Review: Sacred Matters-My Conclusion

In the end the book turns out to be a little repetitive.  Since every chapter explores how some of the same religious activities and thinking are present in the different topics which are explored you sometimes get the feeling that you don't need any more convincing, although each chapters contains interesting stories and data.  Each chapter explores how things like the formation of community, the teaching of ethical and moral values, transcendent experiences, ritual behavior, and life transformations are present in the different communities.  Each is not completely separate from the other, many of them overlap with one another, which proves Laderman's point that we all belong to a variety of religious communities, some complementary and some conflictual.  To avoid becoming bored with the repetitiveness of the chapters this might be a good book to read over a longer period of time possibly reading one chapter at a time.

An interesting theme touched on the book is the myths told by each of these different communities of people.  As a Christian I inhabit the biblical narrative, it's the story which frames the world for me and within which I find myself.  In short the biblical narrative is the story that tells me who I am and what my purpose is in life.  Something not thoroughly explored but hinted at is the myth-making quality of each of the topics explored in this book.  Each chapter highlighted a story out of which people are living their life.  I live my life out of many different stories as well, but the biblical story interprets them all.  My lesser identities are subordinated to my primary identity as a member of the church of Jesus Christ.  I think that all of the topics Laderman explores in this book can function as identity-forming stories in people's lives.  They find purpose in these stories and they find a place in this world.  The question then becomes, what is your meta-story?  Which story gives meaning to all the smaller stories that make up your life?  That is the story in which you most likely encounter the sacred.

Lastly, I think the resurgence of such a plurality of religious commitments in people’s lives is becoming more and more possible as the lines between the sacred and the secular increasingly blur.  I say resurgence because for too long our culture operated with a false dichotomy of secular and sacred, or spiritual and ordinary.  As our culture completes the turn from modernity into postmodernity our awareness of the sacred in our everyday lives is growing.  Although Laderman emphasizes that god is not necessary for many kinds of religious behavior and thinking I am hopeful that many more will find him there where they least expect it.  As secularism is unmasked by pluralism we will be more and more able to speak from where our true allegiances lie instead of from the pseudo-neutral secular horizon.  Only then will we begin to have true dialogue; when our identity-shaping stories are no longer masked and when we realize that we all worship something, the question is who/what.

Review: Sacred Matters-Chapter 9 Death

Religions often seek to give meaning to the unexplainable in our lives, and because of this fact it should be no surprise that death requires religious behavior in all cultures.  Laderman is quick to point out that the religious actions may look very different throughout the varying cultures, but regardless of their diversity death is always sacred whether god is involved or not.  Perhaps it's because it is the most inescapable and yet the most mysterious of all events that we know we will go through.

First on the list of topics Laderman explores are ghosts.  Since what lies beyond the grave is a mystery to us all it’s no wonder that ghosts and myths about people continuing to influence the living after death abound in our culture.  How are we to explain how people who have died still seem with us in some sense?  Could it be that there is not always a smooth transition between this life and the next?  This transition is often carefully watched over by a business, which fulfills a necessary task in all cultures, the funeral home.  Laderman addresses the new landscape such businesses must cross as people of very different cultural backgrounds with very different expectations for their deceased loved ones request their services.

In an interesting connection with the previous chapters of the book we see how venerated people from the other religious arenas discussed, music, celebrity, violence (war), film and more, often have lasting postmortem influence on their followers.  These people range from Christian saints, to dead rappers, to dead celebrities, and more.  Sometimes they have such a significant postmortem influence that they take on legendary status, with some fans even believing their death to be a fabrication or hoax.  Laderman details the postmortem influence of Tupac Shakur and Elvis Presley.

In my understanding the Bible is surprisingly ambiguous about what waits for us on the other side of death; although some people seem to think they can map it fairly accurately.  What most people believe to be Christian teaching on the subject is actually a kind of pop theology, which takes more cues from cartoons depicting heaven and hell or ancient Greek mythology.  Other then the resurrection that occurs at the Parousia we are figuratively in the dark as to what happens in the meantime.  My faith leads me to believe that just as God is lord of my life now he will remain lord over my life after death and because of that fact I try not to fear that inevitable inevitability that awaits us all.  

