Over at The Atlantic, Andrew Bacevich has penned an incisive piece on the American military-industrial complex and the metaphysic required to sustain it. As is true of the metaphysics that sustain most “world religions,” this one is grounded in fear:
This national-security state derived its raison d’être from — and vigorously promoted a belief in — [...]
Tags:amygdala·Andrew Bacevich·avoidance·C. Wright Mills·control·false consciousness·fear·habit·hegemony·invisible·Jean Comaroff·John Comaroff·metaphysics·military metaphysics·military-industrial complex·nationalism·Of Revelation and Revolution·phobia·The Power Elite·vertebrate evolution·world religions
Yet another study has been published which demonstrates that the placebo effect is real and powerful. But the difference in this study is it did not involve deception — the patients were told they were being given a placebo and still had improved health effects!
In “Placebo Effects and Shamanic Healing,” I explored the connection between [...]
Tags:illusions·outcomes·Paleolithic·placebo·placebo effect·Placebos without Deception·Rick James·shamanic healing·Ted Kaptchuk
We have an extraordinary person living amongst us; she goes by the initials SM and suffers from a rare condition that has severely damaged her amygdala. She has been working with a group of neuroscientists who have just published a fascinating paper on her fear responses, or lack thereof.
The amygdala is an evolutionarily ancient brain [...]
Tags:amygdala·Antonio Damasio·brain·brain damage·Current Biology·damnation·Daniel Tranel·demons·devils·emotions·fear·fear response·Justin Feinstein·Ralph Adolphs·retribution·SM
In the preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde uses a character from Shakespeare’s Tempest to comment on 19th century disgust, a moral emotion:
The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass. The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not [...]
Tags:Answers in Genesis·Caliban·CNN·disgust·Islam·moral emotions·morals·Oscar Wilde·Paul Refsdal·rage·Shakespeare·Taliban·The Picture of Dorian Gray·The Tempest
While reading Lisa Miller’s alarming (and depressing) article “One Nation Under God,” I was cheered because it triggered memories of one of all my all-time favorite films, Fear of a Black Hat — a cult classic comedy that chronicles the rise and fall of the mythical rap group “N.W.H.”
I am not sure what triggered this [...]
Tags:American exceptionalism·fear·Fear of a Black Hat·hip hop·Lisa Miller·mockumentary·nationalism·NWH·One Nation Under God·rap·religious right·siege mentality
Over at LiveScience, Stephanie Pappas reports on a study which shows that while religious people generally are more satisfied with their lives, this satisfaction is linked to the social networking and circles of friends that many develop as a result of participating in religious activities. The satisfaction does not appear to be linked in any significant [...]
Tags:Chaeyoon Lim·Facebook·happiness·life satisfaction·primates·Robert Putnam·sociality·Stephanie Pappas·theology
Frank Schaeffer, son of famed evangelical theologian Francis Schaeffer, connects the religious, cultural, and political knots in this spooky assessment of end times lunacy. As a former insider, his knowledge of such beliefs is considerable. There are few emotions more powerful — or easily played — than fear.
Tags:end times·evangelicals·fear·Francis Schaeffer·Frank Schaeffer·Hal Lindsey·Jerry Jenkins·Left Behind·paranoia·Pentecostals·Revelations·Tim LaHaye·victimization
Marc Hauser, as many know, is a prominent psychologist at Harvard who is well known for research into primate cognition and the evolution of morality. Many may also know that he has been accused of research misconduct in a very public (and one-sided) way. It has truly been unfortunate not only for the people involved, [...]
Tags:due process·ethics·evolution of morality·evolutionary psychology·Harvard·Kafkaesque·Marc Hauser·morality·morality without religion·morals·Nicholas Wade·primate cognition·prosocial behavior·research misconduct
Though I have yet to view a single episode of PBS’ five part series “God in America,” I have been catching comments here and there which suggest it is worth watching. My avoidance to date is born of studied tedium — how much Cotton Mather and Ken Burns can one take in a lifetime?
Our correspondent [...]
Tags:Al-Qaeda·American evangelism·apocalypse·apocalyptic·artificial threats·atheism·Billy Graham·Brumaire·Cold War·communism·Cotton Mather·Dwight Eisenhower·farce·fear based religion·Fox News·God in America·Hegel·Karl Marx·Ken Burns·military-industrial complex·Osama bin Laden·PBS·politics of fear·propaganda·Puff Graham·Rupert Murdoch·Soul of a Nation·tragedy·Wall Street Journal·William Randolph Hearst
Anyone studying religion will sooner or later read Sigmund Freud’s classic, The Future of an Illusion (1927). I was engaged in my fifth reading today and came across this passage:
Thus I must contradict you when you go on to argue that men are completely unable to do without the consolation of the religious illusion, that [...]
Tags:atheism·fear·helplessness·lack of telos·loss of parents·loss of protection·meaninglessness·neurosis·religious delusion·religious illusion·replacement with god·secular·secularization·separation anxiety·Sigmund Freud·The Future of an Illusion
