human Compassion" (and "The little dog lost at sea" in the online version noted below). In it Vedantam refers to the outspoken pro-euthanasia ethicist Peter Singer who asks if most of us would risk ruining $200-worth of clothes to rescue a drowning child, then "why do large numbers of people hesitate to write checks for $200 to a reputable charity that could save the life of a child halfway around the world - when there are millions of children who need our help?

"The answer [writes Vedantam] is that our moral responsibilities

feel different in these situations; one situation feels visceral, the

other abstract. ...

"I want to offer a disturbing idea. The reason human beings seem to care so little about mass suffering and death is precisely because the suffering is happening on a mass scale. The brain is simply not very good at grasping the implications of mass suffering. ... We are best able to respond when we are focused on a single victim. ... "We respond to mass suffering in much the same way that we respond to most things in our lives. We fall back on rules of thumb, on feelings, on intuitions. ... Humans are the only species that is even aware of large-scale suffering taking place in distant lands; the moral telescope in our brain has not had a chance to evolve and catch up with our technological advances. Our conscious minds can tell us that it is absurd to spend a boatload of money to save one life when the same money could be used to save 10. But in moral decision-making, it is the hidden brain that usually carries the day." (The article is adapted from Vedantam's new book, The Hidden Brain [1].) The Week, Feb 19 '10, pp40-41. <www.tinyurl.com/y9cxyd9>

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LEWIS, C.S.

C.S. Lewis and the Search for Rational Religion, by John Beversluis [2] -- Beversluis is described as "a former Christian who studied at Calvin College [and] tutored Christian thinkers such as Alvin Plantinga and Nicholas Welterstoff." In its 1985 first edition, this book was "the first full-length critical study of C.S. Lewis' apologetics." In the introduction to its recent revision, being reviewed here by John Loftus (founder of the blog www.debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com), "Beversluis claims 'this is ... a very different book that supersedes the first edition on every point.' According to [Beversluis], 'Part of my purpose in this book is to show, by means of example after example, the extent to which the apparent cogency of [Lewis'] arguments depends on his rhetoric rather than on his logic.... Once his arguments are stripped of their powerful rhetorical content, their apparent cogency largely vanishes and their apparent persuasiveness largely evaporates. ... In short, my purpose in this book is not just to show that Lewis' arguments are flawed. I also want to account for their apparent plausibility and explain why they have managed to convince so many readers.' Additionally, Beversluis tells us, 'I will reply to my critics and examine their attempts to reformulate and defend his arguments, thereby responding not only to Lewis but to the whole Lewis movement - that cadre of expositors, popular apologists and philosophers who continue to be inspired by him and his books." Philosophy Now, Jul/Aug '09, pp38-39.

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NEW AGE MOVEMENT

Just when we thought that perhaps the buzz had died out, an old target of New Age conspiracy theorists, Benjamin Creme (the leader of Share International "who is also known as the Master"), has found his way into the news again. At present, the story is even more bizarre. According to Scott James' February 5 New York Times article, "In Internet Era, an Unwilling Lord for New Age Followers," Creme proclaimed the arrival of Maitreya, the New Age messiah, on January 14. However, Creme didn't give many specifics, only "clues." Since then, New Age followers have taken on the identity challenge and have apparently settled on someone who finds the idea of being the Maitreya less than attractive.

The unwilling target is Raj Patel, "A native of London now living

on Potrero Hill in San Francisco [who] suddenly finds himself an

unlikely object of worship, proclaimed the messiah Maitreya. ...

"He was raised as a Hindu and had never heard of the group. He has no desire for deification." James adds: "I have known Mr. Patel for four years - he keeps an office down the hall from mine. He is charming, and ... a graduate of Oxford, Cornell University and the London School of Economics...." Prior to his unexpected and unwanted appointment by New Age messiah hunters, Patel's main claim to notoriety was an economics book that he recently published. <www.tinyurl.com/y9h4n9a>

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YOGA

For those who are inclined to think that yoga is not religious, we

submit for consideration an object lesson from the March 2010 issue of Yoga Journal. The contents listing on page six recommends "a sacred prayer to Krishna." This brief item, "Blessed Be" by Christopher D. Wallis (page 50), is focused on a four-word sanskrit mantra that is said to be "popular among all those who worship the Divine in the form of Krishna." It ends: "When we offer our reverence (namo) to a particular form of the Divine in this way, we open ourselves and our lives to its blessing."

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SOURCES: Monographs

1 - The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, and Save Our Lives, by Shankar Vedantam (Spiegel & Grau, 2010, hardcover, 288 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/yjrewks>

2 - C.S. Lewis and the Search for Rational Religion (Revised and

Updated), by John Beversluis (Prometheus, 2007, paperback, 363 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/yfjl6wf>

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