Review: Sacred Matters-Chapter 8 Sexuality

Spend an evening watching a popular prime-time drama as well as the commercials and you will quickly get a sense for how deeply sex is embedded in today’s American culture.  Laderman doesn't shy away from this topic, in fact he addresses one of the most taboo topics related to sexuality right from the start, the pornography industry.  Although he does not offer any direct opinions as to the health or morality of the porn industry I think it is possible to pick up on whispers of a cautionary sort with regard to pornography and its effects on participants and viewers.  Regardless Laderman seeks to understand why so many Americans are so committed to consuming pornographic media.

I was disappointed in Laderman's summary of what he felt is the traditional Christian 'take on sex' which included a low view of the physical body and an understanding of sex as being purely for reproduction.  I believe this view of sex is one which was historically part of the Catholic church since the time of Augustine and I'm not sure it still holds true today.  I know that within my own part of the Christian tradition the body is not viewed as evil and sex is celebrated when it is part of a healthy monogamous marriage.  I have no problem admitting that the church for many centuries spread some damaging teachings when it came to the body and our sexuality, and while some continue to do so many Christians have begun teaching a much more healthy understanding of sexuality and its connection with our spirituality.  Tina Schermer Sellers has an excellent article, which addresses this very topic.

Along with pornography Laderman examines the ways in which many Americans seek sacred sexual experiences in same-sex encounters, sadomasochism, New Age wisdom, Kama Sutra, and just more adventurous sex.  I think the connection between sexuality and spirituality is a very healthy one, that highlights the healing possibilities inherent in a healthy sexual relationship.  Relationship is the key in that phrase.  I do not believe that random sexual experiences can provide the same kind of healing available from a committed physical, emotional, personal relationship.  The connection experienced in a sexual encounter is available because in that moment we are completely vulnerable.   When people buy the lie that sex is purely physical, that we need only make sure it's 'safe', they practice an inappropriate vulnerability which wounds them and their partner.

While the sexual revolution has taught us that our bodies are not bad and that sex is as much if not more spiritual than functional we should not be too quick to leave behind the wisdom of religious traditions which have understood this for a long time.  Could it be that the oneness we so desperately desire with God is glimpsed in a healthy committed relationship with another person?  If so, then it is no wonder that sexuality and the industries connected to it are full of religious communities seeking this connection in the easiest way possible, sex.

Review: Sacred Matters-Chapter 7 Violence

Violence has been part of the human story from Cain killing his brother Abel to the daily violence we witness/experience in our lives, on TV, or in the news.  Laderman begins the chapter with an examination of the intrinsically sacred nature of war.  He makes the point that whether god is invoked or not war is necessarily religious because it invokes ultimate loyalties, it requires potentially making the ultimate sacrifice.  The death of soldiers is the closest thing we have today to ancient rituals of sacrifice, in which certain individuals or animals were sacrificed for the good of the greater majority.  We impart sacred significance on the death of fallen soldiers.

The next arena of violence examined by Laderman is one that will forever be tied to the American spirit, the life of the cowboy.  Whether or not the Hollywood versions of cowboys' lives are true to the lived experience of such men (and women) is not important since it is the Hollywood cowboy which comes to mind whenever ones talks about such things.  The violence often associated with such fictitious cowboys as those played by John Wayne is a justified violence.  Cowboy violence breathes this redemptive spirit because it functions to restore law and order or bring justice to oppressed peoples (unfortunately not usually the Native Americans).

With war and cowboys being part of American DNA it is inevitable that the gun would take on sacred significance.  Laderman turns next to guns and to that most hallowed of organizations (at least to those who belong to it) the NRA.  Just as in previous chapters the author shows how an organization like the NRA provides it members with community, ethical instructions, transcendent experiences (shooting guns) and quite possibly experience life change.  So real guns can be religious, but what about virtual ones?  Does virtual violence fulfill a religious function in the lives of gamers worldwide?  With the success of such games as World of Warcraft and Call of Duty, including the communities they create, the answer appears to be yes.  The troubling question becomes at what point should we worry about gamers being unable to distinguish between the virtual ethic taught by the game and a real life ethic practiced outside the game?  The conversation surrounding video game violence, while very interesting, left me with more questions than answers.

