This evening I brought my home-made chocolate chip cookies to my Psychology and Religion class. It was partly a sort of an act of penance (which is unusual for me). Last class during a potluck somebody else brought a bunch of fancy organic energy bars. As the guy said he'd spent 20 buck a box on them (he brought in 2 boxes), I took a second, and felt sort of ashamed. I experienced the spotlight effect: the sense that several people noticed I was exceeding the quota of gracious moderation, even though probably nobody did. Yea... it's probably kinda narcissistic or something to imagine they had studied the contents of my earlier feasting. Afterward I processed whether perhaps I deserved the sense of shame and whether I had sinned. I decided I was just being benignly immature. Somehow free food tends to induce in me a sort of... greed? Hmm, that does sound rather sinful. And unfitting, given that I probably get paid a lot more than most people in the class.
Anyway, I decided that on the one hand the gift was freely given without stipulation and not cause for guilt in my acceptance of it. But on the other, my hastiness to accept the generosity of others can result in losing track of my sense of gratitude and thoughtful, healthy proportion, and it would be good for me to grow out of that sort of mindless indulgence.
This week I made the class some chocolate chip cookies, inspired by some obscure mix of generosity, restitution, saving face (over what probably nobody else even noticed) and a way to make myself feel better about myself. And they raved about them! And it wasn't just customary manners, either; I could tell.
I felt about one-fourth immature and three-fourths happy to inform them that the cookies were vegan. I feel America is prejudiced against vegans and our food. Tolerant? Yes. Polite? Usually. Someone did take it upon themselves to make a PETA joke, but I didn't especially mind. Nevertheless, I stereotype them (= most Americans) as stereotyping vegan food as deprivation and vegan people as marred by a strange, even alien irrationality or lack of good sense. It gives me glee to violate these presumptions where possible, especially through acts of generosity. It's almost like that Bible verse about heaping burning coals on enemies' heads through kindness. Except they're not my enemies, and a lot of them have themselves gone out of their way to graciously accommodate my dietary choices, and it's probably a bit more like a heap of spicy tofu.
Yes... Spicy tofu...
Anyway, moving on, I'd like to invite you to help me with a project. Actually, I'd like to invite you to help me with a lot of projects down the road. I'm hoping this blog can offer an opportunity to think think with people (you) as a synergistic collaboration.
But on to the project. For my class in "psychology and religion" (essentially psychology of religion), I'm to write a paper discussing my view on the interrelation of those two subjects. It's also to address:
-what assumptions I have that influence my view on their integration
-what my view about their integration says about the relationship between science and religion
-and how my understanding of their relationship might help me lead a better life or help others.
Here are some initial thoughts. They probably have their flaws-- feel free to point them out. My apologies for vagueness as they crystalize:
*They can each be more appropriate frames for tackling questions in different situations. For example, carrying out a good relationship with God needs to be thought of in personal, unscientific terms. On the other hand, I think scientific research will be more enlightening than Bible study when it comes to mapping and analyzing in detail human thought processes.
*They can inform each other. Imagine if scientists recommended against giving birth on account of the discovery that it's unhealthy -- after all, it's caused a lot of death and medical complications. I wonder if sometimes psychology may similarly make silly suggestions that religious reflection could help with. On the other hand, I'm intrigued by what social psychology has revealed about our techniques of self-deception. And I wonder if there's good material here and in other discoveries that could correct a lot of our theology.
*In some ways, psychology may challenge religion: for example, where there's all sorts of good psychological reasons for being a Christian that have nothing to do with it being true, perhaps belief is cast into question? I'm sure someone will want to pose it in the other direction too. Well, let me know how you think religion challenges psychology.
*I want science and religion to be friends. But I fear religion taking an overbearing "holier than thou" attitude in the relationship, even while watching that science not also overstep with an attitude of being "smarter than thee". I'm not completely comfortable that I can properly keep them from being those ways with each other. Sometimes I wonder whether religion does just trump science or science does just demolish religion.
*Through the lifelong study of psychology and religion that I anticipate, I have hopes that integrating psychological and spiritual insights can synergistically lead to wisdom for understanding and dealing with human nature. Personally, maybe I can provide counsel and guidance for others who deal with doubt and those who deal with them, use new understanding to instigate fresher, deeper productive thought among both Christians and non-Christians, and rattle some religious prejudices along the way.
So, any comments on these nascent notions? Do you have any thoughts to add as I assemble my own?
(note 12/6/10: See my next post for what I came up with!)
Just a few thoughts:
ReplyDelete1. Can I have your cookie recipe? I tried making some vegan agave cookies the other night, and wasn't sure if I loved them. They were quite oily. I've had better luck with vegan muffins.
2. In my life, religion and science are perfect friends. They challenge each other, create back and forth dialogue, and inspire me to greater imagination and appreciation. All this in a safe space I create, under the assumption that God exists and is good. Then the hypothesis work themselves out with evidence (scientific and Biblical) until my brain tires. However, all this to say that because of my primary assumption, I don't bother to get too caught up in nasty arguments of the two, presented by people biased in one direction or the other. This perhaps becomes a shelter from encountering something that might shake my experience on a scale grander than I expect. Maybe it stems from my skepticism of others biases or just my own protection. Nevertheless, I recognize that as a potential problem into true investigation. However, I feel that my safe space allows for a wonderful life that is fulfilling and challenging, and respectful of others. Is it wrong to stop there?
3. Why do benefits of belief cast doubt on truth? I see these not in opposition. Like the classic pills that have no medical purpose, but the belief that they do causes them to have a positive effect on illness. Well, then doesn't it still have a positive effect and therefore work and have some truth? Although I see the problem of positive benefits bestowed on those with different and contradictory religious views, such as Christianity, Buddhism, Mormonism, etc.
For Melissa and anyone else interested, here's the cookie recipe I used. It seems pretty basic to me; I'm not sure why I've had such success:
ReplyDeleteIngredients
• 1 cup vegan margarine, softened (I use Nucoa)
• 1 cup white sugar (or raw cane sugar)
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 "eggs" (I use Ener-G Egg Replacer)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons hot water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (the cheap Kroger ones appear to be vegan)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together the margarine and sugars until smooth. Beat in the 'eggs' one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned. (personally I just go with 10 minutes)
Also concerning why benefits of belief encourgage my skepticism: where there are powerful forces that encourage belief that don't have to do with the truth of what you're believing, how do you know that you believe because it's true? Perhaps because say, most of your community believes it, you feel a need and desire to believe it, you regard such belief as virtuous, and your mind is has become configured to assume it, you'll probably believe it regardless of its truth, sort of like all those people believing in all those other religions. You have so many ulterior motives to believe. And what you think are good reasons for believing may actually seem more convincing than they should because all those other factors have already stacked the deck, biasing your judgment. People without any knowledge of psychological science may already ask these questions, but psychology can demonstrate just how much power forces like these have over us. Of course, these are double-edged swords: skeptics aren't immune from convenient irrationality.
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