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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us August 6, 2005 Pondering imponderables Ashland group looks at the future of philosophy, religion and humanism By John Darling Tidings Correspondent " The center’s mission is to develop critical thinking in young people, so they learn to be evaluative and use reason, so they’re open to what’s good, positive and nurturing in religion and not to what’s destructive. There’s a great deal of muddled thinking in religion, looking at it as a panacea, a means to alleviate anxieties and fears and make the demands of life less difficult." Bob Semes Jefferson Center for Religion and Philosophy founder Bob Semes Jay Johnson Arthur Dewey What will religion look like in coming years? It hopefully with have a more humanistic Judaism, an appreciation of nature and sexuality as vital spiritual dimensions and an understanding of Jesus as the historical figure that research shows him – a radical gadfly and egalitarian who challenged people to think way outside the box. So ran the visions of many author-presenters at Ashland’s newest spiritual zone — the Jefferson Center for Religion and Philosophy, the creation of retired Episcopal priest Bob Semes. It had its inaugural three-day conclave Monday through Wednesday at the Unitarian-Universalist Church here. A newly blossoming vision of “humanistic Judaism” will include “a focus on ethnic values and the here and now,” said Naomi Seidman, director of the Dinner Center for Jewish Studies at Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. “It’s small-h humanism that can embrace the supernatural aspects and doctrines of religion,” said Seidman, “but grounds itself in taking care of people’s real needs. It’s about values that people in any religion would agree with. Although it’s hard to argue with people who believe in doctrines in these cultural wars, it’s wary of anything that would injure another person on this planet.” To illustrate her vision that God is what we see in all people, Seidman told the Lithuanian tale of a “Litvak” (a Jew allied with law and doctrine) who secretly followed an enlightened rabbi to see how he “ascended into heaven” every day. He found that all the rabbi did was go out in disguise and help someone in need — for example, making a sick, old woman pay six cents for firewood to keep her warm in winter. Eric Allen of Ashland, author of “Wild Grace” presented nature as a “connection to the greater spirit,” noting that by regaining our connection to nature, we can live with an “instinctive grace and ease,” remembering we are here to be “in service to a much greater weave of life than we’re aware of.” Human success as a species is a temporary phenomenon and our survival and well-being, Allen said, is tied to living in harmony with all life. Without that, we damage ourselves emotionally, spiritually and physically, he added. “Nature not only bats last, but it owns the whole stadium,” said Allen, noting that the May thunderstorm here, with 7,000 lightning strikes over 12 hours, was far beyond anything recorded by meteorologists. It was a harbinger — “and we’re going to learn about humility and our smallness in the scheme of nature.” The conclave attracted more than 100 people and increased the group’s membership to 50. The center just got its non-profit certification and is operating on a $10,000 grant from a local individual. It will seek corporate and foundation grants soon, Semes said. Its board includes Rev. Patt Herdklotz of Ashland Unitarian-Universalist Church, Southern Oregon University philosophy professor Prakash Chenjeri, retired SOU biology professor, Frank Lang, Ashland publisher and Islamic scholar Steve Scholl and others. “The center’s mission is to develop critical thinking in young people, so they learn to be evaluative and use reason, so they’re open to what’s good, positive and nurturing in religion and not to what’s destructive,” said Semes. “There’s a great deal of muddled thinking in religion, looking at it as a panacea, a means to alleviate anxieties and fears and make the demands of life less difficult.” The message of JCPR will be to help people look beyond the tradition and “prepackaged religion” found in “the book” of each religion and examine the “great wisdom traditions of all spiritual paths,” he said. “Why base our thinking on the teaching of ancients when we have the right and ability to develop our own thinking, using the same spiritual connections they had?” said Semes, a former professor of history, philosophy and religion at the Jesuit University of San Francisco. Arthur Dewey, one of two dozen scholars on the “Jesus Seminar” of 1986-93, said a study of the most verifiable words and deeds of Christ point to him being an agent of change, communication and cooperation, working against encompassing tyrannical system of Roman rule. The panel of scholars researched and translated original documents from the first three centuries after Christ, then voted on which were almost certain, possible, not likely and almost certainly not the words of Christ. Jesus didn’t claim to be divine, noted Dewey, but used parables, aphorisms, “table fellowship” and exorcism as he tried to provoke people into realizing the Kingdom of God, so as to bring a paradigm shift out of the “default system” of Roman colonialism. “He invited people to imagine what life would be like if God were effectively present,” said Dewey, a theology professor at Xavier University in Cincinnati. “It’s not a message you salute and obey; it’s a message you re-image and you get it. You get that you’re a participant in this larger field of vision, that with God, all things are possible. It’s a misreading to take a page from that and say ‘this is it, the truth.’ You need to look at the larger context. If you don’t, you can spin it anyway you want.” The major religions have lost sight of the common roots of spiritual and sexual fulfillment, as they both are means of transcending modern isolation and finding much-needed union, said Episcopal priest Jay Emerson Johnson, program director for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. However, he added, the fierce cultural wars around gay rights and the church have brought a great opportunity to understand our sexuality in different and better ways, he noted. “Sexuality is not just about procreation — or about lesbian-gay issues — but carries spiritual insight for us. Heterosexual couples know sex is not just about having children, but religion hasn’t given them the tools to think about it in spiritual terms,” he said. In most cultures, wherever you find food or sex, you find the most religious monitoring and rules, observed Johnson, because they are both tied to deep drives around pleasure and survival. “I’m committed to Christian tradition,” Johnson said. “I’m not a libertine, but we’re at a time in American culture where we need to reflect on the spiritual nature of sexual desire and relationship — and our desire for communion that can end our isolation and enable us to get out of ourselves.” In 2006, JCPR plans to stage its conference on “Science and Religion,” inviting major speakers to explore issues such as stem cell research, the Big Bang, cloning and evolution. 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