There is no question in my mind that violence involves sacred experience of many kinds and in many ways for many Americans.  My hope as a Christian is that people would come to see the lie behind the myth of redemptive violence; that somehow violence can set things right without perpetuating the cycle of violence we find ourselves trapped in.  As a Christian I think that one of the most powerful parts of our witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ is that in his death and resurrection the justification for violence has been negated, and as the Church we should be a preview of the peaceable kingdom made available by the inauguration of the kingdom of God.

Review: Sacred Matters-Chapter 6 Medicine

The question of what qualifies as medicine is a hotly debated topic at the moment containing issues such as the legalization of marijuana in California. It is becoming more and more obvious that the medicinal value of many drugs depends on a person’s perspective. Like the rest of the chapters in his book Laderman does not make any proscriptive judgments about the use of medicine or drugs, he simply argues that medicine is a source of religious experience for Americans. Whether drugs are taken to achieve a transcendent experience, live free of pain, or cure an illness they are consumed in order to have a certain kind of lifestyle.

Laderman spends a significant amount of time exploring the advertising connected to the pharmaceutical industry. Pharmaceutical companies are very careful to connect attractive lifestyles to their product thereby promising such lifestyles to people who would only have to take a pill. Whether we know it or not much of what Americans think of as health has been influenced by the prescription drug industry; we have been brainwashed to think of health in the very narrow sense of lack of disease. One of the things Laderman discusses in the chapter is the recent influence in the West of Eastern conceptions of health. These conceptions of health are often much more holistic involving emotional and spiritual health along with physical health, and they often emphasize lifestyle changes over drug therapy. We are coming to the realization that the pursuit of good health and a long life is a religious one and that many cultures and traditions have approached it quite differently. We are realizing that doctors are not the gods we once thought they were and that we might have something to learn from cultures other than our own.

In the end medicine seeks to control aspects of our lives to change them from some deficient existence to our desired end, that end being health. So what is health? Who gets to say what it means to live a healthy life? Is it defined by drug commercials? I would hope not, since their idea of health is largely formulated around a fantasy that they hope will motivate people to buy their product. While Laderman recited the now familiar refrain that god is not a necessity in the religion of medicine he did not address how the presence of gods or a god, and quite possibly some kind of afterlife, changes a persons understanding of health in this life. The belief in some kind of afterlife changes a person's motivations to extend their life or accept a natural end. Not only length of life, but the definition of life comes into play when talking about modern advances in medicine and the ability to keep people 'alive'.

Stanley Hauerwas has written a very helpful book on this particular subject from a decidedly Christian perspective. In God, Medicine and Suffering he points out the fact that we not only allow pagan cultures to shape our understanding of health and life, but we are often misguided in our attempts to achieve 'health'. Hauerwas argues that the attempt to provide a theodicy, or explanation for the presence of evil in the world, is pagan pursuit which distracts from the traditional Christian response to the presence of evil, which is a community of people able to absorb its effects. He comes to the conclusion that modern medicine is another form of theodicy, but one that usually fails to actually contribute to person well-being and only succeeds in making the person feel better. This is a great little book which would be an excellent supplement to Laderman's chapter on medicine.

Review: Sacred Matters-Chapter 5 Science

The place of science in religion has been a long debated issue. For over a thousand years now scientific discoveries have challenged both previously held religious beliefs as well as worldviews through which human beings understood their place in the universe. These challenges have not gone over smoothly, I'm thinking here of Galileo Galilei and Charles Darwin. These encounters which pitted organized religion against scientific advances have led to a popular belief that science and religion are incompatible. In this chapter of the book Laderman argues that science may not be regarded as a religion but it often fulfills a very religious function the lives of scientists.

