“Spirituality”

March 27, 2016 • 11:00 am

A question I’m often asked is this: “What do you think about ‘spirituality’?” My response is this: the term is so elastic that it can stretch to cover everything from traditional religious belief to simple awe before the beauty of landscapes, music, or great art. Since the word has been so often co-opted—most notoriously by the Rice University sociologist Elaine Ecklund—to pretend that those who see themselves as “spiritual” can be lumped in with religionists, I prefer to avoid the term completely. “Emotionality before ______” (fill in item here) covers it pretty well.  If you must use the term, or say that you’re “spiritual,” define what you mean immediately and precisely.

So here, from College Humor, is The Church for People Who are Spiritual but Not Religious.

Morgan Freeman’s “The Story of God” continues its pandering to believers

March 27, 2016 • 10:00 am

This is part of Morgan Freeman’s series “The Story of God” that begins on Sunday, April 3, on the National Geographic channel. (See my previous post on this series, which appears to be involved in heavy osculation of faith.) The title of this video that National Geographic chose is “Morgan Freeman Examines the Afterlife in Jerusalem,” which already tells you that it’s hardly unbiased. Have a gander at a tomb that the show describes as the “historically credible” resting place of Jesus. The archaeologist is a real Jesus enthusiast. (Apparently the term “mythicist” isn’t in the show’s vocabulary.)

Here’s PuffHo‘s puffery:

Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre is believed to be the site where Jesus was both crucified and buried. Due to the prominence of those events in the Christian gospel, celebrated during the Holy Week leading up to Easter, the site has long been a place of pilgrimage for Christians around the world.

Actor Morgan Freeman recently made his own pilgrimage to the revered site for the upcoming National Geographic Channel series, “The Story of God with Morgan Freeman.” In the clip above, the actor visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and discusses its history with archaeologist Jodi Magness.

“You can really feel the energy here,” Freeman says in the clip. “This spot is the focus of so much devotion.”

Magness explains to Freeman that in Jesus’ time, Jews buried their dead in underground burial caves, much like the one beneath the church. Christian gospel recounts that Jesus was buried outside the walls of Jerusalem, which the church was at the time of Jesus’s death.

“In some places I found answers, and others led to more questions,” Freeman said in a press release. “The constant through it all is that we’re all looking to be part of something bigger than us. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that we certainly are.”

You can feel the energy there—if you’re already a believer. I doubt it would do much for me. Nor of course does the film express any doubt whether Jesus lived, or whether he was in some sense a holy figure. The stuff about the film “leading to more questions” is, of course, standard boilerplate, but if by “we are certainly part of something bigger than us,” Freeman means something divine, then he’s simply making stuff up.

Readers’ wildlife photos

March 27, 2016 • 9:00 am

Happy Easter! The good news is that I had crispy dosas with coconut chutney for breakfast. The bad news is: you didn’t.

Once again, as I head out to the airport, this time for Bhubaneswar, I’ve received some photos from Stephen Barnard.

Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) this morning, just across the creek. I’m hoping they nest here. They’ve been hanging out. Their chicks, called colts, are super cute.

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And enjoy this classic Easter LOL:

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Sunday: Hili dialogue

March 27, 2016 • 6:00 am

by Grania

Good morning, and happy festival of the fertility goddess to you. Whether you are going to be knee deep in chocolate bunnies and children; or are just having a tranquil Sunday; I hope it is a good one for you.

Over in Poland, Hili is rejecting all the rites of the burgeoning spring and sticking with what she likes.

EASTER
A: Do you want an egg for beakfast?
Hili: No eggs, just ham.

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In Polish:

WIELKANOC
Ja: Chcesz jajko na śniadanie?
Hili: Żadnych jajek, tylko szynka.

Matthew sent Jerry this tw**t, it’s a rare sight.

From Canada, reader Taskin has sent us in photos of Gus who has been remodeling his favorite box for some time. It must be almost done by now. The intricate handiwork (toothiwork?) is impressive.

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A disgraceful movie, but a good newspaper article

March 26, 2016 • 3:49 pm

by Greg Mayer

Update: The Tribeca Film Festival has pulled the film, apparently in response to widespread criticism. Details at Jezebel. Thanks to reader horrabin for the alert.

 

Jerry has taken note of the upcoming showing at the Tribeca Film Festival of a ‘documentary’ by the disgraced and de-licensed British physician Andrew Wakefield.(And  Orac has rather full coverage of the matter at Respectful Insolence.) Though the prominent woo-coddling is disheartening, there is a bright point amidst the darkness: the refreshingly straightforward coverage by the New York Times.  Reporters Melena Ryzik and Pam Belluck do not engage in the wishy-washy journalism of ‘controversy’, but tell it like it is.

They open their piece by calling the film’s anti-vaccination thesis “widely debunked”, describe Wakefield as a “discredited former doctor”, note that his 1988 study on the subject was retracted, which led to the revocation of his license for “ethical violations and failure to disclose financial conflicts of interest”, and further note that the festival website takes no notice of this essential context.

They also quote critics of the decision to screen the film. Some highlights:

“Unless the Tribeca Film Festival plans to definitively unmask Andrew Wakefield, it will be yet another disheartening chapter where a scientific fraud continues to occupy a spotlight and overshadows the damage he has left behind in the important story of vaccine safety and success,” Dr. Mary Anne Jackson, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, said in an email. …

[Documentarian Penny Lane said] including “Vaxxed” in the documentary section “threatens the credibility of not just the other filmmakers in your doc slate, but the field in general…. this film is not some sort of disinterested investigation into the ‘vaccines cause autism’ hoax; this film is directed by the person who perpetuated the hoax.” …

Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical School, called the decision to show the film “particularly sad” because the Tribeca festival receives attention far beyond New York.

