The New Human Condition

The above title was the cover story of the USA Today back on March 9. I thought it was an interesting story and  shouldn’t be overlooked. The fact that almost all denominations are losing ground in recent surveys is an important one. People are becoming increasingly disassociated with traditional religious denominations, and instead turning towards their own understanding.

I think that this trend is a result of various factors, the most important of which is a sense that the existing religious groups have fallen behind in modern times. Not to single out the Catholic church, but I have written previously about their struggles to adapt to the modern age. When you couple out-dated religious traditions with a move toward individualism and self-gratification, people will start to drift away.

The most revealing fact about the USA Today survey was this: So many Americans claim no religion at all, that “no religion” is now the largest category in the U.S. besides Catholics and Baptists.

Overall, I don’t think that trend is necessarily a bad thing. If falling away from organized religions leads people to a new understanding of modern spirituality, we all may benefit.

Joe religion

I heard an interesting comment by someone today who was an obvious proponent of eating all organic food. She claimed that when you compared it to processed and non-organic foods that you can get at every grocery store, organic food tastes better, is better for you, and fills you up more than traditional foods. I agree with her on at least two of these points.

First off, I agree that organic food does taste better than traditional processed foods. Once you have tried organic broccoli or milk, or even eggs…you will never go back. These foods lack the “chemically” or “waxy” taste you often get with grocery store foods. A meal should be enjoyed, so really take the time to taste and enjoy what you are eating.

Second, organic foods are probably better for you in the long run. Consuming fewer growth hormones and chemicals will probably pay for itself in reduced healthcare costs over the course of your life. Non-organic foods usually contain trace amounts of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and preservatives to maintain their appearance. Organic foods may not always look as pretty, but you don’t need those excess chemicals in your system.

So the question is; Do organic foods fill you up quicker than traditional foods. The argument toward this is that the body can absorb organic food more efficiently and quicker than traditional counterparts. This is an interesting argument, and if true will only strengthen the move toward an organic diet.

In the meantime, the first two reasons for eating organic should be good enough

Joe Food and Nutrition Organic

“There is more to life than increasing its speed” -Mahatma Gandhi

This quote by Gandhi is something that I have to remind myself of each and every day. Usually I am always looking for ways to cram more activities into a single day. Usually…it doesn’t work. I end up doing everything I possibly can, and still have things left that will need to roll over to tomorrow. This cycle tends to continue day to day, slowly increasing my stress levels over the course of the week.

I have written previously about taking some time out of your day to focus on the spiritual side of life, whether you take time for meditation, prayer, or just taking a few seconds to relax and enjoy life. This is something I know I need to improve on myself, and I’m guessing most people today would benefit from as well. It’s important to take time every day to acknowledge the spiritual side of your personality, and take a look at the world around you and realize what an awesome place it really is.

Joe Spirituality Time Management

I recently finished Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Since then, I have completely changed the way I view the food system here in the U.S.

This book basically traces different meals available to Americans, from the most basic ingredients to our table.

The first section, Industrial Corn, goes into detail (maybe more than I wanted to know) about how much corn is a part of our diet today. The whole industrial food system is forcing corn derivatives into everything we eat, changing a cow’s diet, etc. Government policies have basically turned farming into “MAKING MEAT AT THE FEEDLOT”. Think for a second about the cow’s that we eat…they could not survive without all the hormones and antibiotics that they are pumped with. By themselves they are just not healthy enough to survive. Think about that next time…you are eating something that is not healthy enough to survive on its own.

Besides exposing more unpleasant and unsavory things about our modern food system, Pollard makes a great case for eating locally, whether or not that means organic. Eating locally allows you to know exactly where your food came from, what went into making it, etc. Being closer to the food you choose to put into your body can only be a positive thing.

There have only been two times in my life when I’ve thought about becoming a vegetarian. The first was after watching a video on mad cow disease (absolutely awful), and the second was after reading this book. And as most of you don’t know me, I’ll just tell you that I used to be the biggest carnivore in the world. My diet consisted mostly of carbs and proteins, and not much else. Now I am making an active effort to eat less in general, and to eat more fruits and vegetables obtained locally. There are several farmers markets where I live, and I try to buy most of my fresh food from there. I can talk to the farmers and meet them face to face. In my opinion the slightly higher cost (sometimes it is actually the same or cheaper), is definitely worth being able to follow my food from its beginning to my plate.

I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the food system, or just eating healthier in general. It really did change the way I look at what I am putting in my body.

Joe Book Review Omnivores Dilemma

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

Part One: Paradigms and Principles

Inside/Out

The first chapter of this book focuses on perception and how it affects our understanding. Covey writes that our perception is filtered through idiosyncratic lenses. These lenses are conditioned by our experiences. If we’ve been raised to value sporting success, we will be dissappointed if our child is not good at sports. We will subconsciously patronize him and make him feel inferior. If that child has good musical talent, we may be unable to see it because our “lens” is not focused on that area. Covey says we must adjust our lens in order to understand other ideas. In order to do this, we must become aware of our lens. It is kind of like curing alcoholism. The first step in recovery is becoming aware that you’re an alcoholic.