Laderman's first exploration of this phenomenon is in the work of Ursula Goodenough who calls herself a religious naturalist; a view of nature that does not succumb to reductionism but instead finds mystery and meaning among scientific discoveries which do not included god. Laderman contrasts Goodenough's position to evolutionary fundamentalists who often rival the most outspoken Christian fundamentalists in their demonizing of their 'opposition' and their charged rhetoric.

This chapter also recognized that some scientists see religion and science as partners being able to benefit from one another while also opposing each other at times. These scientists include the likes of Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr. Even though science and religion can help one another I believe they are both myth-making systems of thought. Science is not always purely secular, and this may be the true source of conflict between science and many of the established major religions. The myths of science may conflict with the myths of a particular religion. The question is which myth will you allow to interpret the other? In our society where scientific conclusions seem to be the ultimate measure of authority the seemingly lesser myths often told by religious texts and traditions are subjugated and sometimes thought to be discredited.

Many Christians fear the influence of scientific discoveries on their religious beliefs and yet science has so much to offer when it comes to discovering new experiences of the sacred in the world which surrounds us. Fear only prevents us from having a good conversation, instead fear drives us to demonize the other and entrench ourselves in our positions unwilling to have our minds opened to new vistas. Science is not the enemy of religious belief; in fact it may encourage its own kind of religious devotions and doctrines, quite possibly sensed as a threat by many people in more traditional religious communities.

Here's a clip from the movie Nacho Libre which makes light of the tension between belief in science as opposed to belief in traditional religion. You can ignore the baptism announcement info at the end; it was the only clip I could find on YouTube.

Review: Sacred Matters-Chapter 4 Celebrity

Being famous for being famous is a rather new phenomenon achieved by such people as the Kardashian sisters.  Usually fame is bestowed upon certain people because they excel at something or they are naturally in the public spotlight because of their profession.  For this reason many of the things discussed in this chapter of the book connect with the other chapters' topics.  Many of the celebrity icons worshipped in our culture find fame because they are involved in film, music, sports, sexuality, or possibly science I guess.  As a Christian I think one of the most curious things to happen in our culture is the celebrification of certain preachers or pastors.  Our insistence on idol-making rears its head even in those places most deeply committed to laws prohibiting such things.

Laderman investigates the connection some fans feels to celebrities that they have actually never met.  They express incredible loyalty and devotion to people who they know only through the mediated sources provided by their television, magazines, and newspapers.  People like Rudy Valentino, or princess Diana become a source of sacred experience for some people in a way that surpasses any kind of empty voyeurism.  Somehow Americans look to these stars for ethical guidance as well secretly fantasize about them or seek to become like them (I'm thinking here of Octo-mom and her obviously unhealthy obsession with Angelina Jolie).  What is it that makes these people worthy of imitation?  While they may originally be recognized for some unique skill or accomplishment pretty soon their celebrity status becomes legitimated simply because they have celebrity status; it becomes detached from any particular concrete accomplishment.

Of all the topics examined in this book Laderman seems to think celebrity worship is the most likely to develop into an unhealthy fanaticism or pathology.  He says that in the past heroes were awarded that status for reasons that mattered, they had some meaningful substance about them that deserved recognition, as opposed to our current heroes (celebrities) who achieve such status for no good reason and often fail to provide a positive example to their fans. A celebrity like Oprah on the other hand has a lot to offer to her faithful following and she wields that power in strategic ways.  Like her or not she must be considered one of the most influential people in America.  One of the dangers I feel exists due to celebrity worship in America can occur when fans listen to celebrities’ opinions on topics they may not be qualified to give advice on.  Celebrities may feel the need to speak out certain issues which they may know very little about, influencing gullible fans who may give them more credibility than they're due.

Somehow, whether we think they deserve the attention or not, we are enamored with those people whose faces and lives are deemed worthy of entering our private lives through our television screens or our favorite magazines.  Celebrities seem to be so much like us and yet there is something different; that difference which is so hard to explain that it just might be considered sacred.

