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AR 25:25 - Dishonest scholarship "to effect a revolution"
In this issue:
BUDDHISM - the academic "crossing over and coming back"
HISTORY - Zinn's fundamentally dishonest "tool to effect a revolution"
NEW AGE MOVEMENT - Reiki master finds the real deal
SCIENCE - a widespread religious understanding of science as portrayed by BBC television "would negatively impact democracy"
Apologia Report 25:25 (1,482)
June 24, 2020
BUDDHISM
Experiments in Buddhist-Christian Encounter: From Buddha-Nature to the Divine Nature, by Peter Feldmeier [1] -- our reviewer is Duane R. Bidwell (professor of practical theology, spiritual care, and counseling at Claremont School of Theology and board member of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies) who explains: "[T]his book does not try to synthesize the traditions or search for 'the hidden Christian message in Buddhism.' It also does not provide a theology of religions or a broad spiritual vision. It is a Christian text that seeks 'to help the reader enlarge her own soul', shedding light on a Christian spirituality of practice through dialogue with Buddhist wisdom. Feldmeier, professor of Catholic studies at the University of Toledo (Ohio), wants to discern whether dialogue with 'Buddhism enlarges our very sense of the sacred, of the cosmos, of ultimate things.'
"The answer, of course, is 'yes.'
"Feldmeier refuses to flatten religious differences while presuming 'that different religions, and in this case Buddhism and Christianity, are not so different, so incommensurable, that they cannot understand each other or learn from each other.' This search for mutual understanding and enrichment leads to compelling insights....
"Through rich developmental and ethical reflection, including attention to his own Christian satori, Feldmeier concludes that Zen overestimates the transformative power of enlightenment experiences. ...
"The book makes a distinct contribution to comparative theology by moving beyond text and doctrine to emphasize practice. ...
"Like most comparative theologians, Feldmeier uses 'crossing over and coming back' as a methodological strategy, stepping into the Buddhist tradition and then re-engaging Christianity in light of that exploration. Most chapters start with explication of Buddhist ideas and convictions, then examine analogous ideas from Christian theology and mysticism. Chapters close by comparing the two traditions. The book, unlike many works of comparative theology, does not examine discrete texts but engages 'larger themes or insights by means of comparing greater swaths of religious material.' This approach is one of the book's strengths; Feldmeier has remarkable facility not only with Christian mysticism but also with multiple Buddhist traditions from different historical eras...." Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality, 20:1 - 2020, <www.bit.ly/2YAXWmk>
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HISTORY
Debunking Howard Zinn: Exposing the Fake History That Turned a Generation Against America, by Mary Grabar [2] -- Terrell Clemmons' review explains that "After serving as a bombardier in World War II, [Zinn] studied history and politics on the GI Bill and then taught history at Spelman College in Atlanta, from which he was fired, and Boston University, where he remained until he retired in 1988.
"In 1980, he published his magnum opus, A People's History of the United States, [which] sold more than 2.5 million copies, and it's widely used in U.S. education. It's also appeared in such pop culture backdrops as The Sopranos, The Simpsons, and the History Channel documentary The People Speak."
Mary Grabar <www.marygrabar.com> is a resident fellow at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization <www.theahi.org> and the founder of the Dissident Prof Education Project <www.dissidentprof.com>. Amazon adds that "she taught at the college level for twenty years, most recently at Emory University." She is also a "daughter of escapees from Communism" according to Clemmons, who reports that Grabar "meticulously consults historical documents contemporaneous with the era's Zinn covers, along with many of Zinn's own cited references, and judges his accounts by the historiographical standards of the American Historical Association, [finding that] Zinn's work is more of a fraud than a work of scholarship.
"Grabar shows how A People's History is shot through with deceitful rhetorical tricks - selective quotations that twist the original meaning to its exact opposite, explicit rejection of historical balance, misuse of ellipses such that quotations are grossly distorted, and outright falsification. Was Columbus a genocidal maniac, as Zinn accused him of being? No, says Grabar. He defended Indians. Was the U.S. founded to protect white privilege and wealth? No, it was founded to protect liberty. Were the Viet Cong well-meaning community leaders advocating for Vietnamese self-rule? No, they were committed Communists backed by the Soviet Union. ...