I am delighted to see a major news source write the plain truth, and not resort to the ‘he said-she said’ format, which leaves readers at best confused, and often misinformed. As we’ve noted before here at WEIT, too often journalists, in a misguided search for ‘balance’, give voice to thoroughly discredited ideas. But sometimes, there is only one side to the story– vaccines don’t cause autism; the global climate is warming; and evolution is true.

With push from Robert De Niro, Tribeca film festival screens Andrew Wakefield’s anti-vaxer movie

March 26, 2016 • 1:30 pm

Get this: a new film about the dangers of vaccination,“Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe,” has been co-written and directed by none other than Andrew Wakefield. Wakefield, of course, is the discredited doctor whose duplicity and fraud in connecting the MMR vaccine with autism led to his downfall, and to the revocation of his license to practice medicine. Of course none of this is mentioned on the film’s website (I haven’t seen the film, but given that it’s directed by Wakefield, you can imagine what’s in it). As the New York Times notes:

On the festival’s website, the biographical material about Mr. Wakefield does not mention that he was stripped of his license or that his Lancet study was retracted. Rather, it says that the Lancet study “would catapult Wakefield into becoming one of the most controversial figures in the history of medicine.”

Here’s the trailer, which shows what a sham and a fraud this movie is:

Why is De Niro, who doesn’t have a history of loonery, promoting this movie?

On Friday, Robert De Niro, one of the festival’s founders, said in a statement issued through the festival’s publicists that he supported the plan to show the movie next month, although he said he was “not personally endorsing the film,” nor was he against vaccination.

Mr. De Niro’s statement seemed to suggest that this was the first time he has expressed a preference that a particular film be shown at the festival.

“Grace and I have a child with autism,” he wrote, referring to his wife, Grace Hightower De Niro, “and we believe it is critical that all of the issues surrounding the causes of autism be openly discussed and examined. In the 15 years since the Tribeca Film Festival was founded, I have never asked for a film to be screened or gotten involved in the programming. However this is very personal to me and my family and I want there to be a discussion, which is why we will be screening VAXXED.”

It’s personal! Clearly, De Niro agrees that the investigation of Wakefield, and the multifarious subsequent work showing no connection between vaccination and autism, are irrelevant, for his child is afflicted. I feel for his sorrow about his child, but what De Niro is doing in promoting this film is nothing less than dangerous. He’s spreading the message that vaccination can cause autism, and that the medical establishment has covered this up. And judging by the ratings on the YouTube trailer, people are agreeing.

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You might want to add your own ranking. . . .

Temples: Halebidu and Belur

March 26, 2016 • 12:15 pm

We honored the Good Friday holiday (it is a day off in India) by visiting two famous and ancient Hindu temples, perhaps the most famous in the state of Karnataka. The temple of Hoysaleswara in Halebidu (Halebid) dates from the 12th century CE, and was built in a mere thirty years. What’s remarkable is the quality of carving, and the fact that the stone was black basalt—very hard to work. It’s in remarkable shape and is dedicated to the god Shiva.

The Chennakesava Temple, 35 km away, dates to the same era, and is dedicated to a form of the god Vishnu. The linked Wikipedia articles should be consulted for more photos, detail, and history. Here are a few pictures I took:

These are low, star-shaped temples with inner sanctums containing effigies of the gods (and Shiva’s lingam at the Halebidu Temple, shown below):

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Closer inspection reveals some of the finest and best-preserved temple carvings I’ve seen, especially because they’re almost a millennium old.

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A lintel above the main door:

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Nandi the bull, Shiva’s mount:

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Narasimha (lion man): an avatar of Vishnu:

Narasimha (lion man): an avatar of Vishnu

A mythical but oft-seen animal that appears to be an amalgam of an elephant, a crocodile, and a horse:

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A group of colorfully dressed ladies admiring the sculpture:

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A corner of the temple:

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It’s bloody hot here, and people took refuge from the sun where they could:

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The ladies of Karnataka are famous for wearing flowers in their hair:

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A green-coconut stall was doing a land office business in the heat. They chop off the top and you drink the sterile and refreshing coconut water:

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The Chennakesava Temple at Belur:

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The carving is equally intricate, but has become more eroded and effaced than that at the Halebid temple:

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The lion-man incarnation of Vishnu:

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A beautiful dancing apsara, one of the finest I’ve seen in India. Remember, these sculptures are almost a thousand years old:

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Arjuna the archer, whom you’ll have encountered as the confidante of Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita (one scripture that I really enjoy reading):

Arjuna the archer

Krishna lifting the Govardhana mountain:

Krishna lifting the Govardhana mountain

A priest of the Belur temple. The string looped around his shoulder indicates he’s a Brahmin, a requirement for priesthood:

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I encountered my first Indian toll roads on the drive to the temples; here’s one of the local toll-takers

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And finally home to dinner, where Goonda (“rowdy”), Mr. Das’s favorite cat, occupied his privileged position in the kitchen. Goonda is about 8 or 9, and came to Mr. Das from a rescue organization several years ago. At that time he’d lost one eye, presumably in a cat fight.
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