Review: Sacred Matters-Chapter 3 Sports

Reading this chapter a particular image continued to pop up in my head; the image we have seen countless times in television comedies or movies of some crazed sports fan begrudgingly attending a worship service while listening to a sports broadcast on their portable radio (often accidentally making some exclamation of excitement or disappointment in reaction to the game which must be masked as a reaction to the service.)  In truth it would be hard to find a source of sacred experience which competes with the scheduled times of worship in most major religions as much as sports.

In this chapter Laderman argues that people form religious commitments to a certain sport, team, individual, or moment in time.  He makes the case that when we look closely it is apparent that "there is more at stake in this social activity than winners and loser, endorsements and contracts, entertainment and leisure time."  Along with his normal examination of what makes sports a significant source of religious experience in America Laderman talks about the important role of play in human life.  Play is a vital human function often organized into regular forms of competition that take on sacred significance.

It seems that Laderman wants to make the point that the religious culture that surrounds sports can somehow harmlessly coexist with organized religion of a more traditional sort.  My experience as a youth pastor tends to make me disagree with this conclusion.  It may be possible for adults to involve themselves in some aspects of sports religion along with a healthy commitment to a faith community, but youth seem to be less able to hold these competing commitments in tension.  Many of the students in my youth group must consistently make decisions between committing to a rigorous sports schedule and participating in functions associated with their ongoing discipleship within our youth group.  I think even Laderman would agree that one of the fundamental measures of religious commitment is where you invest your time.  Using the measure of time commitment, and knowing that Christian discipleship is not necessarily a priority in many of the students’ homes, I would say sports culture is the primary teacher of ethics, provider of community and experience of the sacred for many youth.

In a world like ours, where some have declared that 'God is money,' there is no doubt then that this god is heavily invested in sports.  As long as people are willing to make holy pilgrimages to sacred sporting events and arenas, worship their heroes for their athletic abilities, and buy tickets, jerseys, equipment and endorsed merchandise the religious culture of sports will continue to grow.  Fans will continue to worship in stadiums, where the holy liturgy of competition is enacted, to teach and to thrill, to entertain and to challenge.  Whether or not you decry this kind of sports-induced idolatry, its hard to argue that the Super Bowl is not a holy day, that certain sports arenas are not sacred ground or that athletes like Michael Jordan are not treated as gods.

Review: Sacred Matters-Chapter 2 Music

"You better lose yourself in the music, the moment, you own it, you better never let it go." These words from Eminem's hit song Lose Yourself echo through this chapter as Laderman explores the religious nature of music. Laderman goes so far as to say that music can be "a meaningful alternative to traditional religion...” He thinks of it this way due to its ability to "...generate moral perspectives, special communities, and life-altering transformations." He can reach such conclusions because he operates with a very thick description of music; including not just the sounds which we hear but the movement they generate in our bodies and the people with which we experience such events. Laderman explores the sacral qualities of raves, blues music, hip-hop, Elvis, rock and roll, and Grateful Dead concerts.

Music is a complex medium of communication. We use sounds without words or sounds with words mixed in them to express deep emotions often inaccessible through our common speech. Music forces us to recognize that communication involves more than just adequate understanding of thoughts being exchanged between people, but it involves a much more complex bodily experience. We experience communication through words, volume, tone, pitch, rhythm and rhyme. There is something primal about music where we let go of our inhibitions (sometimes through physical movement) and instead we feel the message being communicated, we combine our ability to feel and to think. It usually takes me a while to listen to the lyrics of a song. I like to feel the song first, and then after a while I listen to what is being said. This combination makes for an incredibly powerful tool of communication.

The more interesting aspect of music-as-religion to me is the investigation into the stories which shape the different musical traditions. Music is a creative expression of story; just like film in the last chapter we find our place in these stories. We identify with the struggles, experiences of love and loss, pronouncements of judgment, messages of peace, love, unity, respect and so on. As a Christian I identify with those musical expressions which tell God's story. Not just the hymns and songs which we sing in worship services, although they are a sacred resource for me, but songs which speak of justice for the oppressed, care for the poor, humility, mercy, faith, and the victory of love. Whether from my tradition or not I identify with music which expresses the themes of the story out of which I try to live my life, God’s story as revealed in the scriptures of the Christian faith.

