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In Search of Spirituality - October 20, 2005
Raising my hand in anthropology class, I called out, "professor?"
"Yes John, what's your question?"
"You said that there is evidence that every human civilization in the historical record has participated in some type of spiritual ritual or worship. Why do you think this is the case?"
"Well, that's really outside of the scope of this course. Anthropologists study all humans in all places and in all times. We can tell you that civilizations believed in a spirit world because we can observe the evidence of their ceremonies. However, anthropologists can't tell you why they believed. The scientific method is not very helpful in this regard."
Feeling disappointed by the answer, I pressed for more insight. "Why do you think they all believed in a spirit world? What's your opinion?"
The professor looked uncomfortable as he evaded the question. "My opinion is not important to our class discussion" He quickly ended the questioning and went back to the course outline on the over head projector. His body language indicated he was uneasy with the thought of discussing spirituality in class.
I later learned that many university professors are ostracized by their colleagues for expressing a belief in God. Public universities in particular are under intense pressure by the Government to maintain a separation of Church and State, or risk the loss of funding. This is not to say that all hope is lost. Academic scholars, such as Huston Smith and Stephen Mitchell, for example, have contributed significantly to the exploration and discussion of a metaphysical world. However, many religious experts are often hidden in the Ivory League schools and very rarely reach the average citizen. Instead, the mainstream population acquires its spiritual enlightenment from the mass media, which are far from qualified. This conundrum perpetuates the deception. Spiritual thinkers must transcend the deception of the world if we are to truly understand our existence.
Contributed by John R. Maculley, Jr
Raising my hand in anthropology class, I called out, "professor?"
"Yes John, what's your question?"
"You said that there is evidence that every human civilization in the historical record has participated in some type of spiritual ritual or worship. Why do you think this is the case?"
"Well, that's really outside of the scope of this course. Anthropologists study all humans in all places and in all times. We can tell you that civilizations believed in a spirit world because we can observe the evidence of their ceremonies. However, anthropologists can't tell you why they believed. The scientific method is not very helpful in this regard."
Feeling disappointed by the answer, I pressed for more insight. "Why do you think they all believed in a spirit world? What's your opinion?"
The professor looked uncomfortable as he evaded the question. "My opinion is not important to our class discussion" He quickly ended the questioning and went back to the course outline on the over head projector. His body language indicated he was uneasy with the thought of discussing spirituality in class.
I later learned that many university professors are ostracized by their colleagues for expressing a belief in God. Public universities in particular are under intense pressure by the Government to maintain a separation of Church and State, or risk the loss of funding. This is not to say that all hope is lost. Academic scholars, such as Huston Smith and Stephen Mitchell, for example, have contributed significantly to the exploration and discussion of a metaphysical world. However, many religious experts are often hidden in the Ivory League schools and very rarely reach the average citizen. Instead, the mainstream population acquires its spiritual enlightenment from the mass media, which are far from qualified. This conundrum perpetuates the deception. Spiritual thinkers must transcend the deception of the world if we are to truly understand our existence.
Contributed by John R. Maculley, Jr