"To his credit (sort of), Zinn made no pretense of objectivity, but rather openly espoused the use of history as a tool to effect a revolution. ... Debunking Howard Zinn is a long-overdue counter to Zinn's ideological weaponization of history, and fair-minded Americans would do well to brush up on actual history and set about recovering a sense of that identity before it's too late." Salvo, #51 - 2019, <www.bit.ly/2UE26ZK>
A recent textbook offering an alternative to Zinn's dark vision is Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story, by historian Wilfred M. McClay [3]. Its publisher's blurb affirms that "there is no necessary contradiction between an honest account of the American past and an inspiring one. This account seeks to provide both."
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NEW AGE MOVEMENT
"I Was a New-Age Healer. Then I Realized I Wasn't the One Doing the Healing. Why a Reiki master renounced her craft to follow Jesus" by Nicole Watt -- begins: "From the time I was a child, skipping along the creek bank to my grandparents' house, I felt I could sense (and at times see) what you could call the unseen or spirit world. ...
"As a teenager, I was curious about the supernatural realm, and I started satisfying that curiosity with books on the occult. I loved God, but I also nursed a disobedient streak. And even though the subject matter was frightening, I found myself gradually lured in. ...
"After enduring sexual abuse as a child and struggling with relationships, drinking, and rebellious impulses as a teenager, I longed for some means of empowerment and escape. And in later years I was drawn to the promise of self-healing and the opportunity to heal others.
"Looking back, I see how Satan was preparing me to be seduced by one of the greatest dangers of New Age thinking: the false promise of peace through spiritual enlightenment. ...
"In my mid-20s I began studying Reiki, a New Age healing technique that uses different symbols and hand positions to supposedly channel energy from the universe. (The term itself means 'universal life energy.') ... I committed myself to relinquishing the negativity within me - a bundle of old wounds, limiting beliefs, and fear - so that the universe's healing powers might flow unimpeded.
"During Reiki sessions, I met many people who were genuinely kind and caring, people who nurtured and loved me. But my conscience was never entirely at ease. Even though I wasn't following Jesus, my heart would cry out whenever I heard anyone ascribe their blessings to a nameless cosmos.
"By the time I became a Reiki master, I was also a mom living on my own. And as so many new parents can attest, the anxious and awestruck feelings of parenthood have a way of awakening interest in religion."
Well, that's the hook. To learn the conclusion, see Christianity Today, May/Jun '20, <www.bit.ly/2UIOZGq>
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SCIENCE
"Divine DNA? Secular and Religious Representations of Science in Non-Fiction Science Television Programs" by Will Mason-Wilkes -- from the abstract: "Through analysis of film sequences focusing on DNA in two British Broadcasting Corporation nonfiction science television programs [*Wonders of Life* <www.bbc.in/3e2q5t5> and <www.bbc.in/2B8TN1a> *Bang! Goes the Theory*] contrasting religious and secular representations of science are identified. In the religious portrayal, immutable scientific knowledge is revealed to humanity by nature with minimal human intervention. Science provides a creation story, explanatory omnicompetence, and makes life existentially meaningful. In the secular portrayal, scientific knowledge is changeable; is produced through technical skill in expert communities; and is ambiguous, potentially positive and negative for society. Television representations of science affect audience understandings, and this is particularly the case for nonfiction representations of science, as they are likely to be taken more seriously than fictional representations. The consequences of the religious representation of science are discussed, and it is argued that a widespread understanding of science as presented in the religious portrayal would negatively impact democracy." Zygon, 55:1 - 2020, <www.bit.ly/3hrPTB9>
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SIGNING OFF
An editorial in the summer issue (Jul/Sep 20, p2) of the Personal Freedom Outreach <pfo.org> Quarterly Journal announces that 40 years of publication will end with its fall edition. Kurt and Angela Goedelman and their stable of writer-researchers (notably G. Richard Fisher and J. Greg Sheryl) have given us all a faithful record, the value of which will endure for years to come. Thank you all for your hard work!
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SOURCES: Monographs
1 - Experiments in Buddhist-Christian Encounter: From Buddha-Nature to the Divine Nature, by Peter Feldmeier (Orbis, 2019, paperback, 261 pages) <www.amzn.to/3cYgYs9>
2 - Debunking Howard Zinn: Exposing the Fake History That Turned a Generation Against America, by Mary Grabar (Regnery, 2019, hardcover, 352 pages) <www.amzn.to/30GmSMa>
3 - Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story, by Wilfred M. McClay (Encounter, 2019, hardcover, 504 pages) <www.amzn.to/2NlobYQ>
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