Psychology of Superheroes: Mind Reading, Mirror Neurons, and Theology
What can superheroes teach us about being human? The Psychology of Superheroes is an interesting book that relates superhero powers to everyday human beings. In this video, Adam discusses the superhero power of mind reading. William Ickes, professor of psychology at the University of Texas in Arlington, claims that science is not able to prove humans can read other's minds the way superheroes can, but that we can infer what others are thinking. We can do that consciously when we listen and try to understand others, and when we interpret body language. We also infer what others are thinking and feeling through mirror neurons - nerve cells in the brain that fire when we perform an action and when we see others perform the action. Mirror neurons unconsciously mimic the actions other's perform - it's as if we are performing them too. What does all this mean for theology? Jesus, on the cross, says, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." The anthropological truth is that, because of mirror neurons, we are unconscious of many of the things we do. But Jesus offers a way of consciously offering forgiveness to others. Jesus offers forgiveness in imitation of God and invites us to do the same.
Experiencing God on Halloween
Adam discusses the theological and anthropological implications of Halloween. It is the day when it is socially acceptable to dress up and identify with what is socially unacceptable. One example is monsters. On Halloween we identify with our monsters. This is interesting because it is easy to identify others as monsters, but difficult to identify our own monstrous behavior and tendencies. The anthropologist René Girard states in his exploration of mimetic theory that humans have always formed community by uniting against a scapegoat. Archaic sacrificial religions functioned in a way to channel our internal conflicts onto another - our scapegoat. Jesus offers healing to the monsters of the world, including the monster within.
Theology and the SlutWalk Movement: God is a Slut
Adam discusses the SlutWalk Movement and theological implications. There are two different strands in the bible. One that says God is on the side of perpetrators of violence, and one that says God stands with the victims of violence. Jesus reveals that God even becomes a victim of human violence so that we might identify with the victims of human violence. God identifies with the SlutWalk movement, and with "sluts" because God identifies with the scapegoats of culture. One can even say that God is a slut because, in Jesus, God becomes the victim of human violence in order to transform our lives into lives of compassion, not accusation. And, when we get the sense that God has identified with us, our lives are no longer the same. We become transformed as we seek to care for our own body and other peoples' bodies.
For a summary of the SlutWalk Movement click here: http://slut-shaming.tumblr.com/post/6396171518/slutwalksummarised
For more commentary on the movement click here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/20/slutwalk-united-states-city_n_851725.html
The Civil War: Shaken Assurance
Today marks the 150th anniversary of the first shot fired in the American Civil War. It’s a difficult thing to try to make meaning out of an event of violence and brutality in which 620,000 Americans, more than 2% of the population, died from war wounds or disease. It’s more than difficult; when it comes to violence it’s dangerous because we tend to cling to meaningful things rather than let them fade away. When we say that the dying of some made freedom possible for others, the tragedy hardens into a necessity. What is better thought of as a catastrophe to have been avoided, becomes inspiring heroism to be imitated. Today in Charleston, South Carolina, Civil War re-enactors gathered at dawn to fire a starburst shell from an antebellum cannon over Charleston Harbor in effect, as the author Edward Ball remarks, “bombing Fort Sumter a second time.” At the same hour, sitting beneath nearby oaks, the Charleston Symphony played among other songs, “When Jesus Wept.” Perhaps he has not stopped weeping yet.
The Civil War is an ambivalent event and we human beings tend to shy away from ambivalence. We prefer surety, to know whether something was good or bad, to know for certain who the patriots and who the traitors were, who to honor and who to vilify. It’s a natural enough instinct, but I encourage you today to promise yourself that rather than run from the ambivalence, you will dare to step toward it. Perhaps I can recommend a place to start. There are three books I have read over the last several years that have shaped my attitudes and shaken my assurances. The first is a novel called The Night Inspector by Frederick Busch about a Union sniper whose face is so badly damaged in the war that he wears a mask as he haunts the streets of New York City. The second is a biography of Walt Whitman and his brothers, Now The Drum of War, by Robert Roper which is set in New York City and Washington, D.C. and allows us to glimpse the trials faced by this typical and exemplary American family.
Finally I recommend the insightful analysis of the causes of the war by Mark A. Noll, The Civil War as a Theological Crisis. Prof. Noll brings to light the religious dimensions of the conflict in a way that resonates with contemporary politics and international conflicts. The Raven Foundation is delighted to be partnering with the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton Theological Seminary for a conference on March 16 and 17, 2012 with Prof. Noll and Prof. Tracy McKenzie, a historian of the Civil War at Wheaton. As we mark the start of the four year national nightmare that was our civil war, I hope that we can journey together out of meaning-making and toward what comes next, something more honest perhaps, more courageous than anything we can yet imagine.