Once we become aware of our conditioned perceptions, we can change our paradigm. A paradigm is a type of map we impose on the world we experience. For instance, we all have different paradigms of attractive women or men. You can say beauty is in the paradigm of the beholder. Covey cites the historical paradigm shift sparked by Copernicus. Before Copernicus, the human race imagined the universe centered around the earth. After Copernicus, our paradigm, or map, of the universe shifted. From then on, all areas of science used the new map (paradigm) to analyze physical phenomena. Covey calls these paradigm shifts “aha” moments. These are moments when we adjust our lens in order to understand the truth more fully. These “aha” moments happen all the time. When we experience the loss of a loved one, we suddenly realize the fragility of life and more fully understand our mortality. Our lens is adjusted.

A lot of our problems are caused by blaming outside factors. “I’m upset because I can’t teach my son to hit a baseball.” Covey says we should look within (or at our lens) to locate the real problem. We aren’t upset because our son can’t hit a baseball. We’re upset because we value sporting excellence so greatly. If we realized this, we would be able to accept that fact and move on a lot more quickly to what our son is good at. We must look at our value system (lens) every time we become upset. Ask yourself why you’re upset. The answer should be your value system. Our value system changes with experience. It changes quicker if we become aware that it is the cause of our frustrations.

Here’s a quote by Cecil B. deMille that Covey uses that illuminates this chapter:

“It is impossible for us to break the law. We can only break ourselves against the law.”

The truth is out there and we must change our perception in order to see it. Changing others won’t help us get closer to reality, changing ourselves will.

Joe Book Review The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Today at lunch, I was catching up on my National Geographic magazine. (I have a tendency to let them pile up for a few months before I get a chance to go through them all). Something I saw in the January 2008 issue really made me think…

The article was about our “high-tech trash”, meaning our old computer equipment, tv’s, cell phones, etc…and where they end up when we throw them away. Sadly, the answer is in third world countries like Ghana, Thailand, Pakistan, and the poorer regions of India and China. Out of all the hierarchies in the world, I didn’t realize that one existed in trash as well. Many things that we use and then discard here in the U.S. gets shipped overseas to a landfull. That way the hazardous materials and chemicals in many electronic devices are no longer our problem…(out of sight, out of mind huh?). This picture really got to me:

This photo by Peter Essick, a National Geographic photographer, shows a boy carrying used copper wiring he had pulled out of the garbage to sell for scrap. Oftentimes the wires are burned to remove the protective coverings. These fires release toxic chemicals into the environment and into the bodies of people collecting these type of things.

Can you imagine that this boy is going through our garbage to find some scrap metal to sell? The contrast between our lifestyle and his is enormous. I cannot even imagine having to do the job that this young boy is doing. But next time I will think twice about where my trash is going…

 I’m going to do another post on poverty and the disparity between developed and developing nations. Look for it soon.

Joe Culture Poverty

Religion and Capitalism don’t mix. In Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, he conceives of “The Invisible Hand:”

…every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was no part of it. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good.

What Smith is saying is that the economy is structured in such a way that takes advantages of selfish interests. If a company wants to excel, they must improve upon a product or invent a new one that more appeals to the consumer. By doing this, the company is pursuing selfish interests (money) and also improving society by creating more convenient products. That is how capitalism proceeds.

 This being said, the invisible hand has grabbed religion and tossed it aside. It is non-conducive to the economy. The invisible hand and capitalism are so focused on gaining an edge that they bombard the market with new product that seem to be improving exponentially.

 People have so many distractions, they lose focus on religion. They have been catered to by the invisible hand and their lives have become too comfortable. They are distracted (attention deficits) and there are so many alluring alternatives to focus their attention on.

 The bottom line is this: Capitalism, moved by the invisible hand, diverts our attention from religion.

Joe Culture, religion Adam Smith, Capitalism

Music and culture are linked at the deepest of levels.

First, we must understand music. Music occurs when sound waves interact with the ear and are transferred into a pattern of neurological impulses. A sound wave can take an infinite number of forms. Some have long wavelengths and some have short wavelengths. Some have high amplitude, some have low amplitude. A hard rock song has short wavelengths and high amplitude. A soft rock song has longer wavelenths and lower amplitude.

Now, let’s look at African tribal music. It is based on the drum. Tribal life relies on the music of the drum. To prepare for a war, they will play short wavelength music to energize the people. For everyday mundane activities (like planting crops) they don’t play the war music because the workers would lose energy quicker. Therefore, they play longer wavelength music to preserve energy for the work.

How does this relate to Spirituality? Because it illustrates that music can effect our mindset and behavior. Vladimir Lenin is a famous example of this. He was an ardent fan of Beethoven’s Appassionata but realized that it made him too soft to conduct a revolution. So he stopped listening to it:

“. . . but I cannot listen to music too often. It affects my nerves and makes me want to say sweet nothings and stroke the heads of men who live in a dirty hell and can still create such beauty. But these days you can’t go around stroking people’s heads lest your hand be bitten off. You have to smash them over the head—smash them without mercy—even though in theory we are against every form of oppression of mankind . . . ours is a hellish task.” (TIME, July 7, 1947)

 Buddhist monks chant to prepare themselves for meditation. Lenin would have outlawed chanting because he needed action, not meditation.