My only question for Laderman in this chapter would be to question whether music can truly function as a religion in and of itself or whether it is merely a tool?  Is music the creative expression of meaning producing stories or does it somehow give meaning itself?

Review: Sacred Matters-Chapter 1 Film

Laderman begins this chapter by summarizing what he calls the slow decentralization of the sacred in the history of the United States. He argues that from the beginning Americans have been inclined to search out sacred resources outside of the normal theistic religions they are generally associated with. I think experiences of the sacred and religious life associated with the sacred have never been centralized, but due to the overwhelming influence of Protestant Christianity in the culture of the early European immigrants to the United States this country's religious history has looked like a kind of decentralization progressively moving to a sort of religious pluralism. This pluralism is made even more varied with Laderman's insistence on the validity of atheistic religions as mediators of sacred experience.

Included in the first chapter is a brief overview of the history of film, including its connection to religion through the clergyman Hannibal W. Goodwin who first invented celluloid photographic film and the biblical stories which have fascinated moviegoers since the earliest days of film. But religious impulses have found expression without connection to any god through the language used to describe movie theaters as temples or cathedrals and through moviegoers’ expression of their sometimes unexplainable experiences in the dark rooms where they worship a screen alongside other expectant congregants.

Laderman argues that the sacred values of film have been expressed through everything from Disney movies, to the Wizard of Oz, to Star Wars. These movies do more than just tell stories, they explain attempt to answer the big questions of life; they invite us into them and shape our realities. Films often function to create communities, teach ethical values, transform their viewers and offer experiences of transcendence; all of this often with no mention of god.

I would argue that in many ways movies have become the new primary medium for storytelling in our age. Just as Homer first recited the Odyssey and the Iliad to hearers long ago now Spielberg and Lucas, the Wachowski brothers and Ridley Scott draw us into the stories they tell. While Laderman's book is first and foremost descriptive I would be interested to find out whether the influence of movies in today’s culture is positively or negatively affecting society. Maybe that is another book altogether.

Should traditional theistic religions and their institutions be threatened by these new mega-blockbuster myths being told repeatedly in theaters all over the country and even the world?  Only if they are afraid that somehow those stories give a truer account of how things really are.  Maybe instead of fearing the messages these movies teach and the sacred nature of their culture we can enter into conversation with the stories they tell; we just might have something learn, as well as something to offer in return.

Review: Sacred Matters-Introduction

This post begins my review of Gary Laderman's book Sacred Matters: Celebrity Worship, Sexual Ecstasies, The Living Dead, and Other Signs of Religious Life in the United States.  I will publish a post reviewing each of the individual chapters which will each include a short summary, critique/engagement with the claims made in the chapter, and some questions.  

Inspired by the lack of genuine engagement in the media regarding religion in the United States surrounding the 2004 presidential election Laderman set out to explore a more nuanced and less simplistic understanding of religion, including all the varied perceptions and experiences of the sacred.  

Is there such a thing as god-less religion?  Is America deeply religious in ways other than those commonly associated with the Great Religions of the Book?  Laderman begins his book by answering such questions with a resounding yes.  In the next nine chapters he explores such topics as film, sports, celebrity, medicine and sexuality in search of signs of religion in these unexpected places.  

Without god religious life centers around such things as building community among members, specific rituals or myths, experiences of transcendence, ethical and moral teaching, and transformation of individuals.  Laderman is not ignorant of the fact that with this complex understanding of religion many Americans can be said to belong to many different religious communities at one time, quite possibly even ones with conflicting values.  Religion can no longer be relegated to the private confines of ones internal beliefs and convictions, it involves the people you associate with and the things which give your life meaning.

I think Laderman is on to something. In an interview with Bill Moyers liberation theologian James Cone gives an insightful definition of religion as mankind's attempt to give life (and its experiences) meaning; the question is does that require god?  If not, then what?  Laderman answers with Sacred Matters.