Just look at the origins of certain types of music. Blues music originated with slaves trying to pass the time. When individual Blues musicians wrote their own songs, they reflected the opressed nature of their existence. Look at Hip Hop. The violence in Hip Hop reflects the violence of the ghetto culture.

If everybody’s iPod had Beethoven’s Apassionata on it, the world would be a happier place. If everybody had Blues on their iPod, the world would be a drearier place. If everybody had violent Hip Hop on their iPod, the world would be a more violent place.

We have to learn to control music. Like the Primitive Tribes have already done. They understand the power of music and use it to guide their lives. They had a balance that appears impossible to replicate in modern society.

If you have any other ideas about the role of music, please share it with us. Thanks.

Joe Culture Beethoven, Blues, Hip Hop, Lenin, Wisdom

I wanted to write this in response to my previous post. While I do agree that the Catholic Church is in a state of decline, I don’t think it is out of touch with modern-day society, In fact, the Church today may play a more important role than ever before.

History

Catholicism was never a religion of convenience or comfort. It has a somewhat strict moral code, and a tremendously strong hierarchy formed on religious power and faith. The Catholic Church has helped to shape the course of mankind, influencing political and religious decisions for centuries.

It is only recently that the Church has found itself struggling, both with financial and spiritual issues. The sexual abuse scandal was an event that will tarnish the Church’s reputation for many more years. These past few years have also seen a decline in the number of parishioners, forcing many churches to consolidate or close entirely. There is also a shortage of men entering the priesthood, as well as women entering the sisterhood.

Future

I don’t think that the Catholic Church is as out of touch with modern society as most people think. I merely think that as an organized religious body, the church is slower to react to change, particularly the speed at which our culture is currently evolving. I believe that Catholics will need to adapt to certain issues while retaining the tradition and sense of ceremony that they have formed through the ages.

Here are some things that I think the Catholic Church should consider:

• Releasing some of the long-held moral traditions which have become out-of-date, particularly the restriction on birth control. The Catholic Church considers any form of birth control to be a sin, even between married couples. This is something that very few couples in the church follow, as it is simply not practical to keep having children until it is biologically impossible.
• Allow priests to marry. This is a heavily debated issue in the church today. Allowing priests to serve the church as well as their family would open the vocation up to many men who had previously ruled it out because they wanted to raise a family
• Aggressively pursue teenagers and young adults during the high school and college years. I feel that this is generally the time during which men and women raised in the Church choose to fall away from it (this is what happened to me). Perhaps they feel disconnected with the older doctrines, or with the other parishioners who generally tend to be middle-age or older. Making an extra effort to include them in worship or in youth groups could help provide a place for this age group.
• Allowing women to lead the Church. Honestly, I don’t think this will ever happen. And I’m not sure what the consequences would be either way, but it is something that should at least be considered as the Church moves forward

Role of the Catholic Church

Despite the perception as being “out-of-touch” with society, the Catholic Church still plays a role in the formation of faith. I have examined how different spiritual paths are right for different people, and Catholicism is an important avenue for millions of people worldwide.

I doubt that the Church will continue to decline, it might just need to examine itself further, and begin to adapt.

Joe Culture, Spirituality, religion Catholicism

Everybody is aware of the declining number of priests, nuns and other Catholic offices. But why? There are several reasons.

The Catholic doctrine was created by the oppressed jews under Roman control. The rhetoric in the bible is that of tolerance. Turn the other cheek, etc. That was useful under oppression. If you were to fight back and not turn the other cheek, you would create turmoil and more reason for the people in charge (Rome) to oppress you. Throughout history, the most devout periods of Catholicism have come during oppressive times. The World Wars, The Middle Ages, etc. We find more devout Catholics in ghettos than we do in suburbs. We find them in rural areas rather than cities. That being said, the overall standard of living is less and less oppressive than it has been in the past. Technology now affords distractions from harsh realities. People no longer yearn for the comfort that Catholicism offers. The TV provides it for them.

Catholicism and modern society are clashing. Abortion and gay rights are more prevalent now than in any other time. Advances in science have made abortion less deadly and more convenient for women. Science has also shown that being gay is not a choice but is a psychological pathos. Science has made it harder for people to follow the “true” doctrine.

The sex scandals among priests have created a lack of trust that was once pivotal for communities. Priests used to be next to the father in terms of being a role model for the son. Priests are now approached with some caution. People argue that the vow of chastity is unreasonable. Men want to have sexual relations with women. That is natural. When they are placed in a circumstance (priesthood) that suppresses that, their sexual desires become perverted. Men are turned away from priesthood because they do not want to remain chaste. That leaves less priests. Less priests means less influence. Less influence is part of the decline we are seeing.

I’m sure there are other reasons for the decline of the Catholic Church but these are the ones that come to mind. Any other insights would be greatly appreciated.

I want it to be known that Catholicism offers very wise precepts and that Jesus was a truly great man. I’m only pointing out what I percieve to be a decline in interest.

Joe Culture, Spirituality, religion Catholicism